by Dan Mitchell | Dec 9, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
At the risk of oversimplification and exaggeration, these six principles tell you everything you need to know about fiscal policy. For purposes of today’s column, let’s focus on Principle #3, which is that “Deficits and debt are symptoms of the underlying problem” of...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 3, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
One of America’s leading public intellectuals, Walter Williams, has passed away. In 2014, I shared a teaser for Suffer No Fools, a video biography of his life. To commemorate the life of this great man, here’s the full video. I first got to know Walter when I was a...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 24, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
Most readers care about economic developments and economic comparisons involving the United States. Some readers also care about what’s happening in other major nations, such as China, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Relatively few readers, by...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 20, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
Previous editions of the case for capitalism (Part I, Part II, and Part III) have focused on big-picture analyses of markets vs statism. Today, let’s look at a specific product that free enterprise has delivered. Younger readers may take smartphones for granted, but I...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 17, 2020 | Blogs, Economics
Japan is an interesting country to examine if you want insights about public policy. We can study the impact of population aging on fiscal outcomes. We can learn about the utter failure of Keynesian economics. We can understand why it’s a very bad idea to impose a...