Accusing a political opponent of being anti-science has become a standard tactic of both parties in recent years. These accusations are usually dishonest, as what the accuser typically means is that the accused is not properly weighing the costs and benefits of…
Daily Analysis
D.C. Needs to Junk Jock Tax Plan
The Washington Times recently reported that the D.C. Council’s plan to introduce a “jock tax” will need an unlikely vote from Capitol Hill to succeed. Hopefully for D.C. sports fans the proposal will fail. What is a “jock tax,” you might ask? It is an income tax…
Amazon Abandoning Greedy States with Online Retail Taxes
In continued news of people responding to tax competition, online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. has announced it is scrapping deals in Arkansas and Connecticut due to new legislation requiring new online retail taxes. As the Wall Street Journal reported: Amazon.com…
Bill Cosby Cites High Taxes As Reason For Not Performing In Canada
Bill Cosby, actor and comedian, cited the comparatively high taxes in Canada as to why he has no tour dates there anytime soon. Asked by a fan on his Twitter account why he isn’t coming to our neighbor to the North, he replied: It is a commonly held belief that famous…
Texas, California, and the Tale of the Coyote
I’ve already had a couple of blog posts commenting on how Texas is kicking California’s you-know-what. Being a fiscal policy person, I always point to California’s punitive state income tax as an example of bad policy and highlight the absence of any income tax in…
Two More Reasons to Hate Taxes
When all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail. That old saying makes a lot of sense. As a tax economist, I’m sometimes guilty of looking at all sorts of issues based on their relationship with the tax code. In my defense, however, the tentacles…
Noncompliance Leads to a Victory for Liberty
I’m glad I read Instapundit, because my day has been made brighter by the news that Arizona’s statists have given up on their money-grubbing speed camera program. Here’s a cheerful story which explains that widespread noncompliance was the key. Dozens of…
One Fish, Two Fish, High Tax, Low Tax
With apologies to Dr. Seuss, maybe that will be the name of a future book I’ll write about the anti-competitive impact of high tax rates. And one of my chapters will be about what we can learn from the states. Richard Rahn’s column in the Washington Times reviews some…
Illinois May Beat California to Bankruptcy
The New York Times has a story about the budget debacle in Illinois, which is a classic case of a state with too much government and too many overpaid bureaucrats. Other than being an example of what not to do, the most interesting aspect of what’s happening in…
America's Best Governor Wants to Starve the Beast
Chris Christie of New Jersey has done a remarkable job so far, but his biggest battles are still ahead of him. A key fight is whether the state will impose a cap on property taxes. As the Wall Street Journal opines, this reform has worked very well in Massachusetts…