by Dan Mitchell | Jan 11, 2021 | Blogs, Economics
I have repeatedly warned that nations get in fiscal trouble when government is too big and growing too fast. In such countries, it’s very common to find high levels of government debt as one of the symptoms of excessive spending. This can create the conditions for a...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 10, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Back in 2015, just five years ago, it seemed like entitlement reform might happen. Republicans in the House and Senate voted for budgets based on much-needed changes to Medicare and Medicaid. That was only a symbolic step with Obama in the White House, to be sure, but...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 27, 2020 | Blogs, Taxation
When examining state public policy, big jurisdictions such as California, Texas, New York, and Florida get a lot of attention. But what about Mississippi? It has mediocre scores for overall economic policy. It’s #29 according to the American Legislative Exchange...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 23, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
Public finance experts sometime differ in how to describe a value-added tax. Is it a hidden form of a national sales tax, imposed at each stage of the production process? Is it a hidden withholding tax on income, imposed at each stage of the production process? Both...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 21, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, States
Back in July, I wrote a three-part series designed to identify the states with the greediest politicians. Part I was based on the top income tax rate in each state. Part II was based on the sales tax rate in each state. Part III was based on the burden of government...
