by Dan Mitchell | Jun 18, 2013 | Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
At the European Resource Bank conference earlier this month, Pierre Bessard from Switzerland’s Institut Liberal spoke on a panel investigating “The Link between the Weight of the State and Economic prosperity.” His presentation included two slides that definitely are...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 17, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
I’m not reluctant to criticize my friends at the Heritage Foundation. In some cases, it is good-natured ribbing because of the Cato-Heritage softball rivalry, but there are also real policy disagreements. For instance, even though it is much better than current...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 13, 2013 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Tax Havens, Taxation
It goes without saying that I’m always ready to defend tax havens when statists are seeking to undermine tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty. So when the BBC asked if I would debate the topic, I said yes even though I’m in Paris (where...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 11, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Europe, Government Spending, Keynesian, Taxation
It is reported that Henry Kissinger, commenting on the Iran-Iraq war, said something to the effect that, “Too bad both sides can’t lose.” I imagine lots of people felt the same way when two of the world’s worst murderers, Hitler and Stalin, went to war in 1941. I have...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 1, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian, Taxation
I want a smaller burden of government spending, so you can only imagine how frustrating it is for me to observe the fight in Europe. On one side of the debate you have pro-spenders, who call themselves “growth” advocates, but are really just Keynesians. On the other...