by Dan Mitchell | Jan 13, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
I’ve previously pointed out that the so-called War on Poverty is a failure, both for poor people and for taxpayers. My main argument is that poverty was steadily declining throughout American history, but that...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 22, 2023 | Blogs
This series has reviewed Biden’s dismal record with regards to subsidies, inflation, protectionism, household income, fiscal policy, red tape, and employment. Today, let’s add poverty to the mix. We’ll start with a very depressing...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 17, 2023 | Big Government, Blogs, States, Welfare and Entitlements
Back in 2010, I put together a “Moocher Index” based on the percentage of non-poor people in each state getting government handouts. Based on that back-of-the-envelope calculation, Vermont, Mississippi, and Maine were the biggest moocher states and Nevada, Colorado,...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 10, 2023 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Ronald Reagan has many famous quotes, including “government is the problem” and “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” Channeling Reagan’s wisdom, I have repeatedly shared examples...
by Dan Mitchell | May 3, 2023 | Blogs, Taxation
In past columns on the topic of basic income, most of my attention has focused on how universal handouts would undermine the work ethic. To be succinct, I fear that a non-trivial share of the population would exit the labor force if they...
