by Dan Mitchell | Apr 8, 2026 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I constantly remind people that government spending is the most important fiscal variable, not deficits/debt. After all, it is government spending that drains resources from the productive sector of the economy, regardless of whether it is financed...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 6, 2026 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Thanks to demographic change and poorly designed entitlement programs (primarily Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but also food stamps and other welfare programs), the United States is stumbling toward a grim fiscal future. Let’s...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 27, 2026 | Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
As part of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity’s Latin American Liberty project. I’m spending most of the winter south of the border. I’ve been teaching economics at Universidad de la Libertad in Mexico City (one more week of classes remaining for my lucky – or...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 19, 2026 | Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
I wrote last June that Zohran Mamdani’s platform for New York City was akin to a suicide note. Today, let’s see how the “Caviar Communist” wants to deal with fiscal policy. But let’s first look at two graphs so we can understand New York City’s finances....
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 15, 2026 | Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Let’s start today’s column with two simple and uncontroversial statements. Without real entitlement reform, the burden of government spending will grow dramatically over the next few decades. There are only three ways – taxes, borrowing, and money-printing – to...
