by Dan Mitchell | Dec 6, 2025 | Blogs, Europe, Welfare and Entitlements
If you want to know why I’m pessimistic about Europe (particularly compared to the U.S.), this chart is a good example. It shows that many European nations have enormous long-run liabilities for their Social Security systems. It’s an...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 24, 2025 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
In Part I of this series last year, we started with a table looking at the degree to which successful people were leaving some countries and moving to others. Let’s start Part II with a look at a map showing how much money they are...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 6, 2025 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT
The case against the value-added tax (VAT) is not complicated. Simply stated, this hidden type of national sales tax was a key precursor for the expansion of the European welfare state. As you can see in the chart, the burden of government spending...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 1, 2025 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending
Let’s look today at European fiscal policy. But instead of focusing on the immediate issue (the likelihood of another fiscal crisis), we’re going to investigate whether we can learn anything by looking at what’s happened in the past. My two cents, based...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 7, 2025 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
I have a three-part series (here, here, and here) about a likely fiscal crisis hitting Europe. As a matter of fact, I don’t actually think it is “likely.” It’s a given at this point. The only mystery is which domino falls first. My pessimism is based on...
