My fight for freedom often requires great sacrifice. Last month, I went to Monaco and spoke about financial regulation and bailouts. Today, I’m in Bermuda, where I just gave a speech about tax competition. Both jurisdictions are remarkable places, among the richest…
Daily Analysis
States Show Tax Competition in Action
We often look at how tax competition affects nations, but the same concept applies to U.S. states as well. Two recent reports demonstrate what happens when politicians fail to understand just how tax competition works. In a report from the Maine Heritage Policy…
Do Budget Deficits Threaten American Competitiveness? Dan Mitchell vs. the Establishment
I recently took part in a symposium on “The Budget Deficit and U.S. Competitiveness.” Put together by the Council on Foreign Relations, five of us were asked to concisely explain our thoughts on the issue. Here’s some of what I wrote: Excessive government spending can…
Back-Door Tax Increases Are a Recipe for Bigger Government
Martin Feldstein’s on a roll, but not in a good way. Earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal, he advocated throwing in the towel on reforming Social Security into a system of personal retirement accounts. Today, in the New York Times, he endorses big tax…
Seven Reasons to Oppose Higher Taxes
As I have explained elsewhere, tax increases are a bad idea – unless you favor bigger government. And I’ve already added my two cents to the tax debate between Senator Coburn and Grover Norquist regarding the desirability of higher taxes. So it won’t surprise anyone…
If We Redistribute Income, Why Not Do the Same for Grades?
I posted a joke about this last year, but this video makes the point much more effectively. When you tax and redistribute income or grades, you penalize those who achieve and work hard. Kudos to the college kids who put this together. The volume sometimes is…
Why Do Rich Left-Wingers Support Class-Warfare Taxes?
Why do some people instinctively despise wealth and want to tear down those who are successful? This question has been percolating in my mind because I am in Monaco to speak to the IXth international conference of the Convention of Independent Financial Advisors. This…
White House to Propose 26 Percent Corporate Tax Rate?!? Look Before You Leap
According to an article in the New York Times, the Obama Administration is seriously examining a proposal to reduce America’s anti-competitive 35 percent corporate tax rate. The Obama administration is preparing to inject an unpredictable new variable into its…
Tax Increases Are Political Poison for the GOP
Republicans are fighting about taxes. But they’re fighting with each other, not Democrats. I’ve already written about this topic once, but the issue has become more heated, and the stakes have become much larger. And this time I’m going to focus on the political…
Senator Rubio, Representative Posey, and other Lawmakers Fighting to Stop IRS Proposal that Would Drive Investment from U.S. Economy
There hasn’t been much good economic news in recent years, but one bright spot for the economy is that the United States is a haven for foreign investors and this has helped attract more than $10 trillion to American capital markets according to Commerce Department…