Thanks to tax competition and beginning with the cuts under Reagan and Thatcher, global tax rates have declined over the last several decades. In order to remain economically competitive, politicians have had to refrain from the excessive fleecing of taxpayers and…
Daily Analysis
Has Greedy IRS Overreach Doomed FATCA, or Just the Economy?
I recently noted that the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) would threaten America’s global economic dominance because, among other reasons, “Investment will instead go to places like China, where the government is unlikely to sign away their…
Obama Suffers a Painful Loss in the First Big Fiscal Battle of His Second Term
The statist agenda of ever-growing government requires more money going to Washington, which is why I think that proponents of limited government should do everything they can to block tax increases. This is the “starve the beast” theory, and I’ve previously explained…
OECD Outlines New Assault on Tax Competition
The latest attempt at ending tax competition was kicked off with an OECD report called “Addressing Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.” The paper is deeply troubling for advocates of tax competition and pro-growth policies.
Virginia’s RINO Infestation Results in Higher Taxes and More Spending
The number one goal for fiscal policy is to reduce the burden of government spending. The simple way to achieve this goal is to adhere to Mitchell’s Golden Rule and and make sure the private sector grows faster than the public sector. But when politicians fail to…
Corporate Jet Loopholes, Depreciation, and Common-Sense Tax Policy
I’m not a fan of loopholes in the tax code. I’ve complained about the number of pages in the tax code, the number of provisions in the tax code, and I’ve even groused about the rising number of pages in the instruction manual for the 1040 tax form. And I’ve…
The New York Times Calls (again) for Higher Taxes on Middle-Class Americans
ll statists want much bigger government, but not all of them are honest about how to finance a Greek-sized welfare state. The President, for instance, wants us to believe that the rich are some sort of fiscal pinata, capable of generating endless amounts of tax…
The Tax Code Shouldn’t Steer Capital to State and Local Governments at the Expense of Private Investment
I’m a proponent of a pro-growth and non-corrupt tax code. I mostly write and talk about the flat tax, though I’d be happy to instead accept a national sales tax if we could somehow get rid of the 16th Amendment and replace it with something so ironclad that even…
The OECD’s New Assault on Tax Competition Will Enable Higher Taxes and Bigger Government
Hardly anyone stands up for taxpayers. It’s the classic problem of concentrated interests and defused costs. Those who benefit from profligate government spending are strongly motivated to lobby for their pet handout. But every individual bit of waste only adds…
The Laffer Curve KO’s the IRS
What’s the revenue-maximizing tax rate? Since I’m interested in the growth-maximizing tax rate instead, I don’t think that’s even a legitimate question. That being said, it seems like everyone – both on the left and on the right – should agree that it makes no sense…

