by Dan Mitchell | Dec 1, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Socialism
Fifty years ago, Venezuela was ranked #10 for economic liberty and enjoyed the highest living standards in Latin America Today, the nation is an economic disaster. Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro deserve much of the blame. Their socialist policies have dropped...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 30, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT
I wrote yesterday about Japan’s experience with the value-added tax, mostly to criticize the International Monetary Fund. The statist bureaucrats at the IMF are urging a big increase in Japan’s VAT even though the last increase was only imposed two months ago (in a...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 23, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
Free markets and limited government are a tried-and-true recipe for growth and prosperity. Indeed, it’s the only way for a poor nation to become a rich nation. Those are the policies that helpd North America and Western Europe become rich in the 1800s and it’s how...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 11, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Candidates such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders supposedly are competing for hard-left voters, while candidates such as Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg are going after moderate voters. But a review of Buttigieg’s fiscal policy suggests he may belong in the first...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 2, 2019 | Big Government, Government Spending, Health Care, Taxation
I’ve always considered Senator Bernie Sanders to be the most clueless and misguided of all presidential candidates. But I also think “Crazy Bernie” is actually sincere. He really believes in socialism. Elizabeth Warren, by contrast, seems more calculating. Her...
