Why Doesn’t Hillary Learn any Lessons from the Slow Suicide of California and other High-Tax States?

by Dan Mitchell | Sep 7, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, States, Tax Competition, Taxation

Here’s a quiz for readers. When politicians increase taxes, the result is: a) More spending? b) More red ink? c) Fewer jobs? d) Out-migration of productive taxpayers? e) Reduced competitiveness? f) Less investment? g) A bigger underground economy? h) More corruption?...

Free-Market Reforms Are Needed to Boost Chinese Prosperity and Stabilize the Economy

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 28, 2015 | Blogs, Free Market

At the risk of stereotyping, the Chinese people are remarkably productive when given the chance. Hong Kong and Singapore are dominated by ethnic Chinese, and those jurisdictions routinely rank among the world’s top economies. Taiwan is another high-performing economy...

Economic Freedom in America Is Declining Mostly Because of Creeping Protectionism and the Loss of Rule of Law and Property Rights

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 25, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations

This century has not been good news for economic liberty in the United States. According to Economic Freedom of the World, America has dropped from being the 3rd-freest economy of the world in 2001 to the 12th-freest economy in themost recent rankings. Perhaps more...

Bernie Sanders Is (Sort of) Right about Europe Being a Role Model for the United States

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 21, 2015 | Blogs, Europe

Bernie Sanders, Vermont’s pseudo-socialist senator, thinks that America can learn from Europe. He’s right. But he’s also wrong. That’s because he thinks that Europe is a role model to emulate rather than a warning signal of mistakes to avoid. Needless to say, that’s...

Estonia Demonstrates that Business Taxation Can Be Simple, Fair, and Conducive to Growth

by Dan Mitchell | Jul 23, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Tax Competition, Taxation

I’m very fond of Estonia, and not just because of the scenery. Back in the early 1990s, it was the first post-communist nation to adopt a flat tax. More recently, it showed that genuine spending cuts were the right way to respond to the 2008 crisis (notwithstanding...