by Dan Mitchell | Nov 8, 2024 | Blogs, Monetary Policy
Why did Donald Trump win on Tuesday? There are lots of theories, but I think this chart played a big role. It shows how the Federal Reserve dramatically expanded its balance sheet in 2020 and 2021. In other words, the Fed created a bunch of new money....
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 28, 2024 | Blogs, Trade
Why has the United States imposed a trade embargo against Cuba for many decades? The answer is that both Republican and Democratic politicians have understood that trade restrictions will hurt the Cuban economy. Whether a Cuban blockade makes sense...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 8, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
If you want to understand Washington’s fiscal profligacy, this chart based on OMB data shows what has happened to the federal budget over the past 15 years. There are two big things to understand. We had some very admirable spending restraint...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 28, 2024 | Blogs, Uncategorized
Politicians are not good people. That’s why I have a “Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy” series (though I confess they all have the same message). Part I reviewed evidence of misbehavior by elected officials and their cronies. Part II reviewed evidence of...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 20, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Let’s look today at two of the worst public policy ideas, proposals that are so economically illiterate that they get support only from very dogmatic leftists. We’ll start with the deduction for state and local taxes. Since I’m a fan of the flat tax, I don’t...
