by Dan Mitchell | Dec 9, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Fifteen years ago, I explained that the bailout of Greece (by the IMF-EC-ECB “troika“) was a mistake because the net effect was a much bigger tax burden and no reduction in the spending burden. And I did the same thing five years ago and found the same...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 1, 2023 | Blogs, Education
It’s not easy being a libertarian, especially when your job is to protect economic liberty. Politicians have a natural incentive to increase the size, scope, and power of government. In almost all cases, our freedoms are best protected when politicians...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 10, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs
Back during the TARP bailout of Wall Street, a clever person created a satirical bailout application form. It was amusing, of course, but also made a serious point about “moral hazard,” which is what happens when government policy rewards bad behavior. I’m...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 25, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending
I wrote yesterday to speculate about a possible fiscal crisis in Italy. Today, here are my thoughts on why there should not be a bailout if/when a crisis occurs. I have moral objections to bailouts, but let’s focus in this column on the practical impact. And let’s...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 25, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Education
As a general rule, some of the worst people are attracted to the world of politics. As such, we should never be surprised when politicians push bad policy. But there are bad ideas…and there are really bad ideas. At the risk of understatement, Biden’s...
