by Dan Mitchell | Dec 13, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Big government and socialism are bad for prosperity, but are such policies nonetheless popular? Do people want a bigger welfare state? This great video from the Fraser Institute provides the answers (if you’re pressed for time, start watching at 4:15). And if you...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 11, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Given the dirigiste mindset of the nation’s politicians, I’ve joked that France’s national sport is taxation. And I mocked a former French President for graciously and mercifully deciding that no residents should pay more than 80 percent of their income...
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 | Dec 8, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs
My everything-you-need-to-know columns don’t actually reveal everything you need to know about an issue. But they always capture some essential truth about the inherent inefficiency and/or stupidity and/or malignancy of government. That’s true for state...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 29, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs
Let’s return to our analysis of Argentina’s libertarian President. In Part 1 of this series, I showed how Javier Milei has done a great job shrinking the burden of government spending. In Part II, I investigated how much he might be able to improve Argentina’s ranking...
