Earlier this year, I explained that tax revenues would soon climb above their long-run average of 18 percent of GDP, even if the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts were made permanent. In other words, the nation’s fiscal challenge is entirely the result of a rising burden of…
Daily Analysis
Obama’s Fiscal Plan: Real Tax Hikes and Fake Spending Cuts
If done well, an image can say a thousand words. The Heritage Foundation shows us what Obama has in mind when he talks about a “balanced” plan. This chart, while horrifying and visually powerful, actually understates the case against Obama. The President is not…
Government Benefits Encourage Unemployment
It’s not something I should admit since I work at a think tank, which is based on the idea that substantive analysis can impact public policy, but I sometimes think humor and anecdotes are very effective in helping people understand issues. On the topic of…
A Laffer Curve Warning about the Economy and Tax Revenue for President Obama and other Class Warriors
Being a thoughtful and kind person, I offered some advice last year to Barack Obama. I cited some powerful IRS data from the 1980s to demonstrate that there is not a simplistic linear relationship between tax rates and tax revenue. In other words, just as a restaurant…
A Journalist’s First-Hand Report on the Corrupt Secrecy of an International Bureaucracy
As a taxpayer, I’m not a big fan of international bureaucracies. They consume a lot of money, pay themselves extravagant (and tax-free!) salaries, and generally promote statist policies. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a prime…
A Simple Lesson of Policy Diversity from “The Black Swan” Author: Don’t Put All Your Financial Eggs in One Regulatory Basket
Several months ago, I wrote a rather wonky post explaining that the western world became rich in large part because of jurisdictional competition. Citing historians, philosophers, economists, and other great thinkers, I explained that the rivalry made possible by…
Richard Epstein Discusses the Flat Tax
In addition to being my former debating partner, Richard Epstein is one of America’s premiere public intellectuals. You can watch him make mincemeat out of George Soros in this video, for instance, and you can listen to his astute observations about his former law…
Europe’s Slow-Motion Fiscal Suicide
I shared an astounding chart last month showing that tax increases account for 90 percent of the so-called “austerity” in Europe. The author of the chart, Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center, calls this “private sector austerity” and she correctly argues that her…
Higher Taxes Mean Bigger Government, not Lower Deficits
President Obama and other statists in Washington want a big class-warfare tax hike. They claim the additional revenue is necessary to reduce red ink. But their ideological crusade is based on some blatant distortions. They tell us that tax increases are necessary, but…
Now that the Election Is Over, the Washington Post Admits that the Obama Recovery Has Been Terrible
I agree that Obama inherited a crappy economy, and I think it is silly to assert that he bears any responsibility for the severity of the 2007-2009 recession. But it is very fair to hold him responsible for what’s happened since the recession ended. I’ve cited data…