by Dan Mitchell | Oct 15, 2013 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation, VAT
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Bill Clinton. In part, that’s because economic freedom increased and the burden of government spending was reduced during his time in office. Partisans can argue whether Clinton actually deserves the credit for these good...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 10, 2013 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
The Tax Foundation in Washington does some great work on fiscal issues, but I also admire their use of maps when they want to show how various states perform on key indicators. They’re best known for “Tax Freedom Day,” which measures how long people have to work each...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 18, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
We have an amazing man-bites-dog story today. Let’s begin with some background information. A member of the European Commission recently warned that: “Tax increases imposed by the Socialist-led government in France have reached a “fatal level”…[and] that a series of...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 4, 2013 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Tax Competition, Taxation
I recently speculated whether Detroit’s fiscal problems should be a warning sign for the crowd in Washington. The answer, of course, is yes, though it’s not a perfect analogy. The federal government is in deep trouble because of unsustainable entitlement programs...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 24, 2013 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
Maybe this means I’m not a nice person (notwithstanding my high score for tenderness in a recent test), but I can’t help but be happy when I read bad news about fiscal policy in high-tax welfare states. And because I’m a huge fan of tax competition, I get even happier...