by Dan Mitchell | Apr 11, 2011 | Blogs, Economics, Financial Privacy, Tax Competition, Tax Havens, Taxation
I’m not a big fan of the IRS, but usually I blame politicians for America’s corrupt, unfair, and punitive tax system. Sometimes, though, the tax bureaucrats run amok and earn their reputation as America’s most despised bureaucracy. Here’s an example. Earlier this...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 5, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Forget all this talk about giant “spending cuts” of $6.2 trillion in Congressman Ryan’s budget plan. That’s music to my ears, but it’s also based on Washington’s bizarre budget math – i.e., the screwy system where politicians can increase spending but say they’re...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 4, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
This Thursday, April 7, Senator Corker of Tennessee will be the opening speaker at the Cato Institute’s conference on “The Economic Impact of Government Spending” (an event that is free and open to the public, so register here if you want to attend). The Senator will...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 1, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian
London was just hit by heavy riots as part of a protest against the “deep” and “savage” budget cuts of the Cameron government. This is not the first time the U.K. has endured riots. The welfare lobby, bureaucrats, and other recipients of taxpayer largesse are becoming...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 28, 2011 | Blogs, Economic Growth, Economics
Okay, the title’s an exaggeration, but this chart is rather revealing. It shows how per-capita GDP has changed between 1980 and 2008 in Chile, Argentina, and Venezuela. As you can see, Chile used to be the poorest of the three countries and now it is comparatively...