I wrote last week about how the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based international bureaucracy, has launched a new campaign to promote class-warfare tax policy. I’ve since learned that the OECD’s effort is even more objectionable than I…
Daily Analysis
California’s Top-One-Percent Bureaucrats
Every so often (about 362 days per year), I come to the conclusion that government is a racket for the benefit of special interests. Greece would be an example. And if we limit ourselves to the United States, California is probably the poster child for a kleptocracy…
Two Early Thoughts on the Ryan-Wyden Medicare Plan
It’s obviously quite disappointing that Congressman Paul Ryan has teamed up with Senator Ron Wyden, a Democratic from Oregon, to put forth a significantly watered down version of his Medicare reform plan. Ben Domenech of the Heartland Institute and Peter Suderman of…
Economics Reporter from New York Times Has Accidental Encounter with Reality, Learns Nothing
Earlier this year, I wrote about how the person Obama put in charge of Medicare made some very interesting observations about prices, competition, and markets, but then drew exactly the wrong conclusion about what was needed to solve the third-party payer problem in…
Harry Reid’s Unicorn Economics
Harry Reid announced recently that millionaire job creators are “imaginary,” just like the “unicorns” that apparently advise him on economics: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggested on Monday that millionaires who create jobs are…
Another Reason to Be Proud of America
I posted some polling data a couple of weeks ago that showed how the dependency mindset (as captured by these cartoons) is far worse in Europe than it is in the United States. Now let’s look at some additional public opinion research from Gallup that illuminates…
Senator Schumer’s Feeble/Dishonest Grasp of Fiscal History
I’m not a big fan of Senator Schumer of New York. As I’ve noted before, he’s a doctrinaire statist who wants the government to have control over just about every aspect of our lives. But that describes a lot of people in Washington. I guess what also bothers me is his…
Real-World Evidence Showing that Unemployment Insurance Benefits Increase Unemployment
I’ve written before about the perverse impact of the unemployment insurance program, and I’ve even cited how left-wing economists such as Paul Krugman and Larry Summers admit that you get more joblessness when you pay people for not working. I’ve even shared a very…
New Video Punctures Myths about Great Depression, Exposes Damaging Impact of Statist Policies by Hoover and FDR
I’ve commented many times about the misguided big-government policies of both Hoover and FDR, so I can say with considerable admiration that this video packs an amazing amount of solid info into about five minutes. Perhaps the most surprising bit of info in the video…
Even Officials from the Clinton Administration Agree that the United States Should Have a Lower Corporate Tax Rate
Since the Clinton Administration turned out to be much more market-oriented than either his GOP predecessor or successor, this isn’t quite a man-bites-dog story. Nonetheless, it is still noteworthy that Elaine Kamarck, a high-level official from the Clinton White…