by Dan Mitchell | Jul 9, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Taxation
I’m not a big fan of government conspiracy theories, largely because the people in Washington are too bloody incompetent to do anything effectively. Heck, sometimes they can’t even waste money properly even though they have lots of practice. But it recently crossed my...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 3, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Back in April, I explained that I would accept a tax increase if “the net long-run effect is more freedom, liberty, and prosperity.” I even outlined several specific scenarios where that might occur, including giving the politicians more money in exchange for a flat...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 27, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Taxation
Being a libertarian, I’m used to disappointment. So when something actually goes according to plan, I get very happy. On that basis, I should be utterly and deliriously overjoyed about my endorsement of Francois Hollande to be President of France. I wanted him to...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 9, 2012 | Blogs, Health Care, Taxation
Back in 2009, I wrote about various schemes to impose taxes on unhealthy food. At the time, I was primarily concerned about the risks of giving politicians a new source of revenue that would be used to increase the burden of government spending. The folks at Reason TV...
by Dan Mitchell | May 31, 2012 | Blogs, Taxation
I’m not a big fan of international bureaucracies, mostly because they always seem to promote bad policy such as higher tax rates. The International Monetary Fund is urging higher tax rates and pushing for nations to replace flat tax systems with so-called progressive...