Keynesian economics is the perpetual motion machine of the left. You build a model that assumes government spending is good for the economy and you assume that there are zero costs when the government diverts money from the private sector. With that type of model, you…
Daily Analysis
If There’s a Grand Bargain, Taxpayers Should Get a Tax Cut rather than a Tax Hike
The Washington metropolitan area has become America’s wealthiest region because trillions of dollars are taken every year from the productive sector of the economy and then divvied up by the politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists and interest groups that benefit from…
For any Fiscal Policy Question, Spending Restraint Is the Answer
Okay, I’ll admit the title of this post is an exaggeration. How to fix the mess at the IRS is a fiscal policy question, and that requires tax reform rather than spending restraint. But allow me a bit of literary license. We just had a big debt limit battle in…
The Unrecognized Shutdown Victory
I recently gave five reasons why the shutdown fight was worthwhile and my number one reason was that it’s better to be on offense than defense. It seems I’m not the only one to reach this sensible conclusion. Here’s some of what Fred Barnes wrote today for the Wall…
The French Death Spiral
There’s a tendency in public life to exaggerate the positive or negative implications of any particular policy. This is why I try to be careful not to overstate the potential benefits of reforms I like, such as the flat tax. Yes, we would get better growth and there…
Lung Cancer, Heroin, and Government Spending
If this blog was an episode of Jeopardy, the response to the title of this post would be “Name three things that Dan Mitchell doesn’t like.” But this blog isn’t a game show. It’s a serious forum* for discussing how we protect freedom and prosperity from ever-expanding…
Five Important Takeaways from the Government Shutdown-Debt Limit Fight
The wailing and hysteria in Washington is over. The politicians now have the authority to borrow more money and the bureaucrats are all back at work (rested and refreshed after their paid vacation, so they’ll probably tax, spend, and regulate with extra fervor). So…
More Academic Evidence that Bigger Government Means Less Prosperity
My goal in life is very simple. I want to promote freedom and prosperity by limiting the size and scope of government. That seems like a foolish and impossible mission, perhaps best suited for Don Quixote. After all, what hope is there of overcoming the politicians,…
The Sick Joke of Obama’s Shutdown Strategy
Even though it’s an uphill battle, I’m glad there are some lawmakers willing to fight Obamacare. They realize a hard battle today could help save America from genuine fiscal crisis in the future. I don’t know how this government-shutdown battle (which is morphing into…
The Shutdown Fight: Can Advocates of Fiscal Responsibility Overcome the Combined Forces of Obama, Lobbyists, and the Media?
I’m not overly optimistic about the outcome of the government shutdown fight. In part this is because our system of government, based on separation of powers, means it is very difficult to change the status quo. This system, by the way, generally has been good for the…