by Dan Mitchell | Jan 29, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
The famous French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand supposedly said that a weakness of the Bourbon monarchs was that they learned nothing and forgot nothing. If so, the genetic descendants of the Bourbons are now in charge of Europe. But before explaining why,...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 15, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Which state gets the biggest share of its budget from the federal government? Is it California, the left’s bizarre alternative universe? Is it Illinois, the poster child for big-government excess? Nope, not even close. As a matter of fact, those two jurisdictions are...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 20, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Education, Government Spending
While I have great fondness for some of the visuals I’ve created over the years (especially “two wagons” and “apple harvesting“), I confess that none of my creations have ever been as clear and convincing as the iconic graph on education spending and education...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 19, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Learning from the tremendous success of welfare reform during the Clinton Administration, the entire Washington-based welfare state should be junked. It’s a complicated and costly mess that traps poor people in dependency while ripping off taxpayers and creating very...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 18, 2016 | Blogs, Society
The concept of secession (part of a jurisdiction breaking away to become independent) has a bad reputation in the United States because it is linked to the reprehensible institution of slavery. But, as Walter Williams has explained, secession today may be an effective...