Almost two years ago, I wrote that bailing out Greece was misguided because it would dig the debt hole deeper. More recently, I wrote an I-told-you-so post that looked at my four original predictions and patted myself on the back for being accurate (not that it took…
Daily Analysis
Record Government Spending Seen for 2011
President Obama and Vice President Biden are currently playing the role of traveling snake-oil salesmen, peddling their latest wares in the form of yet another so-called stimulus bill. At the heart of their pitch are claims that would have you believe that up is down,…
Debating against Obama’s So-Called Stimulus, Advocating Pro-Growth Policy
I’m going to be in New York City next week to join with Richard Epstein as we participate in an Intelligence Squared debate against Mark Zandi and Cecilia Rouse. I’m looking forward to this event because Richard Epstein is a rock star for freedom. It also gave me an…
Should Washington Re-Inflate the Housing Bubble?
I have no idea whether George Santayana was a good philosopher, but he certainly was right when he wrote, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Consider the fools in the U.S. Senate. They just voted to expand Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…
More “Success Stories” from the So-Called Stimulus
Wow. Even by the low standards of government, here are a couple of remarkable stories about government waste from Obama’s failed stimulus scheme. Let’s start with an example of crony capitalism. The federal government decided to subsidize the wealthy shareholders of…
Social Security Administration Sides with “Adult Baby,” Dumps Diaper Contents on Taxpayers
I must not be very bright. Even after decades of experience in Washington, I still have this naive belief that bureaucrats and politicians will occasionally do the right thing – even if for no other reason other than to cover their rear ends after being caught doing…
In One Chart, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the European Fiscal Crisis
I would have structured this flowchart differently, for reasons I discuss in this post, but this is pretty good picture of why Europe is in trouble. They say all roads lead to Rome, and this flowchart shows all roads lead to a banking crisis (see this post to…
A “Solyndra Rule” to Guide Federal Budget Policy
Just yesterday, I proposed a “Golden Rule” for fiscal policy, based on the simple notion that the burden of government spending should grow slower than the private sector. And regular readers know about my narcissistic attempt to publicize “Mitchell’s Law” as a way of…
What’s the Difference Between an American Politician, a Greek Politician, and an Anguillan Politician?
Sounds like the beginning of a joke, sort of like, “A priest, a rabbi, and a minister walk into a bar…” But I have a serious point to make. I’m currently in Anguilla (yes, this is just one of the sacrifices I make in the fight for liberty), where I just gave a speech…
“Capitalism without Bankruptcy Is Like Religion without Hell”
After any news appearance, I torment myself by watching the clip and telling myself I should have said something differently or raised a different point. But I’m actually happy with this appearance on Fox Business News because I (hopefully) explained the difference…