Daily Analysis

Great Moments in Foreign Government

I saw this odd story about wasteful government spending in James Taranto’s Best of the Web email. The bureaucrats at Britain’s National Health Service are sqandering thousands of dollars to create a giant “Burger Boy” as part of a government…

The New Deal Hurt the Economy

A great column in the Wall Street Journal explains how FDR’s policies hurt the economy. That is true, but the really interesting part of the column for me is that it explains how Roosevelt (and then Truman) were convinced the economy would return to depression…

Bernanke's Hollow Deficit Warning

Even though I’ve been in Washington almost 25 years, I am endlessly amazed at the chutzpah of people who support higher spending and bigger government while piously lecturing the rest of us about the need to control deficits. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is a good…

Richard Rahn on the IRS and its (lack of) Morality

Richard Rahn recently wrote an article in the Washington Times about issues of morality and the IRS.  His conclusions about the oppressive nature of the federal tax bureaucracy and accurate contrasts with state tax agencies are particularly relevant in April.  Would…

Walter Williams: Is Secession the Answer?

Because the looters and moochers in Washington have made a mockery of the Constitution, Professor Williams wonders whether the only solution is for advocates of limited government to split off and create an America based on traditional principles of self reliance and…

Look Before You Leap on Nuclear Energy.

In his Townhall column, John Stossel cites my Cato colleague Jerry Taylor as he explains that nuclear energy may not be viable without government subsidies. President Obama recently announced $8 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power plants. I smiled when I…

In Chicago the Dead Vote, in New York They Pay Taxes.

The New York City NBC affiliate reported this week that twenty six professional tax preparers were wanted or arrested on tax fraud charges as the result of a recent crackdown.  Some of the preparers allegedly used the names of dead people to collect fraudulent…