by Dan Mitchell | Nov 7, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
The communist economic system was a total disaster, but it wasn’t because of excessive taxation. Communist countries generally didn’t even have tax systems. The real problem was that communism was based on central planning, which is the notion that supposedly wise...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 15, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
A couple of days ago, I (sort of) applauded Senator Bernie Sanders. Not for his views, which are based on primitive redistributionism, but because he challenged Republicans to state whether they support capitalism. And I think it would be very revealing to see which...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 4, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
Whenever I need to explain the difference between socialism and capitalism, I start by noting that socialism technically is different from Obama-style big-government redistributionism and cronyism. Socialism involves something more pervasive, involving government...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 22, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
The biggest mistake of well-meaning leftists is that they place too much value on good intentions and don’t seem to care nearly as much about good results. Pope Francis is an example of this unfortunate tendency. His concern for the poor presumably is genuine, but he...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 16, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
Last month, I cited data from Economic Freedom of the World to explain that the United States was becoming less competitive because of creeping protectionism and reductions in the rule of law and property rights. Now I have more bad news to share. Last year, the...