Sometimes I myopically focus on fiscal policy, implying that the key to prosperity is small government. But I’ll freely admit that growth is maximized when you have small government AND free markets. That being said, our goal should be to expand freedom, not merely to have the largest possible GDP. Which is why the Freedom […]

I’ve always been a big fan of Economic Freedom of the World because it provides a balanced and neutral measure of which nations do best in providing free markets and small government. And I like it even when it gives me bad news. It’s somewhat depressing, after all, to read that the United States has […]

The United Nations may be useful as a forum for world leaders, but it is not a productive place to develop policy. The international bureaucracy compulsively supports statist initiatives that would reduce individual liberty and expand the burden of government. Global taxation with no democratic accountability or oversight. A “right” to taxpayer-financed birth control. An […]

Thomas Sowell, George Will, and Walter Williams have all explained that the Constitution imposes strict limits on the powers of the federal government. This means, for all intents and purposes, that it is a somewhat anti-democratic document. And by anti-democratic, I mean the Constitution puts restrictions on democracy (not restrictions on the Democratic Party, though […]

A couple of months ago, I discussed a column by Arthur Brooks, in which he explained that libertarians and conservatives need to make a moral argument for capitalism and not just rely on statistics and economic analysis. This is correct, I believe, and I cited myself as an example. When the flat tax became an […]

As a libertarian who became interested in public policy because of Ronald Reagan, it won’t surprise you to know that I’m more of a “right libertarian” than “left libertarian.” I fully agree with positions that motivate left libertarians, such as the war on drugs doing more harm than good, foreign entanglements such as NATO no […]

I sometimes make fun of the English, for reasons ranging from asinine laws to milquetoast politicians to horrid healthcare policy. But at least some U.K. elected officials are willing to stand up for tax competition and fiscal sovereignty by defending low-tax jurisdictions. In previous posts, I’ve applauded Dan Hannan and Godfrey Bloom for great speeches […]