Much of the “stimulus” debate has revolved around macroeconomic issues. Obama squandered about $800 billion, supposedly to “jolt” the economy, but growth has been anemic and the employment situation has been miserable. But it’s equally instructive to look at the microeconomic impact. And that’s exactly what the folks at Reason TV did with this expose […]

By European standards, Germany is in pretty good shape. There’s a very large welfare state and the tax burden is quite onerous, both of which hinder growth, but Germany has been more responsible than the United States in recent years. And while this may be damning with faint praise, this modest bit of fiscal discipline […]

Last month, I shared a video about bloated bureaucracy from a group called Government Gone Wild. That generated a big response, so here’s another video from the same group, only this one looks at egregious examples of government waste. If you like videos on wasteful spending, but prefer a more attractive narrator, click here. And […]

I have a new article for National Review about the fallout from the Supercommittee. Among the points I make are: o We were lucky to dodge a tax hike. o There’s still a threat of a tax hike if big-government Republicans side with the so-called rational left in favor of a tax-increase proposal, such as […]

When I think about taxes, my first instinct is to rip up the corrupt internal revenue code and implement a simple and fair flat tax. When I think about Social Security, my first instinct is to copy dozens of other nations and implement personal retirement accounts. Unfortunately, the political system rarely generates opportunities to enact […]

bout a year ago, I spoke at a conference in Europe that attracted a lot of very rich people from all over the continent, as well as a lot of people who manage money for high-net-worth individuals. What made this conference remarkable was not the presentations, though they were generally quite interesting. The stunning part […]

Since I’ve written before about Canada’s remarkable period of fiscal restraint during the 1990s, I am very pleased to see that the establishment press is finally giving some attention to what our northern neighbors did to reduce the burden of government spending. Here are some key passages from a Reuters story. “Everyone wants to know […]

Some people have asked why I’m so agitated about the possibility that Republicans may acquiesce to tax increases as part of the Supercommittee negotiations. Rather than get into a lengthy discourse about the proper role of the federal government or an analysis of how the Bush-Obama spending binge worsened America’s fiscal situation, I think this […]

Yesterday, I unloaded on supposed conservatives who are toying with a tax increase to enable more government spending. Why would they take that route in the “Supercommittee” deliberations, I wondered, when they can deliver a guaranteed victory for taxpayers by holding firm and allowing a sequester to occur, which would automatically slow the growth of […]

What would you do if you saw somebody standing at the top of a skyscraper, about to jump? Would you avert your eyes in horror? Would you watch in dismay as they plummeted to the ground? These are similar to the thoughts that are going through my mind as I watch Republicans begin the process […]