A couple of months ago, after reading an excellent column in the semi-official newspaper of the Vatican, I joked that we should send Obama to Rome for an economics lesson. I now completely retract that statement. There may be some economically astute people who write…
Daily Analysis
The Obligatory “I Told You So, You Dumb SOBs” Post About Greece
Almost two years ago, I wrote that bailing out Greece was misguided because it would dig the debt hole deeper. More recently, I wrote an I-told-you-so post that looked at my four original predictions and patted myself on the back for being accurate (not that it took…
Record Government Spending Seen for 2011
President Obama and Vice President Biden are currently playing the role of traveling snake-oil salesmen, peddling their latest wares in the form of yet another so-called stimulus bill. At the heart of their pitch are claims that would have you believe that up is down,…
More “Success Stories” from the So-Called Stimulus
Wow. Even by the low standards of government, here are a couple of remarkable stories about government waste from Obama’s failed stimulus scheme. Let’s start with an example of crony capitalism. The federal government decided to subsidize the wealthy shareholders of…
A “Solyndra Rule” to Guide Federal Budget Policy
Just yesterday, I proposed a “Golden Rule” for fiscal policy, based on the simple notion that the burden of government spending should grow slower than the private sector. And regular readers know about my narcissistic attempt to publicize “Mitchell’s Law” as a way of…
What’s the Difference Between an American Politician, a Greek Politician, and an Anguillan Politician?
Sounds like the beginning of a joke, sort of like, “A priest, a rabbi, and a minister walk into a bar…” But I have a serious point to make. I’m currently in Anguilla (yes, this is just one of the sacrifices I make in the fight for liberty), where I just gave a speech…
The Simple Solution to the European Fiscal Crisis
The welfare states of Europe are in deep trouble. Decades of over-taxing and over-spending have sapped economic vitality and produced high levels of debt. The high debt levels, by themselves, might not be a problem if European governments implemented good policy….
Over-the-Top Media Bias at Reuters
Life is difficult when you’re a cranky libertarian. President Obama’s latest stimulus scam was just rejected by the Senate, so I went online to read about this rare bit of good news. But my cheerful mood was undermined by a reprehensible bit of bias by the folks at…
No More Bailouts for the IMF
I’m not an expert on addiction, but it’s probably safe to assume that one would never treat an alcoholic by giving him more booze. Or treat an addict by giving him more drugs. So you won’t be surprised to learn that I’m opposed to bailouts. I’m against bailing out…
Will Republicans Choose Sequester Savings or a Supercommittee Surrender?
The budget fights this year began with the “shutdown” battle, followed by the Ryan budget and then the debt limit. These fights have mostly led to uninspiring kiss-your-sister outcomes, which is hardly surprising given divided government. Now the crowd in DC is…