While I’ve been somewhat critical of Senator Coburn’s willingness to raise taxes, I’ve never doubted that he is a sincere and tireless fighter for smaller government. Indeed, his staff periodically share examples of government waste that boggle the mind, though I…
Daily Analysis
Basic Economics for Financial Journalists and Other Dummies
While driving home last night, I had the miserable experience of listening to a financial journalist being interviewed about the anemic growth numbers that were just released. I wasn’t unhappy because the interview was biased to the left. From what I could tell, both…
Atlas Shrugged Comes to Detroit
In a perverse way, I’m glad that there are places such as Greece and Illinois. These profligate jurisdictions are useful examples of the dangers of bloated government and reckless statism. There also are some cities that serve as reverse role models. Detroit is a…
Needless Budget Drama in Congress, Time Machines, and some Debt Limit Humor
In the spirit of the budget battle, readers have to eat their peas (i.e., endure my analysis) before getting to the dessert menu of jokes from the late-night comics. The big news today is that Speaker Boehner had to cancel a vote on his “Budget Control Act” last…
Government Jobs are to Die For
The federal government fires so few of it’s workers that bureaucrats at a number of agencies are more likely to die in office than get a pink slip: Death — rather than poor performance, misconduct or layoffs — is the primary threat to job security at the…
Notwithstanding Paul Krugman’s Assurances, the United Kingdom Announces More Healthcare Rationing
A couple of years ago, Paul Krugman assured us that government-run healthcare was a good idea, writing that “In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We’ve all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are…
Does the Boehner Plan Include a Tax Increase Trap?
In an ideal world, GOPers would hold firm and not pass any debt limit until Democrats agreed to enact something like the Ryan plan/Cut-Cap-Balance. But I’ve never thought that was a realistic strategy. When we got to the drop-dead point, Obama would have Geithner or…
Debunking the Left’s Tax Burden Deception
I testified earlier today before the Joint Economic Committee about budget process reform. As part of the Q&A session after the testimony, one of the Democratic members made a big deal about the fact that federal tax revenues today are “only” consuming about 15…
Bossing People Around May Be ‘Fun’, but It’s Not Good Policy
New York Times columnist Mark Bittman is having a jolly good time contemplating ways to control other people. “It’s fun — inspiring, even — to think about implementing a program like this,” he declares. And what kind of program is he talking about? One…
A Message from Soros: Regulation for Thee, but Not for Me
I think it may be time to update the dictionary definition of irony. George Soros, the billionaire who finances statist organizations and causes in order to promote more government, has decided that he doesn’t want to deal with some of the new regulatory burdens…