by Dan Mitchell | Apr 17, 2024 | Blogs, Economics, Trade
Five years ago, I shared this video explaining why trade deficits generally don’t matter. The most important thing to understand is that a trade deficit is the same thing as a financial account surplus (formerly known as a capital surplus), which is easy to...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 12, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Free Market, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Since this is my last full day in Sweden, I want to build upon my previous two columns (on long-run tax policy and pandemic spending policy). We’ll start with this video explaining that Sweden is not socialist. Johan Norberg is correct. Sweden does not...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 6, 2024 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
I wrote about Botswana yesterday, but focused on the narrow issue of how some of that nation’s leaders dunked on virtue-signaling politicians in Germany and the United Kingdom. But I did share a chart about how Botswana has out-performed other African...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 4, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations
Sensible regulation requires cost-benefit analysis. In other words, do the positive effects of a government intervention outweigh the negative effects? For instance, a nationwide, 5-miles-per-hour speed limit definitely would reduce traffic fatalities,...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 3, 2024 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
In 2021, I shared a cartoon strip about a worker blaming capitalism after losing his job following an increase in the minimum wage. One month ago, I shared a meme with a similar message. It showed the European Central Bank investigating supposedly...
