by Dan Mitchell | Feb 10, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
International development experts often write about a “middle-income trap.” According to this theory, it’s not that challenging for nations to climb out of poverty, but it’s difficult for them to take the next step and become rich countries. The theory makes sense to...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 10, 2019 | Blogs, Free Market, Trade
Time for the final installment in my four-part video series on trade-related topics. Part I focused on the irrelevance of trade balances. Part II looked at specialization and comparative advantage. Part III explained trade and creative destruction. Here’s Part IV,...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 5, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
I’m currently in Chile, enjoying the warm sun and doing research on the nation’s impressive economic performance. I met yesterday with Jose Pinera, the former minister who created Chile’s incredibly successful system of personal retirement accounts (he’s also one of...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 29, 2018 | Blogs, Free Market, Trade
President Trump’s view of global trade is so bizarre, risky, uninformed, misguided, and self-destructive that I periodically try to maintain my sanity by reviewing the wisdom of one of America’s greatest presidents. Ronald Reagan’s remarks in 1985 about the...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 24, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Free Market
I wrote a column earlier this month about the “world’s most depressing tweet,” which came from the Census Bureau and noted that the suburbs of Washington, DC, are the richest parts of America. To be sure, I was engaging in a bit of hyperbole since a tweet about...