by Dan Mitchell | Aug 18, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Government Waste
The latest issue of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report contains some rather damning information about government incompetence in the United States. America ranks only 68th in the “Wastefulness of Government Spending” category (page 373) and 49th...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 18, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian
Paul Krugman recently argued that a fake threat from space aliens would be good for the economy because the people of earth would waste a bunch of money building unnecessary defenses. That was a bit loopy, as I noted a few days ago, but other Keynesians also have been...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 16, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Tax Competition, Tax Havens, Taxation
I’ve joked on many occasions that bipartisanship occurs in Washington when the evil party and the stupid party come up with an idea that is simultaneously malicious and misguided. The international version of two-wrongs-don’t-make-a-right occurs whenever the French...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 16, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
I’ve poked fun at Paul Krugman for his views on health care and British fiscal policy, and I’ve semi-defended him about unemployment subsidies and housing bubbles. Now it’s time for some more mockery. Back in 2001, Paul Krugman received some much-deserved criticism...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 14, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations
The governments of Spain, Italy, Belgium and (of course) France recently imposed 15-day bans on “short selling,” which means they are prohibiting people from making investments that would be profitable if certain stocks fall in value. According to the politicians, the...
