by Dan Mitchell | Jul 13, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
I’ve argued that we’ll get better government if we make it smaller. This is important because government is responsible for some things – such as national defense and protection of property rights – that are genuinely important. Yet a bloated public sector distracts...
by Dan Mitchell | May 31, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Society, Welfare and Entitlements
When I write about the “suicidal” welfare state in Europe, I’m generally making an economic argument that involves demographic change, labor participation rates, and fiscal burdens. And that’s a non-trivial argument, based on very sobering data from the Bank for...
by Dan Mitchell | May 17, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Government Waste
Since I’m an advocate of smaller government, you might imagine I’m perpetually depressed. After all, I work in Washington where I’m vastly outnumbered by people who specialize in looting and mooching. At times, I feel like a missionary in a house of ill repute. But I...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 14, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs
Summarizing the federal government is not easy. There’s nearly $4 trillion of spending to disentangle. There’s a 75,000-page tax code to decipher. And there’s a regulatory morass that defies understanding. So when people ask me questions about the cost of the federal...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 10, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs
I periodically share this poster, in part because it’s funny, but mostly because it’s true. After all, can you think of many “success stories” involving government? When I pose this question to my statist friends, I usually get a blank stare in response. Though some...
