Implications of Washington’s Spending and Debt Binge

by Dan Mitchell | May 17, 2025 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending

Whenever anyone starts griping about government debt, I tell them they’re right. But I also tell that debt is just a symptom and that the real problem is an ever-growing burden of government spending. Moreover, I warn them that fixating on red ink...

Creative Destruction and Economic Performance

by Dan Mitchell | May 16, 2025 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market

Let’s start today’s column with a refresher look at my video on creative destruction. I had two goals with this video. First, creative destruction can be painful, but it is an inherent and necessary part of the growth process. Second, creative destruction happens from...

Calculating America’s Lead over Europe

by Dan Mitchell | May 14, 2025 | Blogs, Economics, Europe

There’s an enormous amount of data showing that people in the United States enjoy much higher livings standards than Europeans. That’s not too surprising since most European governments have adopted large-sized welfare states while...

The Economic Consequences of Ever-Growing Government in Finland

by Dan Mitchell | May 9, 2025 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Welfare and Entitlements

I’m currently in Finland for meetings with various people and I learned that the country’s bloated public sector and expensive welfare state are imposing a very heavy cost on the economy. How heavy of a cost? According to IMF data, there’s...

Part II: What’s the Better Role Model, France or Switzerland?

by Dan Mitchell | May 2, 2025 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations

Switzerland is a role model (the freest nation, the most-sensible nation, etc) and France is suffering from statism (biggest spending burden, confiscatory taxes, etc). As such, nobody should be surprised to learn that...