by Dan Mitchell | Apr 16, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
As I’ve repeatedly explained, governments generally get in fiscal trouble because politicians can’t resist spending lots of money when the economy is buoyant and therefore generating lots of tax revenue. And this is why I’m a huge fan of spending caps. If outlays...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 14, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
If you follow the contest between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, most of the tax discussion is about who has the best plan to squeeze the rich with ever-higher tax rates. For those motivated by spite and envy, Bernie Sanders “wins” that debate since he wants...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 13, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
I recently wrote a primer on the issue of tax evasion, which is illegal. I made the elementary point that low tax rates and a simple tax code are the best (and only good) way of promoting high levels of tax compliance. Now let’s shift to the related topic of tax...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 10, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Tax Competition, Taxation
I’m hoping the “Panama Papers” issue will quickly fade from the news (as happened after a similar data theft from BVI in 2013) for the simple reason that even left-leaning reporters will get bored when they discover it is mostly a story about internationally active...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 6, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Flat Tax, Government Spending, Tax Competition, Taxation
There’s no agreement on the most important variable for state tax competitiveness. You could make a strong case that it is the overall share of income taken by politicians in the state. Or you could argue that the tax system for employers is the key metric. And the...
