by Dan Mitchell | Jan 2, 2021 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
Back on December 28, I shared four charts for the explicit reason that I wanted everyone to understand that average living standards in the western world have skyrocketed over the past few centuries. I could have used that data to clear up myths about “robber barons”...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 28, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
My recent three-part series (here, here, and here) explained why policy makers should seek to reduce poverty rather than inequality. I want to expand on that point today by showing why growing the pie is more important than how it is sliced. I’ve previously opined on...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 24, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
I don’t like higher taxes, whether looking at levies on income, capital gains, payroll, death, or consumption. But if asked to identify the worst way of hiking taxes, the wealth tax might lead the list because of the economic damage caused per dollar collected. If you...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 23, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
Ethical people, regardless of ideology, should be motivated by an empathetic desire to help the poor rather than a spiteful thirst to punish the rich. That was the message in Part I and Part II of this series. That’s also today’s message, and we’ll start with this...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 22, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
I began yesterday’s column with a short clip of me explaining why we should focus on reducing poverty, not reducing inequality. Here’s a more thorough discussion of the same topic. The video makes three central points, all of which are very sound. The economy is not a...
