As noted in this blog back in August, the end of Labour rule in the U.K. will not mean the end of big government in that country. The new coalition government has already proposed a large tax hike on capital gains: At present investors only pay CGT of 18pc on gains…
Daily Analysis
Say Goodbye to England
Okay, the title of this post is an absurd exaggeration, but I am not optimistic about the future of the United Kingdom. Government spending has exploded over the last ten-plus years (the largest expansion in the burden of government spending among developed nations),…
Sleazy and Dishonest Ad from General Motors Shows Why Big Government and Big Business Is a Toxic Combination
It is now fully apparent that General Motors did not pay back any money to taxpayers, and certainly did not pay back the full amount, as stated in the reprehensibly dishonest ads produced by the company. The Obama Administration took part in the lie, which exposes an…
Act of Congress to Protect Against Acts of God
Eli Lehrer writes in the Weekly Standard this week about a bill from Congressman Ron Klein that seems to be companion legislation to Congressman Richard Neal’s Reinsurance Bill. The article correctly points out the anti-market effects of such legislation: Those who…
Great Moments in Government Stupidity.
The blogging about Greece is too depressing, so let’s kick a couple of government bureaucracies for bone-headed stupidity. This excerpt is from a Pajamas Media story about how the Customs bureaucrats mistakenly confused BB guns for machine guns, and then turned…
Victory Over Surveillance Statism in Arizona
Here’s a bit of good news to end the weekend. Arizona politicians have been forced to suspend a statewide speed camera program. I’m especially pleased to see that civil disobedience played a role in forcing politicians to pull the plug on the Orwellian…
Will the Greek Bailout Work?
As expected, the European Union and International Monetary Fund have chosen to subsidize the profligacy of Greek politicians. A deal has just been announced. As the Washington Post reports: Greece on Sunday announced a long-awaited deal with the European Union and…
Is Japan the Next Greece?
Total government debt is about 115 percent of GDP in Greece, which clearly is one of the factors that spooked investors and led to the bailout. But Japan – at least on paper – is in much worse shape with government debt approaching 200 percent of GDP. And…
The Next Step for Supply-Side Economics
Kevin Williamson has a long-overdue piece in National Review making two essential points about supply-side economics and the Laffer Curve. First, he explains that tax cuts are not the fiscal equivalent of a perpetual motion machine. Simply stated, too many Republicans…
Wall Street Journal Savages Greek Bailout
I always appreciate a column that sounds like I could have been the author, and this editorial from the WSJ hits the mark. The IMF/EU bailout is just masking the problems of a bloated welfare state and giving politicians some breathing room to avoid making the real…