I like sequestration. Automatic budget cuts might not be the best way of reducing the burden of government spending, but a sequester is better than leaving the federal budget on autopilot. Particularly since the “cuts” are mostly just reductions in already-scheduled…
Daily Analysis
Using the White House’s Own Benchmark, I Give Obamanomics an F on CNBC
I almost feel sorry for the ideologues and partisan hacks who feel obliged to defends Obama’s miserable economic performance. Keynesian spending policies and class-warfare tax policies have produced dismal economic performance, with unemployment stuck above 8 percent…
America’s Olympic Athletes Should Be Taxed on Their Winnings (but Not by the IRS)
My friends at Americans for Tax Reform have received a bunch of attention for a new report entitled “Win Olympic Gold, Pay the IRS.” In this clever document, they reveal that athletes could face a tax bill – to those wonderful folks at the IRS – of nearly $9,000…
George Leventhal Should Teach Paul Krugman about Public Finance and the Economics of Taxation
Montgomery County in Maryland is not exactly a hotbed of free market thinking or a bastion of limited government. It’s one of the richest counties in the nation, but not because of entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Instead, it’s a bedroom community for over-paid…
Here’s Why the Cayman Islands Is Considering Fiscal Suicide
What Do Greece, the United States, and the Cayman Islands Have in Common? At first, this seems like a trick question. After all, the Cayman Islands are a fiscal paradise, with no personal income tax, no corporate income tax, no capital gains tax, and no death tax. By…
On Death Tax, the U.S. Is Worse than Greece, Worse than France, and Even Worse than Venezuela
Considering that every economic theory agrees that living standards and worker compensation are closely correlated with the amount of capital in an economy (this picture is a compelling illustration of the relationship), one would think that politicians – particularly…
England’s Despicable Political Class Pushes Soviet-Style Tax Tactics
I wrote last week about David Gauke, a simpering and unctuous statist who said it was “morally wrong” for people to pay cash for services because that made it harder for the state to seize a share of the proceeds. And last month I condemned the country’s CINO…
Fighting Anti-Tax Haven Demagoguery on CNN
Tax Justice Network promoting an agenda driven study using shoddy assumptions.
Should Politicians Get a New Tax Without First Abolishing an Existing Tax?
I’ve explained before that I’m skeptical of the Fair Tax, hostile to the value-added tax, and opposed to other forms of a national sales tax for the simple reason that I don’t trust politicians to get rid of the income tax. Indeed, I fully suspect that the crowd in…
The New Assault on Financial Freedom
Over a week ago I predicted in an editorial that there would be continued attacks on financial privacy and tax competition, noting that attacks on Romney’s financial holdings were “part of this ongoing effort to undermine tax competition and make it easier…