by Dan Mitchell | Apr 1, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
It’s amazingly simple to reduce the burden of government spending. Policy makers simply need to impose some modest spending restraint so that government doesn’t grow faster than the economy’s productive sector. In a display of humility that can only be found in...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 31, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation, VAT
I warned just last week about the dangers of letting politicians impose a value-added tax. Simply stated, unless the 16th Amendment is repealed and replaced with a new provision forever barring the re-imposition of any taxes on income, a VAT inevitably would be a new...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 30, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
There’s a “convergence” theory in economics that suggests, over time, that “poor nations should catch up with rich nations.” But in the real world, that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. There’s an interesting and informative article at the St. Louis...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 25, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
Last week, I applauded the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees for proposing budgets that complied with my Golden Rule, which means the burden of government would grow slower than the private sector. But my praise was limited because neither budget is...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 24, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Taxation
With tax day fast approaching, it’s time to write about our good friends at the Internal Revenue Service. One of the new traditions at the IRS is an annual release of tax scams. It’s know as the “dirty dozen” list, and while it may exist mostly as a publicity stunt,...
