by Dan Mitchell | May 27, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Europe, Government Spending
Guido Westerwelle is supposed to be the German version of a libertarian. Currently serving as Foreign Minister, he was the chairman of the supposedly pro-market Free Democratic Party for 10 years and Wikipedia says he was known as a “proponent of an unlimited free...
by Dan Mitchell | May 21, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Financial Privacy, Tax Competition, Taxation
It seems that there’s nothing but bad news coming from Europe. Whether we’re talking about fake austerity in the United Kingdom, confiscatory tax schemes in France, or bailouts in Greece, the continent seems to be a case study of failed statism. But that’s not...
by Dan Mitchell | May 15, 2012 | Blogs, Europe, Tax Competition, Taxation
I wrote last year about a tax protest in Ireland, and I wrote earlier this year about a tax revolt in Greece. But Irish and Greek taxpayers are wimps compared to their Italian compatriots. When Italians decide to have a tax revolt, they don’t kid around. Here are some...
by Dan Mitchell | May 9, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I wrote a detailed blog post yesterday, showing that European governments have been very reluctant to restrain the burden of government spending. Part of the problem is that the debate in Europe is a no-win exercise, pitting proponents of higher taxes (which is...
by Dan Mitchell | May 8, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Europe, Government Spending, Keynesian
With both France and Greece deciding to jump out of the left-wing frying pan into the even-more-left-wing fire, European fiscal policy has become quite a controversial topic. But I find this debate and discussion rather tedious and unrewarding, largely because it pits...