by Dan Mitchell | Oct 30, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
In my speeches, I routinely argue that an aging population is one of the reasons why we need genuine entitlement reform. A modest-sized welfare state may be feasible if a country has a “population pyramid,” I explain, but it’s a recipe for fiscal chaos when changing...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 27, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan famously said “there you go again” when responding to one of Jimmy Carter’s attacks. Well, the Gipper’s ghost is probably looking down from Heaven at the new budget deal between congressional leaders and the Obama...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 25, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
It’s time for a lesson in tax economics. Though hopefully today’s topic won’t be as dry and boring as my missives on more technical issues like depreciation and worldwide taxation. That’s because we’re going to talk about the taxation of workers, which is something...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 24, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Government Waste
My first instinct, when arguing against higher taxes, is to pontificate about the negative impact of high marginal tax rates and punitive effect of double taxation on saving and investment. Those are very legitimate concerns, and they’re the obvious things for an...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 23, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Republicans are probably going to surrender on spending caps, thus allowing Obama to reverse his biggest-ever defeat. Moreover, GOPers almost surely will get nothing in exchange for raising the debt limit, thus squandering an opportunity to limit profligacy in...