by Dan Mitchell | Nov 22, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
I shared an astounding chart last month showing that tax increases account for 90 percent of the so-called “austerity” in Europe. The author of the chart, Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center, calls this “private sector austerity” and she correctly argues that her...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 19, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
I agree that Obama inherited a crappy economy, and I think it is silly to assert that he bears any responsibility for the severity of the 2007-2009 recession. But it is very fair to hold him responsible for what’s happened since the recession ended. I’ve cited data...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 17, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market, Health Care
When I travel, particularly overseas, I run into a lot of people who are totally confused about the American healthcare system. For all intents and purposes, they think the United States relies on the free market and that government (at least in the pre-Obamacare era)...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 15, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
Obama has staked out a very dogmatic and inflexible position on class-warfare tax hikes and he obviously wants all of us to think only the “rich” will be impacted. I think it’s foolish to penalize investors, entrepreneurs, small business owners and other upper-income...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 14, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Taxation
I’m a big believer in the Laffer Curve, which is the common-sense proposition that changes in tax rates don’t automatically mean proportional changes in tax revenue. This is because you also have to think about what happens to taxable income, which can move up or down...
