by Dan Mitchell | May 12, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
As I’ve written before, our fight to restrain the size and scope of government will be severely hamstrung – perhaps even mortally wounded – if the crowd in Washington ever succeeds in getting a value-added tax as a new source of revenue. This is why many statists are...
by Dan Mitchell | May 3, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Tax Competition, Taxation
Seven years ago, I wrote about the “Butterfield Effect,” which is a term used to mock clueless journalists. A former reporter for the New York Times, Fox Butterfield, became a bit of a laughingstock in the 1990s for publishing a series of articles addressing the...
by Dan Mitchell | May 2, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. In theory, that means a long-overdue opportunity to eliminate wasteful programs and cut pork-barrel spending. In reality, it mostly means business as usual. Politicians in Washington just reached a deal...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 29, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
If I had to pick my least-favorite tax loophole, the economist part of my brain would select the healthcare exclusion. After all, that special preference creates a destructive incentive for over-insurance and contributes (along with Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, etc)...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 27, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
I expressed pessimism yesterday about Trump’s tax plan. Simply stated, I don’t think Congress is willing to enact a large tax cut given the nation’s grim fiscal outlook. In this Fox Business interview, I elaborated on my concerns while also pointing out that the plan...
