by Dan Mitchell | Oct 31, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Last year, I wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal making the case that families would benefit more from lower tax rates rather than targeted tax credits. My argument was simple and straightforward. Child-based tax cuts are an effective way of giving targeted...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 30, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
In my speeches, I routinely argue that an aging population is one of the reasons why we need genuine entitlement reform. A modest-sized welfare state may be feasible if a country has a “population pyramid,” I explain, but it’s a recipe for fiscal chaos when changing...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 29, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
The tax-reform landscape is getting crowded. Adding to the proposals put forth by other candidates (I’ve previously reviewed the plans offered by Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, and Donald Trump), we now have a reform blueprint from Ted Cruz. Writing...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 27, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan famously said “there you go again” when responding to one of Jimmy Carter’s attacks. Well, the Gipper’s ghost is probably looking down from Heaven at the new budget deal between congressional leaders and the Obama...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 25, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
It’s time for a lesson in tax economics. Though hopefully today’s topic won’t be as dry and boring as my missives on more technical issues like depreciation and worldwide taxation. That’s because we’re going to talk about the taxation of workers, which is something...