by Dan Mitchell | May 1, 2019 | Blogs, Economics
I have a very low opinion of leftist politicians, in large part because I suspect most of them privately understand their policies don’t work, but they don’t care because their main goal is the accumulation of political power (Crazy Bernie is an exception since he...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 28, 2019 | Uncategorized
Looking through an economic lens, what’s the best country in the world? If your benchmark is economic liberty, then Hong Kong is the answer according to both the Fraser Institute and Heritage Foundation. If per-capita GDP or per-capita wealth is your benchmark,...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 25, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Free Market, Socialism, Welfare and Entitlements
I’ve repeatedly dealt with the argument over Denmark’s supposed socialism. My core argument is that Denmark is very bad on fiscal policy, but very laissez-faire on other issues such as regulation. The net effect is that Danes have about the same amount of economic...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 22, 2019 | Blogs, Trade
When I pontificate about trade, I often point out that protectionism is a net negative for the economy. Yes, it is possible to erect trade barriers that benefit specific sectors and protect certain jobs, and this is the “seen” benefit. But the “unseen” costs...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 21, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
The International Monetary Fund is one of my least favorite international bureaucracies because the political types who run the organization routinely support bad policies such as bailouts and tax increases. But there are professional economists at the IMF who do good...
