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...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 17, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, States
One of the problems with state balanced budget requirements is that tax revenues are very sensitive to economic conditions. Boom Years: When there’s robust economic growth, politicians collect unanticipated revenue because more people have good jobs and more...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 6, 2020 | Blogs, Taxation
On election day, most people focus on the big-ticket partisan battles, such as this year’s contest between Trump and Biden. Let’s not forget, though, that there are sometimes very important referendum battles at the state (or even local) level. In 2019, I was very...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 3, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I identified four heroes from the “Battle of Ideas” video I shared in late August – Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher. Here’s one of those heroes, Milton Friedman, explaining what’s needed to control big government. For all intents...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 10, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
With the election less than two months away, there’s a lot of discussion and debate about Trump’s performance. I put together a report card last year showing that his economic policies have been a mixed bag, with good grades on tax and regulation, but bad grades...
