by Dan Mitchell | Oct 1, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Bureaucracy
I have a “Bureaucrat Hall of Fame” to acknowledge individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty. As measured by sloth and waste, of course. But maybe I also need a “Bureaucracy Hall of Fame” for examples that capture the self-serving nature of departments,...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 21, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, States, Taxation
If you’re a curmudgeonly libertarian like me, you don’t like big government because it impinges on individual liberty. Most people, however, get irked with government for the practical reason that it costs so much and fails to provide decent services. California is...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 20, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Free Market
Earlier this month, as part of my ongoing series about convergence and divergence, I wrote about why South Korea has grown so much faster than Brazil. My main conclusion is that nations need decent policy to prosper, and Johan Norberg shares a similar perspective in...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 18, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
New Jersey is a tragic example of state veering in the wrong direction. Back in the 1960s, it was basically like New Hampshire, with no income tax and no sales tax. State politicians then told voters in the mid-1960s that a sales tax was needed, in part to reduce...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 10, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
With the election less than two months away, there’s a lot of discussion and debate about Trump’s performance. I put together a report card last year showing that his economic policies have been a mixed bag, with good grades on tax and regulation, but bad grades...
