by Dan Mitchell | Jun 13, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, States
A balanced budget requirement is neither necessary nor sufficient for good fiscal policy. If you want proof for that assertion, check out states such as Illinois, California, and New Jersey. They all have provisions to limit red ink, yet there is more spending (and...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 9, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
I’ve half-joked in the past that spending restraint is the answer to every fiscal problem. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the right answer to 98 percent of fiscal problems. Some fiscal discipline is what we need in America, for instance, and it’s certainly an...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 6, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Writing a column every day can sometimes be a challenge, in part because of logistics (I have to travel a lot, which can make things complicated), but also because I want to make sure I’m sharing interesting and relevant information. My task, however, is very easy on...
by Dan Mitchell | May 29, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I wrote two days ago about how the country of Georgia has achieved impressive economic performance thanks to major reforms to reduce the size and scope of government. Indeed, Georgia jumped from #56 to #8 in Economic Freedom of the World between 2004 and 2015, a...
by Dan Mitchell | May 19, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
During the election season, I speculated Trump was a big government Republican, and he confirmed my analysis this past February when he acquiesced to an orgy of new spending and agreed to bust the spending caps. That awful spending spree gave huge increases to almost...
