Many of us know that Obamacare will be very expensive and that supporters, aided and abetted by the Congressional Budget Office, deliberately low-balled the cost estimates. I’ve also cited my Cato colleague Chris Edwards, who has made a more comprehensive (and…
Daily Analysis
Great Moments in Government Waste
Every time some class-warfare Democrat or Charlie Brown Republican says we need higher taxes, I think of all the ways the government wastes money and I get angry because the political elite is ripping off the American people. Should we send more money to Washington…
Observations on the European Farce
Spain’s received a bailout, Greece is having another election tomorrow, and the European political elite is pushing for more centralization. In other words, business as usual in the continent where voters think you can get nothing for nothing (this satirical cartoon…
Will America Face a Greek-Style Fiscal Crisis?
Since I’ve written several times that the United States will face a fiscal crisis if entitlement programs aren’t reformed, you won’t be surprised to see that I repeat those points in this CNBC debate. But I’m not happy with my performance. Not because my leftist…
Swiss Bank Disclaimer: Americans Not Welcome
The price of American citizenship only seems to get costlier – and I’m not just talking about high taxes. For Americans living or working overseas, excessive US regulations are becoming a disruptive burden, as exemplified by this disclaimer from Swiss PKB…
Debating Keynesian Economics with Robert Reich on CNN
It seems that any argument about the economy eventually boils down to the core issue of whether government spending acts as a stimulus or whether it is – in the words of Thomas Sowell – a sedative that undermines prosperity. So when Robert Reich and I went on Erin…
Obama Is a Big Spender…Just Like Bush
A couple of weeks ago, I debunked the myth that Obama is a fiscal conservative by showing how TARP masks his real record. I then followed up that post by showing that Obama is a traditional leftist who spends on social welfare programs, but also did a final post…
You’ve Met Julia the Moocher, Now Meet Emily
The Obama campaign’s “Life of Julia” ad is a disturbing sign. It suggests that political strategists, pollsters, and campaign advisers must think that the people living off government are getting to the point where they can out-vote the people paying for government….
So-Called Paycheck Fairness Act Would Allow Government to Second-Guess Private Markets
Back in 2010, I cited the superb work of Christina Hoff Summers as she explained that we should let markets determine wages rather than giving that power to a bunch of bean-counting bureaucrats. She wrote that article because leftists at the time were pushing a…
Anti-Obesity Efforts Mean More Bloated Government, not Better Health
Back in 2009, I wrote about various schemes to impose taxes on unhealthy food. At the time, I was primarily concerned about the risks of giving politicians a new source of revenue that would be used to increase the burden of government spending. The folks at Reason TV…