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….
Daily Analysis
The Deadly Impact of Government-Run Healthcare in the U.K., but Don’t Expect a Krugman Retraction or Apology
The United Kingdom has one of the most statist healthcare systems in the world. Indeed, my Cato colleague Mike Tanner produced an excellent study showing that the U.K. system is more rigid and centralized than what is found even in nations such as Germany and France….
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…
Vote for the French Gal in the Stimulus Debate
The folks at U.S. News & World Report have posted an online debate on the never-ending topic: “Does Stimulus Spending Work?“ You know my thoughts on the topic, including my thumbs-down to Obama’s latest stimulus scheme, so it won’t surprise you to know that I…
Is This the Worst Thing Obama Has ever Said?
Over the years, Obama has said some really disturbing things. In my video on class warfare, I noted that Obama in 2008 said he wanted to raise the capital gains tax even if the government lost revenue. It was necessary to punish success, he said, to promote…
The No-Tax-Hike Pledge Is a Necessary (but not Sufficient) Condition to Restrain Big Government
I’m not sure why it has become my job to defend Grover Norquist from attacks, but I’ve done it before and now it’s time to do it again. But I’m not really defending Grover. Instead, I’m defending the wisdom and value of Grover’s no-tax-hike pledge. Especially when it…
Here’s a Powerful Example of Why Obama’s “Stimulus” Proposal for more Infrastructure Spending Should Be Rejected
As part of his latest “stimulus” scam, President Obama argues that the federal government should spend more money on infrastructure. Yet there is widespread evidence that politicians use such projects to squander money – often in exchange for contributions from…
The Greece-ification of America
I’ve posted several times about the dangers of creating too much government dependency, including a set of cartoons that illustrates how small welfare states inevitably erode social capital and create big welfare states. So you will understand that I am utterly…