I wish there was a magic wand that somebody could wave and all of us would have more money. Or maybe Santa Claus could play that role, or some version of the Tooth Fairy. And if that magic person only had limited powers, I would want more money specifically for those…
Daily Analysis
Sweden, Spending Restraint, and the Benefits of Obeying Fiscal Policy’s Golden Rule
When I first started working on fiscal policy in the 1980s, I never thought I would consider Sweden any sort of role model. It was the quintessential cradle-to-grave welfare state, much loved on the left as an example for America to follow. But Sweden suffered a…
Whether You Call it Socialism, Statism, Fascism, or Corporatism, Big Government Is Evil and Destructive
Regular readers may have noticed that I generally say that advocates of big government are “statists.” I could call them “liberals,” but I don’t like that using that term since the early advocates of economic and personal liberty were “classical liberals” such as Adam…
Making Fun of Keynesian Economics
It’s sometimes difficult to make fun of Keynesian economics. But this isn’t because Keynesian theory is airtight. It’s easy, after all, to mock a school of thought that is predicated on the notion that you can make yourself richer by taking money from your right…
Assessing President Obama’s Economic Agenda
In recent weeks, I’ve pontificated on Obama’s spendthrift budget, Congressman Dave Camp’s timid tax reform plan, and the corrupt cronyism of Washington. I got to elaborate on all these topics – and more – in this interview with Professor Glenn Reynolds, more widely…
A Fiscal Lesson from Germany
Germany isn’t exactly a fiscal role model. Tax rates are too onerous and government spending consumes about 44 percent of economic output. That’s even higher than it is in the United States, where politicians at the federal, state, and local levels divert about…
Obama’s New Budget: Burden of Government Spending Rises More than Twice as Fast as Inflation
The President’s new budget has been unveiled. There are lots of provisions that deserve detailed attention, but I always look first at the overall trends. Most specifically, I want to see what’s happening with the burden of government spending. And you probably won’t…
Cronyism, Corruption, and D.C. Nepotism
No matter how much I pontificate about Washington corruption, there’s no way I can get across the true extent of the DC establishment’s self-serving behavior. Washington is rich because government is big and the beneficiaries of this system are enjoying their status…
The War on Poverty Has Made a Difference…but the Wrong Kind
On several occasions, I’ve observed that the poverty rate in America was steadily falling, but that progress came to a halt in the mid-1960s when the government declared a War on Poverty. And I almost always included a chart showing the annual poverty rate over…
Long-Term Growth and the Corrosive Impact of Obamanomics
One of my goals is to convince people that even small differences in long-run growth can have a powerful impact on living standards and societal prosperity. In other words, the economy is not a fixed pie. The right policies, such as free markets and small government,…