America’s Fiscal Problem Is Excessive Government Spending

by Dan Mitchell | Nov 6, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending

I don’t spend much time worrying about why the United States has a big budget deficit. I’m much more concerned about the fact that the federal government is too big and that it is spending too much. Moreover, there’s plenty of...

TABOR Is America’s Fiscal “Gold Standard”

by Dan Mitchell | Nov 4, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending

If Republicans do as well as expected in next Tuesday’s mid-term elections, especially with regard to gubernatorial and state legislative contests, I expect that more states will enact and expand on school choice in 2023. That will be great...

European Fiscal Policy Week, Part IV: Bad U.K. Monetary Policy Leads to Bad U.K. Fiscal Policy

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 27, 2022 | Blogs, Europe

I was excited about the possibility of pro-growth tax policy during the short-lived reign of Liz Truss as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. However, I’m now pessimistic about the nation’s outlook. Truss was forced to resign...

European Fiscal Policy Week, Part III: A Continent-Wide Spending Problem

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 26, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending, Taxation

I discussed Italy’s looming fiscal crisis on Monday and then argued against a potential bailout on Tuesday. Today, let’s focus on the rest of Europe. I gave a presentation yesterday in Brussels about “Public Finances in the Eurozone” and used the...

European Fiscal Policy Week, Part II: The Right Response to Italy’s Fiscal Crisis

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 25, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending

I wrote yesterday to speculate about a possible fiscal crisis in Italy. Today, here are my thoughts on why there should not be a bailout if/when a crisis occurs. I have moral objections to bailouts, but let’s focus in this column on the practical impact. And let’s...