by Dan Mitchell | Aug 9, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations
What’s the best way to understand the burden of government regulation and red tape? Is it better to focus on the overall burden by sharingdata about aggregate cost, job losses, time wasted, and foregone growth? Or is it better to look at specific examples of...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 7, 2015 | Blogs, Economics
Is the third time the charm, at least for bailouts? First, we had the TARP bailout in the United States, and that turned out to be a corrupt mess. Second, we had the Greek bailout, which has squandered hundreds of billions of euros to prop up a welfare state. Now we...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 2, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
I wrote last month that the debt burden in Greece doesn’t preclude economic recovery. After all, both the United States and (especially) the United Kingdom had enormous debt burdens after World War II, yet those record levels of red ink didn’t prevent growth. Climbing...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 1, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
One of the reasons I repeatedly compare market-oriented countries with statist nations is to show that even minor differences in growth, if sustained over time, can have enormous impact on living standards for ordinary people. And that’s why we should be very worried...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 30, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Not all birthdays are a cause for untrammeled joy. Most of us baby boomers, for instance, don’t like being reminded that we’re getting older. And for folks who follow fiscal policy, the fact that Medicare is now 50 years old is hardly a cause for celebration.That’s...