Most people have a vague understanding that America has a huge long-run fiscal problem. They’re right, though they probably don’t realize the seriousness of that looming crisis. Here’s what you need to know: America’s fiscal crisis is actually a spending crisis, and…
Daily Analysis
The French Government’s Moral Depravity and Self-Imposed Fiscal Suicide
Appearances can be deceiving. I saw an article with a blaring headline that warmed my heart: “France’s Sarkozy Eyes Welfare Rethink, Fraud Clampdown.” Could it be, I thought, that the political elite finally realized that the welfare state was the wrong model? Had…
Maybe Communism Isn’t So Bad After All
I’ve previously posted about the communist government of Cuba cutting taxes and the CEO of Coca-Cola saying that communist China has a more business-friendly climate than the United States. Having grown up during the Cold War, I still have a hard time believing my…
Helping to Explain Greece’s Collapse in a Single Picture
Politicians in Europe have spent decades creating a fiscal crisis by violating Mitchell’s Golden Rule and letting the government grow faster than the private sector. As a result, government is far too big today, and nations such as Greece are in the process of fiscal…
Social Security Administration Sides with “Adult Baby,” Dumps Diaper Contents on Taxpayers
I must not be very bright. Even after decades of experience in Washington, I still have this naive belief that bureaucrats and politicians will occasionally do the right thing – even if for no other reason other than to cover their rear ends after being caught doing…
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…
Tom Sowell: So Many Left-Wing Hoaxes to Debunk, So Little Time
I recently posted an excellent video showing how the War on Poverty has been a disaster for both taxpayers and poor people. Let’s now look at a specific example of the income-redistribution racket. Professor Thomas Sowell has a superb column, which begins by noting…
Economics 101 Video Tackles Poverty
The latest video from our Economics 101 Series tackles poverty, an issue frequently used to pull heart-strings in support of big government policies. But as the video shows, big government redistribution schemes are not making the problem better, and are likely making…
A Real-Life Welfare Queen
During his 1976 campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, Ronald Reagan popularized the notion of “welfare queens” who bilked redistribution programs for thousands of dollars. It has since become non-PC to use such a term, but that’s never stopped me. Here’s a…
Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall, Which State Has the Biggest Welfare Benefits of All?
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities is a left-wing group in Washington that advocates for bigger government and higher taxes. In an effort to promote more redistribution, they recently put together a map showing how welfare benefits varied by state. We’re…