Never let it be said I back down from a fight, even when it’s the other team’s game, played by the other team’s rules, and for the benefit of the wrong person. And that definitely went through my mind when U.S. News & World Report asked me to contribute to their…
Daily Analysis
Lasting Economies Are Not Built
During his State of the Union speech, President Obama expressed his desire for an “economy built to last,” an oxymoron emblematic of the President’s embrace of Keynesianism and other failed economic philosophies. Simply put, strong economies are not…
Dan Mitchell’s State-of-the-Union Tax Analysis
I’ve already posted the Cato Institute’s overnight response to the President’s state-of-the-Union speech. Here’s the Dan Mitchell pre-SOTU speech to congressional staffers. I’ve already had people ask me for the charts I used in the speech. Here’s the double taxation…
Since Obama’s Class-Warfare Tax Policy Is Failing in Illinois, Why Does He Think It Will Work for the Entire Country?
President Obama’s two biggest “achievements” since taking office are the so-called stimulus and government-run healthcare. But neither one of those policies are popular, so the President largely ignored them during his state-of-the-union address and instead focused on…
The Laffer Curve Works, Even in France
One year ago, I wrote about how the French government was getting unexpected additional revenues following the implementation of lower tax rates. This is the Laffer Curve in action, and it’s happening again in France, only this time because the government reduced the…
Should the Fiscal Pyromaniacs at the IMF Get another $500 Billion so They Can Advocate Keynesian Spending and Class-Warfare Tax Hikes?
Perhaps the title of this post is a bit unfair since the International Monetary Fund is good on some issues, such as reducing subsidies. And some of the economists at the IMF even produce good research. But I can’t help but get agitated that this behemoth global…
Deconstructing Jonathan Alter’s “Five Myths about Barack Obama” in the Washington Post
The Washington Post is a left-wing newspaper, so I’m never surprised to find examples of biased reporting. Last month, for instance, I made fun of the Post for asserting that Germany was “fiscally conservative.” I also mocked the Post last March, when a reporter…
Illinois Leftist Does a Facepalm, Confirming that Higher Taxes Enable Higher Spending While Trying to Make the Opposite Point
Two days ago, I explained that tax increases are bad policy. More specifically, I warned that giving more money to government exacerbates fiscal problems because politicians respond to the expectation of more revenue by spending more than otherwise would be the case….
Making Obama Seem Reasonable by Comparison, Merkel and Sarkozy Propose Higher Taxes to “Strengthen Growth Now”
The German Chancellor and French President have put together a plan to boost growth. Sounds like a good goal, but what specifically are they proposing? Some of the obvious ideas include: Lowering tax rates to boost incentives for productive behavior. Reducing the…
Obama Administration Supports Rogue IRS Regulation in Order to Please Europeans, Even though It Will Undermine American Banks and Hurt the U.S. Economy
I’ve written several times about a proposed IRS regulation that would force American banks to put foreign law above U.S. law. I’ve repeatedly warned that the scheme, which would force financial institutions to report the deposit interest they pay to foreigners, is bad…