by Dan Mitchell | May 21, 2010 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs, Uncategorized
Making himself and the Greek government even more of a global laughingstock, Greece’s President says he wants an investigation into the role of so-called speculators. Yes, I’m being serious. According to Bloomberg, he wants to blame investors who wisely...
by Dan Mitchell | May 19, 2010 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Taxation, Uncategorized
I feel like a broken record when I write about European fiscal policy. In almost all cases, I cite OECD data showing that countries are in fiscal trouble because of excessive spending rather than inadequate tax revenue. I then show that the politicians are using the...
by Dan Mitchell | May 13, 2010 | Bailouts, Blogs, Uncategorized, VAT
Only in the artificial bubble of Washington do you find people who are willing to make preposterous statements such as those contained in this David Ignatius column. He writes that we should adopt a value-added tax to avoid a Greek-style fiscal crisis, appararently...
by Dan Mitchell | May 10, 2010 | Blogs, Uncategorized
Here are some very depressing stories. The Daily Mail reports that a European Court has ruled that the U.K. no longer can impose restrictions on welfare payments to women married to suspected terrorists: A European court has instructed Britain to drop restrictions...
by Dan Mitchell | May 7, 2010 | Big Government, Blogs, Uncategorized
I always appreciate a column that sounds like I could have been the author, and this editorial from the WSJ hits the mark. The IMF/EU bailout is just masking the problems of a bloated welfare state and giving politicians some breathing room to avoid making the real...
