by Dan Mitchell | Aug 25, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs
Milton Friedman was one of the the 20th century’s greatest defenders of capitalism and individual freedom. He had marvelous insights on issues such as fiscal policy, Sweden, tax competition, and other people’s money, but one of my favorite Friedman quotes is about the...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 18, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs
Politicians and interest groups periodically fan the flames of temporary panic to push for misguided policy. We’ve already seen three big examples this century. The so-called PATRIOT Act was enacted in the feverish aftermath of 9-11, but many of its provisions simply...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 10, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Compared to most of the world, Japan is a rich country. But it’s important to understand that Japan became rich when the burden of government was very small and there was no welfare state. Indeed, as recently as 1970, Japan’s fiscal policy was rated by Economic...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 3, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
There’s a reason that Greece is almost synonymous with bad economic policy. The country has endured some terrible prime ministers, most recently Alexis Tsipras of the far-left Syriza Party. Andreas Papandreou, however, wins the prize for doing the most damage. He...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 31, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I wrote last month about “anarcho-capitalists” who think we don’t need any government because markets can provide everything. Most people, though, think that there are certain things (such as national defense and the rule of law) that are “public goods” because they...
