European Fiscal Policy Week, Part III: A Continent-Wide Spending Problem

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 26, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending, Taxation

I discussed Italy’s looming fiscal crisis on Monday and then argued against a potential bailout on Tuesday. Today, let’s focus on the rest of Europe. I gave a presentation yesterday in Brussels about “Public Finances in the Eurozone” and used the...

European Fiscal Policy Week, Part I: Italy’s Looming Fiscal Crisis

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 24, 2022 | Blogs, Europe

I’m in Europe to give a couple of speeches about fiscal policy, so I’m going to spend all week commenting on the continent’s (mostly miserable) fiscal policy. Let’s start with comments about Italy, the nation most likely to suffer a crisis. Normally, I tell...

Defending (sort of) European Economic Policy

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 17, 2022 | Blogs, Europe, Free Market

I write frequently about the economic damage caused by European fiscal policy, but today let’s comment on the (comparatively) good policies that exist on the other side of the Atlantic. We’ll start with this video excerpt from a presentation...

What Can We Learn by Comparing Relative Living Standards in OECD Nations?

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 8, 2022 | Blogs, Economic Growth

Because of my libertarian proclivities, I don’t like when people assert that the United States should have European-sized government. But this is not merely a question of ideology. I’ve repeatedly pointed out that there is a relationship between...

The Cost of Big Government in France

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 2, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements

I often cite the OECD’s data on “actual individual consumption” to show that the average American enjoys higher living standards than the average European. In this clip from a recent presentation, I compare the United States and France. I’m...