by Dan Mitchell | Dec 26, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations
It’s time to correct a sin of omission. In five-plus years of blogging, I haven’t given nearly enough attention to the wisdom of the late (and great) Milton Friedman. Yes, I did say he was at the top of my list of great economists in a 2010 interview, and I’ve cited...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 22, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian
I wrote earlier this year about the “perplexing durability” of Keynesian economics. And I didn’t mince words. Keynesian economics is a failure. It didn’t work for Hoover and Roosevelt in the 1930s. It didn’t work for Japan in the 1990s. And it didn’t work for Bush...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 19, 2014 | Blogs, Economics, States
I’m a big fan of federalism for both policy and political reasons. Returning programs to the states is the best way of dealing with counterproductive income-redistribution policies such as welfare, Medicaid, and food stamps. Federalism is also the right way of...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 18, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
Like a lot of libertarians and small-government conservatives, I’m prone to pessimism. How can you be cheerful, after all, when you look at what’s been happening in our lifetimes. New entitlement programs, adopted by politicians from all parties, are further adding to...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 17, 2014 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Genuine tax reform would be the second-best fiscal policy reform to boost economic growth.* With a simple and fair tax system, we could get rid of high tax rates that penalize productive behavior. We could eliminate the double taxation that discourages saving and...
