by Dan Mitchell | May 25, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
When I first came to Washington back in the 1980s, there was near-universal support and enthusiasm for a balanced budget amendment among advocates of limited government. The support is still there, I’m guessing, but the enthusiasm is not nearly as intense. There are...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 1, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
It’s amazingly simple to reduce the burden of government spending. Policy makers simply need to impose some modest spending restraint so that government doesn’t grow faster than the economy’s productive sector. In a display of humility that can only be found in...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 18, 2015 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
There’s a big fiscal battle happening in Europe. The relatively new Greek government is demanding continued handouts from the rest of Europe, but it wants to renege on at least some of the country’s prior commitments to improve economic performance by reducing the...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 1, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
I had a very bad lunch today. But not because of what I ate. My lunch was unpleasant because I moderated anoontime panel on Capitol Hill featuring Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and my Cato colleague Chris Edwards. And I should hasten to add that they were splendid...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 11, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Europe, Government Spending
Libertarians tend to like – or at least have a grudging respect for – the underground economy. For instance, even if we’re personally very straight-laced, we don’t like government prohibitions against gambling, drugs, and prostitution. This is why we’re not upset when...
