It is very sad that America’s tax system is so onerous that some rich people feel they have no choice but to give up U.S. citizenship in order to protect their family finances. I’ve written about this issue before, particularly in the context of Obama’s class-warfare…
Daily Analysis
Great Moments in Government Regulations: Special Accommodations for Pee-Shy Employees
Regulation is a hidden tax that in many cases raises the cost of creating jobs and generating wealth. Here are some staggering numbers. Americans spend 8.8 billion hours every year filling out government forms. The economy-wide cost of regulation is now $1.75…
Debunking the Austerity Charade in Europe
I wrote a detailed blog post yesterday, showing that European governments have been very reluctant to restrain the burden of government spending. Part of the problem is that the debate in Europe is a no-win exercise, pitting proponents of higher taxes (which is…
Paul Krugman and the European Austerity Myth
With both France and Greece deciding to jump out of the left-wing frying pan into the even-more-left-wing fire, European fiscal policy has become quite a controversial topic. But I find this debate and discussion rather tedious and unrewarding, largely because it pits…
The Geese with the Golden Eggs Are Preparing to Escape France
Even though he is a foolish statist, I wanted Francois Hollande to win the French presidency. Sarkozy was a statist as well, after all, and my “Richard Nixon Disinfectant Rule” says that it’s better to have the out-of-the-closet statist prevail in such contests in…
Olga and Julia: Moochers of the World Unite!
Back in 2010, I declared that Olga Stefou was a symbol of everything that’s wrong with the Greek welfare state. She was one of the protesters and – if the story captured her thoughts accurately – she displayed an unlimited entitlement mentality. Sort of helps one…
The Moral Case for Capitalism and Small Government
We know that the United States and most other developed nations are in deep trouble if we leave government policy on auto-pilot. And we know the painful day of reckoning will arrive even faster if we continue the Bush-Obama policies of expanding the burden of the…
Regarding the Value-Added Tax, Josh Barro Is Completely Right…and that’s Why He’s Completely Wrong
I’ve written before how “The Value-Added Tax Would Be a Money Machine for Big Government.” Writing for Bloomberg, Josh Barro has a piece entitled, “Value-Added Tax Would Raise Tons for U.S. Coffers.” So you might think we see eye to eye on this issue, but that would…
Australia vs. the United States: Two Charts that Tell You Everything You Need to Know about Social Security Reform
There are two serious problems with America’s Social Security system. Almost everyone knows about the first problem, which is that the system is bankrupt, with huge unfunded liabilities of about $30 trillion. The other crisis is that the system gives workers a lousy…
New IRS Regulation Shows the “Willful Negligence” of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner
CF&P’s been fighting for more than 10 years to stop an IRS regulation that would force American banks to put foreign tax law above US tax law. Sadly, we recently lost that battle when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner finalized the third version of the…