by Dan Mitchell | Mar 26, 2014 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a widespread consensus that high tax rates were economically misguided. Many Democrats, for instance, supported the 1986 Tax Reform Act that lowered the top tax rate from 50 percent to 28 percent (albeit offset by increased...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 24, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Last month, I shared a very interesting video from Canada’s Fraser Institute that explored the link between economic performance and the burden of government spending. There’s now an article in the American Enterprise Institute’s online magazine about this research....
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 25, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
One of my goals is to convince people that even small differences in long-run growth can have a powerful impact on living standards and societal prosperity. In other words, the economy is not a fixed pie. The right policies, such as free markets and small government,...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 22, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
What’s the best state in America? I’m not sure I can answer that broad question, but I can address the more narrow issue of which state has the most economic freedom. Last month, for instance, I shared some data from the Canada-based Fraser Institute which showed that...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 18, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
There’s an old joke about two guys camping in the woods, when suddenly they see a hungry bear charging over a hill in their direction. One of the guys starts lacing up his sneakers and his friend says, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear.” The other guys...