I’m testifying tomorrow to the Joint Economic Committee about “The Economic Costs of Debt-Ceiling Brinkmanship.” I won’t give away what I’m going to say (though you can probably figure out my views rather easily by reading this, this and this), but I do want to share a chart from my testimony. It shows that it […]
read more...As an advocate of small government, I’m often distressed that I sometimes have to rely on Republicans in Washington to fight statism. Why am I distressed? Because some of the worst people in Washington are GOPers. They may give lip service to fiscal responsibility when campaigning, but then conveniently forget that rhetoric when it’s time […]
read more...I’ve certainly offered more than my fair share of Obamacare criticism. Since I’m a public finance economist, I’m mostly concerned that the law increases the fiscal burden of government. But I’m also irked that Obamacare will worsen the third-party payer crisis, which it the main problem with our health care system in America. And it […]
read more...I’ve written about how Obamacare is a costly boondoggle. I’ve written how it victimizes children, low-income workers, and retirees. And I’ve explained how it exacerbates the real problem in our healthcare system. I’ve even pointed out that there’s something good in the law. But I’ve never bothered to discuss how bad laws usually aren’t as […]
read more...I’ve shared some remarkable data showing that bureaucrats get paid more than people in the private sector. I’ve also dug into the Department of Labor’s JOLTS data to debunk those who argue bureaucrats aren’t overpaid. I’ve even showed that they work fewer hours (though that’s probably a good thing since presumably the nation will be […]
read more...Bitcoin, a digital cryptocurrency, is a potentially disruptive technology offering both social and economic gains. While the technology that has revolutionized peer-to-peer payments is growing in popularity, it is nevertheless vulnerable to being stamped out by overzealous regulators and reactionary politicians. Bitcoin is the world’s first decentralized digital currency. Its revolutionary use of a public, […]
read more...Back in 2012, I reported on some academic research showing that Democrats lost about 25 seats in the 2010 mid-term elections because of support for Obamacare. But it’s not just big-government entitlement programs that are politically unpopular. Bill Clinton admitted that his ban on so-called assault weapons boomeranged against Democrats in the 1994 elections and […]
read more...At the risk of oversimplifying, there are two major challenges to overcome when you’re a pro-freedom policy wonk in Washington. The first challenge is getting people to connect the dots. They may understand that the job market is weak and they may understand that redistribution programs are overly generous, but can you help them understand […]
read more...Based on the dismal data from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve (as well as our own experiences), we know Obamanomics doesn’t work in the United States. But we also know bigger government doesn’t work in France. And we know it doesn’t work in Japan. We know it doesn’t work in Spain. We know it doesn’t work […]
read more...Most Western nations have huge long-run fiscal problems because of unfavorable demographics and misguided entitlement programs. That’s the bad news. The good news is that dozens of nations have fully or partially shifted to mandatory private savings as a pro-growth way of modernizing bankrupt tax-and-transfer Social Security systems. But good news in the short run […]
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