I’m not a big fan of Obamanomics. I don’t like the President’s class-warfare mentality on taxes. I don’t like his support for Keynesian spending policy. And I don’t like his costly expansions of government such as Obamacare. Indeed, I even like mocking his reflexive…
Daily Analysis
Led by North Carolina and Kansas, a Look at States Moving in the Right Direction
My colleagues Chris Edwards and Nicole Kaeding have just released the biannual Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors from the Cato Institute. The Report Card is on the Cato Institute’s most impressive publications sincedevelopments on the state level help…
Texas Is Booming…but CNN Doesn’t Want You to Know Why
Much of my writing is focused on the real-world impact of government policy, and this is why I repeatedly look at the relative economic performance of big government jurisdictions and small government jurisdictions. But I don’t just highlight differences between…
America’s Anti-Competitive and Anti-Comity International Tax System, Part I
Most of us will never be directly impacted by the international provisions of the internal revenue code. That’s bad news because it presumably means we don’t have a lot of money, but it’s good news because IRS policies regarding “foreign-source income” are a poisonous…
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, which Nation and State Punish Success Most of All?
I’ve shared some interested rankings on tax policy, including a map from the Tax Foundation showing which states have the earliest and latest Tax Freedom Days. There’s also a depressing table showing that the United States “earns” a lowly 94th place in a ranking of…
The OECD’s Scheme to Raise Tax Burdens on Workers, Consumers, and Investors
People pay every single penny of tax that politicians impose on corporations. The investors that own companies obviously pay (more than one time!) when governments tax profits. The workers employed by companies obviously pay, both directly and indirectly, because of…
The Laffer Curve and Limits to Class Warfare Tax Policy
I’m a big advocate of the Laffer Curve. Simply stated, it’s absurdly inaccurate to think that taxpayers and the economy are insensitive to changes in tax policy. Yet bureaucracies such as the Joint Committee on Taxation basically assume that the economy will be…
Embarrassment Alert: America’s Tax System Ranks Below Italy, Greece, and Mexico
I’ve complained over and over again that America’s tax code is a nightmare that undermines competitiveness and retards growth. Our aggregate fiscal burden may not be as high as it is for many of our foreign competitors, but high tax rates and poor design mean the…
Can Greece Be Rescued?
I’m a pessimist about public policy for two simple reasons: 1) Seeking power and votes, elected officials generally can’t resist making short-sighted and politically motivated choices that expand the burden of government. 2) Voters are susceptible to bribery,…
What’s the Best Tax Haven for American Citizens?
Since I spend considerable time defending tax competition, fiscal sovereignty, and financial privacy, people sometimes think I can give competent advice on how best to protect one’s income from the IRS. Hardly. Like most people in Washington, I’m all theory and no…