by Dan Mitchell | May 21, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation, Welfare and Entitlements
The American Enterprise Institute has published a comprehensive budgetary plan entitled, “Tax and spending reform for fiscal stability and economic growth.” Authored by Joseph Antos, Andrew G. Biggs, Alex Brill, and Alan D. Viard, all of whom I know and admire, this...
by Dan Mitchell | May 20, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Flat Tax, Taxation
In my ultimate fantasy world, Washington wouldn’t need any sort of broad-based tax because we succeeded in shrinking the federal government back to the very limited size and scope envisioned by our Founding Fathers. In my more realistic fantasy world, we might not be...
by Dan Mitchell | May 16, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
There’s an old saying that you shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you. Unfortunately, politicians in Washington don’t follow that advice. Let me explain. All economic theories – even Marxism and socialism – agree that capital formation is a necessary condition for...
by Dan Mitchell | May 11, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
America has a giant long-run problem largely caused by poorly designed entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. So when I wrote last month about proposals by some Democrats to expand Social Security, I was less than enthusiastic....
by Dan Mitchell | May 9, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Tax Competition, Taxation
I wrote just yesterday about new evidence showing that decentralized government is more efficient. Part of the reason is because local governments are easier for voters to monitor and more likely to reflect the actual preferences of residents. Another reason is tax...