A couple of weeks ago, I proposed a “Golden Rule of Fiscal Policy” that was probably a bit too wordy. Good fiscal policy exists when the private sector grows faster than the public sector, while fiscal ruin is inevitable if government spending grows faster than the…
Daily Analysis
CBO’s Witch-Doctor Economics and Gypsy Forecasting
I’ve criticized the Congressional Budget Office for generating biased and inaccurate numbers. These are the clowns, after all, who say deficit spending stimulates the economy in the short run but they also rely on a model which seemingly predicts 100 percent tax rates…
Four Reasons Why Keynesian “Stimulus” Does Not Work
Professor Allan Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon University has a must-read column in today’s Wall Street Journal, beginning with what should be an obvious statement. Those who heaped high praise on Keynesian policies have grown silent as government spending has failed to…
Did I Lose, or Are the People of New York City Unworthy?
Folks of a certain age, who watched ABC’s Wide World of Sports, will remember the phrase “the agony of defeat.” Well, that’s what Richard Epstein and I endured Tuesday night at the Intelligence Squared debate in New York City. We were battling against two Keynesians,…
The Vatican Should Try to Save Souls, not Ruin Economies
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…
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…