The fiscal policy debate often drives me crazy because far too many people focus on deficits. The Keynesians argue that deficits are good for growth and this leads them to support more government spending. The “austerity” crowd at places such as the International…
Daily Analysis
FATCA: Exposing the IGA Bait-and-Switch
There are many problems with the FATCA intergovernmental agreement (IGA) process. From a US perspective, they agreements represent a subversion of the proper treaty process, an unconstitutional expansion of executive powers, and an unwise commitment to saddle US banks…
Federalism Is Good Policy and Good Politics
It’s a challenge to be a libertarian in Washington because you have to swim against the tide. The vast majority of people in town are looking for excuses to spend money and amass power, and a small band of us are trying to convince them that the federal government…
Powerful Evidence for School Choice
I expressed pessimism a few days ago about the possibility of replacing the corrupt internal revenue code with a flat tax. Either now or in the future. But that’s an exception to my general feeling that we’re moving in the right direction on public policy. I’ve shared…
Unexpected Praise for Australia’s Private Social Security System
One reason I’m so bullish on Australia is that the nation has a privatized Social Security system called “Superannuation,” with workers setting aside 9 percent of their income in personal retirement accounts (rising to 12 percent by 2020). Established almost 30 years…
Barack Obama’s $8 Trillion Output Gap
I’m not a very exciting guy. It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m perusing the Budget and Economic Outlook from the Congressional Budget Office. But sometimes it pays to be a nerd because I just found an interesting tidbit of information. Here’s what CBO says about the…
The Revised Bowles-Simpson Tax-Hike Plan Might Be even Worse than the Previous Version
I wrote last September that the budget plan put forward by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson was fatally flawed. There were some positive features in the plan, to be sure, such as lower marginal tax rates. And I suppose it’s worth noting that the burden of government…
Why Art Laffer’s Unfortunate Endorsement of an State Sales Tax Cartel Is Misguided
Art Laffer has a guaranteed spot in the liberty hall of fame because he popularized the common-sense notion that you can’t make any assumptions about tax rates and tax revenue without also figuring out what happens to taxable income. Lot’s of people on the left try to…
It’s Tax Freedom Day, So Congratulations (if You Don’t Live in New York, California, New Jersey, Illinois, etc)
It’s time to celebrate. That’s because we have reached Tax Freedom Day, meaning that – in the aggregate – we have finally earned enough money to pay for all the federal, state, and local taxes that will be imposed on us this year by our political masters. But we’re…
There’s Not Much Hope for Tax Reform
In recent months, I’ve displayed uncharacteristic levels of optimism on issues ranging from Obamacare to the Laffer Curve. But this doesn’t mean I’m now a blind Pollyanna. We almost always face an uphill battle in our efforts to restrain the power and greed of the…