Hopefully we’re all disgusted when insiders rig the system to rip off taxpayers. And I suspect you’re not surprised to know that the worst examples come from California, which is in a race with Illinois to see which state can become the Greece of America. Well, the…
Daily Analysis
A Simple Lesson of Policy Diversity from “The Black Swan” Author: Don’t Put All Your Financial Eggs in One Regulatory Basket
Several months ago, I wrote a rather wonky post explaining that the western world became rich in large part because of jurisdictional competition. Citing historians, philosophers, economists, and other great thinkers, I explained that the rivalry made possible by…
Can Treasury Con 50 Countries Into Relinquishing Their Fiscal Sovereignty?
Fresh off new delays in its implementation of the disastrous FATCA legislation, the Treasury Department has announced that it is in discussions with more than 50 countries to sign bilateral agreements…
The “Essential” Role of Tax Havens
Since one of my main priorities is to defend tax competition and tax havens, I’m always delighted to see others jump in the fight to defend fiscal sovereignty. Especially when those people clearly understand that so-called tax havens are necessary to restrain the…
The United States Ranks Near the Top in the World Bank’s Doing Business Index
I have a love-hate attitude toward international bureaucracies. I’m mostly negative about organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, UN, and OECD. In part this is because they are a very expensive burden on taxpayers, but also because they generally push for bad…
If You Want Good Tax Policy, Choose Jersey (but not New Jersey!)
I’m in Jersey, where I gave a speech last night. But not New Jersey, the state where you shouldn’t die. That’s the state that many people have been fleeing because they don’t like paying confiscatory taxes to finance bureaucrats who make as much as $320,000 per year….
What’s the Best Way of Achieving Good Fiscal Policy?
The half-joking response to the question in the title of this post is that policymakers should look at what’s happening in poorly run jurisdictions such as California, France, Illinois, and Greece – and then do just the opposite. In other words, steer clear of…
Arizona’s Antiquated Tax on Tangible Personal Property
Last week the Tax Foundation released report which provides a means for states to get away from a pernicious practice, one which many folks might be surprised to learn about. Most people think of property taxes as merely dealing with land and the structures on it,…
Amusing California Satire by Walter Williams, but What if Gov. Brown Takes It Seriously?
I periodically mock the crazy statists of California. The state is almost surely doomed to suffer a Greek-style fiscal chaos. The only unknown is whether Illinois will beat the Golden State into default. The politicians in Sacramento impose very high taxes to fund a…
The Laffer Curve Strikes Again: Revenues Falling in Spite of (or Perhaps Because of) Spain’s Punitive Corporate Tax Rate
I’ve shared evidence from around the world (England, Italy, the United States, and France) and from various states (Illinois, Oregon, Florida,Maryland, and New York) to argue that it is foolish to ignore the Laffer Curve. Not that it makes any difference. I’m slowly…