More than three years ago, I wrote that the Department of Transportation should be dismantled for the simple reason that we’ll get better roads at lower cost with the federalist approach of returning responsibility to state and local governments. I echoed those…
Daily Analysis
The Slow-Motion Train Wreck of Entitlement Programs
The Census Bureau just released a report on America’s aging population. The big takeaway is that our population will be getting much older between now and 2050. And since I’m a baby boomer, I very much like the fact that we’re expected to live longer. But as a public…
Laughing at Another Spectacular Obamacare Failure
As you can imagine, there’s a lot to choose from in the contest for the most spectacular waste of tax dollars. But the politicians in Oregon must really want the prize, because they managed to flush several hundred million dollars down a rat hole by putting together a…
Taiwan Is the Success Story, not China
Which nation is richer, Belarus or Luxembourg? If you look at total economic output, you might be tempted to say Belarus. The GDP of Belarus, after all, is almost $72 billion while Luxembourg’s GDP is less than $60 billion. But that would be a preposterous answer…
Bragging about the Debt Brake…but Failing to Explain What Makes It Successful
What happens when you mix something good with something bad? To be more specific, what happens when you have a big success story, like the spending cap in Switzerland that has dramatically slowed the growth of government, and then expect intelligent and coherent…
Financial Bureaucrats on Easy Street, with Consumers and Taxpayers Paying the Bill
I’ve complained many times about government intervention in the financial sector. The financial and housing crisis, for instance, was largely a consequence of the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policy, combined with the system of corrupt subsidies put in place by…
A New Member of the Moocher Hall of Fame
About one year ago, I decided to create a “Moocher Hall of Fame” to highlight how certain people went above and beyond the call of indolence in their efforts to sponge off taxpayers. This award isn’t for ordinary deadbeats. You have to do something really special (the…
Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth from Washington?
Last year, I conducted an informal poll at a conference in Paris. I explained to the audience that the public sector consumed about 57 percent of the French economy and I asked them whether they got more services and better government than the people of Germany (where…
The Golden Rule of Spending Restraint
My tireless (and probably annoying) campaign to promote my Golden Rule of spending restraint is bearing fruit. The good folks at the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal allowed me to explain the fiscal and economic benefits that accrue when nations limit the…
Support the VAT…if You Oppose Entitlement Reform and Want More spending and More Debt
I’m a supporter of a single-rate tax regime, especially if there’s no double taxation of income that is saved and invested. That’s why I like the flat tax. But I’ve expressed concern about the national sales tax, even though it’s basically the same as a flat tax (the…