by Dan Mitchell | Jan 2, 2018 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
During the Obamacare bill-signing ceremony, Vice President Biden had a “hot mic” incident when he was overheard telling Obama that “this is a big f***ing deal.” And he was telling the truth. It was a big deal (albeit a wrong deal) from a fiscal perspective and a...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 24, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Yesterday’s column about “the tax nightmare before Christmas” was based on my fear that politicians will try to impose a value-added tax at some point in the not-too-distant future. Today’s column is about the spending nightmare that is already happening. The bottom...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 21, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Now that we have a final bill rather than a mere “agreement in principle,” let’s step back and consider some implications of tax reform. There are three reasons to be pleased and one reason to worry. Win: Less-destructive federal tax code There are several provisions...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 16, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Greece has confirmed that a nation can spend itself into a fiscal crisis. And the Greek experience also has confirmed that bailouts exacerbate a fiscal crisis by enabling more bad policy, while also rewarding spendthrift politicians and reckless lenders (as I...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 15, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Adopting tax reform (even a watered-down version of tax reform) is not easy. Some critics say it will deprive the federal government of too much money (a strange argument since it will be a net tax increase starting in 2027). Some critics say it will make it more...