by Dan Mitchell | Dec 27, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, States
Like the good people of Arizona, I despise speed cameras. But not because I want reckless driving. Instead, my disdain is based on the fact that governments set up cameras where speed limits are preposterously low in order to generate revenue. And I speak from...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 11, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Crime, Society
I wrote last week about the lunacy of a tax system that created the conditions that led to the death of Eric Garner in New York City. But I wrote that column in the context of how high tax rates lead to tax avoidance and tax evasion. Let’s now zoom out and look at the...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 6, 2014 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
When people figure out ways to keep the money they earn in their own pockets, rather than having it confiscated by government, I’m almost always happy. That’s because governments tend to waste money (should any of us pay for corrupt pork-barrel spending?). And it’s...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 26, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
I generally focus on the profligate habits and abusive tactics of the federal government in Washington, but that doesn’t mean other levels of government are well behaved. In a column for the Washington Post, Catherine Rampell outlines some of the reprehensible ways...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 7, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs
It’s not uncommon for people to accuse libertarians of using “scare tactics” and “hyperbole.” They say we present “worst-case scenarios” of what happens when government gets involved, such as when I warn that a value-added tax would become a revenue machine for big...
