During his State of the Union speech, President Obama expressed his desire for an “economy built to last,” an oxymoron emblematic of the President’s embrace of Keynesianism and other failed economic philosophies. Simply put, strong economies are not…
Daily Analysis
New Academic Study Confirms Previous IMF Analysis, Shows that Lower Tax Rates Are the Best Way to Reduce Tax Evasion
Leftists want higher tax rates and they want greater tax compliance. But they have a hard time understanding that those goals are inconsistent. Simply stated, people respond to incentives. When tax rates are punitive, folks earn and report less taxable income, and…
Is an Ex-Congressman Lobbyist Capable of Shame?
I’ve written before about the sleazy and corrupting impact of earmarks. And I’ve debunked the lobbyist arguments in favor of earmarks. Heck, I’ve even done NPR interviews about this unseemly Washington practice. So I like to think I’m reasonably knowledgeable about…
Good and Bad News in International Survey on Regulation
Even when the results coincide with my views, I have a jaundiced view of polling data. In large part, this is because the answers often depend on how a question is framed. That being said, I periodically link to polling data about economic policy if I think we can…
Dan Mitchell’s State-of-the-Union Tax Analysis
I’ve already posted the Cato Institute’s overnight response to the President’s state-of-the-Union speech. Here’s the Dan Mitchell pre-SOTU speech to congressional staffers. I’ve already had people ask me for the charts I used in the speech. Here’s the double taxation…
Since Obama’s Class-Warfare Tax Policy Is Failing in Illinois, Why Does He Think It Will Work for the Entire Country?
President Obama’s two biggest “achievements” since taking office are the so-called stimulus and government-run healthcare. But neither one of those policies are popular, so the President largely ignored them during his state-of-the-union address and instead focused on…
The Laffer Curve Works, Even in France
One year ago, I wrote about how the French government was getting unexpected additional revenues following the implementation of lower tax rates. This is the Laffer Curve in action, and it’s happening again in France, only this time because the government reduced the…
Newt Gingrich Wants to Send Our Wallets and Purses into Outer Space
I was nauseated when Newt Gingrich did the infamous global warming ad with Nancy Pelosi. I was disgusted when he criticized Paul Ryan’s entitlement reforms. But I’m not sure what my reaction is to Newt’s latest brain fart. For lack of anything clever, let’s just say…
Should the Fiscal Pyromaniacs at the IMF Get another $500 Billion so They Can Advocate Keynesian Spending and Class-Warfare Tax Hikes?
Perhaps the title of this post is a bit unfair since the International Monetary Fund is good on some issues, such as reducing subsidies. And some of the economists at the IMF even produce good research. But I can’t help but get agitated that this behemoth global…
Romney: A Total Failure on Double Taxation
Last night’s GOP debate did nothing to change my sour opinion of Mitt Romney. During a discussion about tax reform, he attacked Newt Gingrich for the supposed crime of not wanting to double tax capital gains. Here’s how Politico reported the exchange. Newt Gingrich…