by Dan Mitchell | Oct 10, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
The budget fights this year began with the “shutdown” battle, followed by the Ryan budget and then the debt limit. These fights have mostly led to uninspiring kiss-your-sister outcomes, which is hardly surprising given divided government. Now the crowd in DC is...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 1, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
Today, October 1, is the first day of the 2012 fiscal year. And if you’re wondering why America’s economy seems to have a hangover (this cartoon is a perfect illustration), it’s because politicians had a huge party with our money in FY2011. We don’t have final numbers...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 25, 2011 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Have you ever wondered why the tax code is a Byzantine mess that requires 72,000 pages of law and regulation? Hopefully you don’t ponder such dark and dreary thoughts, but the answer is that politicians and lobbyists have spent nearly 100 years creating all sorts of...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 24, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
The fiscal turmoil in Greece is not about fiscal balance. It’s a fight between looters and moochers such as Olga Stefou, who think taxpayers should endlessly subsidize everything, and the shrinking group of productive people who are pulling the wagon and keeping...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 17, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
Thomas Sowell just completed a three-part “Back to the Future” series, looking at a couple of fiscal policy issues. His unifying theme is how the political class fails (perhaps deliberately) to learn from mistakes. In Part I, he decimates President Obama’s new...