by Dan Mitchell | Jul 7, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
When I make speeches about fiscal policy, I oftentimes share a table showing the many nations that have made big progress by enforcing spending restraint over multi-year periods. I then ask audiences a rhetorical question about a possible list of nations that have...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 5, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Monetary Policy, Regulations
I appreciate tax havens for many reasons, mostly having to do with the importance of having some sort of external constraint on the tendency of politicians to over-tax and over-spend. But I also like these low-tax jurisdictions for non-tax reasons. And high on my list...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 4, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Based on a new report from the Congressional Budget Office, I wrote two weeks ago about America’s dismal long-run fiscal outlook. Simply stated, we face a Greek-style fiscal future because of changing demographics and poorly designed entitlement programs. But I was...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 3, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Back in 2010, I described the “Butterfield Effect,” which is a term used to mock clueless journalists for being blind to the real story. A former reporter for the New York Times, Fox Butterfield, became a bit of a laughingstock in the 1990s for publishing a series of...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 2, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
Advocates of economic liberty, free market, and small government haven’t enjoyed many victories in the 21st Century. Government got bigger and more expensive during Bush’s reign, starting in his first year with the No Bureaucrat Left Behind legislation and then ending...