by Dan Mitchell | Nov 7, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, States, Tax Competition, Taxation
We know that countries suffer when taxes get too high, in part because investors, entrepreneurs, and other successful taxpayers escape to jurisdiction with less oppressive fiscal regimes. France is a glaring example. On steroids. We know that states also suffer when...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 4, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Being a glass-half-full kind of guy, I look for kernels of good news when examining economic policy around the world. I once even managed to find something to praise about French tax policy. And I can assure you that’s not a very easy task. I particularly try to find...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 2, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Welfare and Entitlements
I’m currently in the Faroe Islands, a relatively unknown and semi-autonomous part of Denmark located in the North Atlantic. Sort of like Greenland, but too small to appear on most maps. I’m in this chilly archipelago for a speech to the annual meeting of the Faroese...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 1, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
At the beginning of the year, I was asked whether Europe’s fiscal crisis was over. Showing deep thought and characteristic maturity, my response was “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, are you ;@($&^#’% kidding me?” But I then shared specific reasons for pessimism, including the...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 30, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian
Keynesian economics is the perpetual motion machine of the left. You build a model that assumes government spending is good for the economy and you assume that there are zero costs when the government diverts money from the private sector. With that type of model, you...