If You Count the Seen and the Unseen, Obama’s Corrupt Green-Energy Program is a Job Destroyer

by Dan Mitchell | Sep 15, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Energy, Government Spending

The President’s “green energy” loan program has turned into an embarrassment for the White House, in part because of the sordid corruption associated with the bankruptcy of Solyndra. But the subsidy program also has attracted some negative attention for its failure to...

Let’s Send Obama to the Vatican for an Economics Lesson

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 31, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation, VAT

I’m normally disappointed when religious figures comment on economics, particularly since they often turn the individual call to charity into a blank check for government-coerced redistribution. This runs contrary to individual choice, free will, and morality. So I’m...

New CBO Numbers Confirm – Once Again – that Modest Spending Restraint Can Balance the Budget

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 24, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending

The Congressional Budget Office has just released the update to its Economic and Budget Outlook. There are several things from this new report that probably deserve commentary, including a new estimate that unemployment will “remain above 8 percent until 2014.” This...

If Raising the Debt Ceiling and Issuing More Debt Was the Way To Preserve America’s Credit Rating, that Means…

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 20, 2011 | Blogs, Uncategorized

…Well, I’m not sure what it means. But it sure doesn’t make sense when you look at the big picture. A credit card company wouldn’t increase a deadbeat’s credit limit, so why is it a sign of fiscal prudence to give Uncle Sam more borrowing authority? That being said, I...

When Germany and France Both Agree on Something, You Can Safely Assume It Is a Terrible Idea

by Dan Mitchell | Aug 16, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Tax Competition, Tax Havens, Taxation

I’ve joked on many occasions that bipartisanship occurs in Washington when the evil party and the stupid party come up with an idea that is simultaneously malicious and misguided. The international version of two-wrongs-don’t-make-a-right occurs whenever the French...