by Dan Mitchell | Mar 14, 2013 | Blogs, Europe, Tax Competition, Taxation
As a general rule, it’s not right to take pleasure at the misfortune of others. But I think we’re allowed an exception to that Schadenfreude rule when the “others” are greedy politicians pursuing spiteful policies. We want the political elite to suffer misfortune...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 8, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Here are three common-sense principles. Higher taxes are misguided. They undermine prosperity and finance bigger government. Bailouts also are misguided. They facilitate corruption and encourage moral hazard. And international bureaucracies are misguided. They promote...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 4, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
The statist agenda of ever-growing government requires more money going to Washington, which is why I think that proponents of limited government should do everything they can to block tax increases. This is the “starve the beast” theory, and I’ve previously explained...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 27, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
The number one goal for fiscal policy is to reduce the burden of government spending. The simple way to achieve this goal is to adhere to Mitchell’s Golden Rule and and make sure the private sector grows faster than the public sector. But when politicians fail to...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 24, 2013 | Blogs, Taxation
I’m not a fan of loopholes in the tax code. I’ve complained about the number of pages in the tax code, the number of provisions in the tax code, and I’ve even groused about the rising number of pages in the instruction manual for the 1040 tax form. And I’ve...
