by Dan Mitchell | Jul 7, 2014 | Blogs, Free Market
Over the past several years, I’ve repeatedly argued that you get more unemployment when the government pays people to be unemployed. But I’m not just relying on theory. I’ve cited both anecdotes and empirical research to bolster my case. You won’t be...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 28, 2014 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
Back in 2010, I shared a remarkable chart showing how quickly economic output doubles in a fast-growth economy, but it also showed how long it takes for GDP to expand if an economy only grows 1 percent or 2 percent per year. My main message was that nations should...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
Why are some nations rich and other nations poor? What has enabled some nations to escape poverty while others continue to languish? And if we want to help poor nations prosper, what’s the right recipe? Since I’m a public finance economist, I’m tempted to say a flat...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 3, 2014 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
In previous columns, I’ve explained why a wealth tax is a very bad idea. And I’ve also pontificated on why leftists are wrong to pursue policies of coerced equality. So it goes without saying that I’m a big fan of a new Wall Street Journal column by John...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 2, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Free Market, Welfare and Entitlements
I haven’t spent much time writing about Thomas Piketty’s inequality book for the simple reason that my goal is economic liberty, not equality. That being said, I think that Piketty is fundamentally misguided even if the goal is helping the poor. Simply stated,...
