Protectionism vs. Prosperity

Protectionism vs. Prosperity

In early 2019, I released this video summarizing some of the evidence for free trade. The bad news is that I must not be very persuasive. Trump continued with protectionist policy. The good news is that we now have more evidence against that form of government...
Tax Havens Are Good for Growth, Part II

Tax Havens Are Good for Growth, Part II

Yesterday’s column focused on the theoretical argument for tax havens. At the risk of oversimplifying, I explained that the pressure of tax competition was necessary to prevent “stationary bandits” from saddling nations with “goldfish government.” And I specifically...
Tax Havens Are Good for Growth, Part I

Tax Havens Are Good for Growth, Part I

As part of my presentation earlier this month to IES Europe, I discussed topics such as comparative economics and federalism. I also had a chance to explain why tax havens are good for global prosperity. Many of the points I made will be familiar to regular readers....
The “Grabbing Hand” of Industrial Policy

The “Grabbing Hand” of Industrial Policy

If you want to understand how government really works, learn about “public choice.” This is the common-sense theory that politicians and other people in politics often make decisions based on self interest, and it does a very good job of explaining why we get so many...