I have a love-hate attitude toward international bureaucracies. I’m mostly negative about organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, UN, and OECD. In part this is because they are a very expensive burden on taxpayers, but also because they generally push for bad…
Daily Analysis
If You Want Good Tax Policy, Choose Jersey (but not New Jersey!)
I’m in Jersey, where I gave a speech last night. But not New Jersey, the state where you shouldn’t die. That’s the state that many people have been fleeing because they don’t like paying confiscatory taxes to finance bureaucrats who make as much as $320,000 per year….
How Do You Turn a Leftist into a Warmonger?
More than four years ago, as part of my efforts to promote and protect tax competition, fiscal sovereignty, and financial privacy, I narrated this video explaining the economic benefits of so-called tax havens. Pay close attention at the 1:07 mark. Yes, you heard…
The Simple Solution to the Fiscal Cliff
Augmented by some amusing cartoons, I’ve already warned that the hysteria about the fiscal cliff is basically a ploy by the politicians to extract more revenue to finance bigger government. Elaborating on this concern, I wrote a column for today’s New York Daily News….
California’s Economic Suicide and Other News from Yesterday’s Ballot Measures
I was surprised when the people of Oregon voted for a tax increase back in early 2010. Yes, I realize that the politicians and interest groups structured the measure so that the majority of voters would be unaffected. It was basically a class-warfare proposal, with a…
Will Natural Gas Cronyism Lead to a Post-Election Regulatory Deluge?
Veronique de Rugy documented today the degree to which the natural gas industry has captured the ear of government, receiving favorable treatment as a result: Public outrage at cronyism and corporate welfare is growing—and that’s all to the good. But don’t expect…
If Obama Beat Hoover, So What?
You know your record as President is abysmal when supporters are reduced to touting how much better you’ve done than Herbert Hoover. But that’s where Obama is at, apparently, as historian Robert McElvaine took to the New York Times a few days ago to make…
Price Controls Are Exacerbating the Damage of Hurricane Sandy
Price controls are a spectacularly foolish idea, and that’s true whether they’re imposed by thugs such as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela or bureaucrats at the Department of Health and Human Services. That’s why one of the 20th Century’s economic heroes is Ludwig Erhard, who…
If You Want Competent Government, You Should Support Small Government
I’ve written, ad nauseum, about the economic impact of excessive government spending. But I’ve also acknowledged that Article I, Section VIII of the Constitution grants specific powers to the federal government. What I’ve neglected to explore, though, is the key issue…
A Four-Picture Indictment: Final Pre-Election Jobs Report Is Not Good News for Obama
In some sense, the President is fortunate. I predicted a long time ago that he would win re-election if the unemployment rate was under 8 percent. Well, the new numbers just came out and the joblessness rate is 7.9 percent. So even though his stimulus failed, and even…