by Dan Mitchell | May 14, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
I have no idea whether Donald Trump believes in bigger government or smaller government. Higher taxes or lower taxes. More intervention or less. Sometimes he says things I like. Sometimes he says things that irk me. Politicians are infamous for being cagey, but “The...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 29, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
We can learn a lot of economic lessons from Europe. Never adopt a VAT unless you want much bigger government. Bigger government means lower living standards. Don’t believe Bernie Sanders about the Nordic nations. Today, we’re going to focus on another lesson, which is...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 24, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
As a general rule, I’m not overly concerned about debt, even when looking at government red ink. I don’t like deficit and debt, to be sure, but government borrowing should be seen as the symptom. The real problem is excessive government spending. This is one of the...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 8, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Europe, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
The most depressing data about America’s economy is not the top tax rate, the regulatory burden, or the level of wasteful of government spending. Those numbers certainly are grim, but I think they’re not nearly as depressing as America’s demographic outlook. As you...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 27, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Europe, Government Spending, Taxation
With both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders agitating for higher taxes (and with more than a few Republicans also favoring more revenue because they don’t want to do any heavy lifting to restrain a growing burden of government), it’s time to examine the real-world...