by Dan Mitchell | Sep 24, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
Two days ago, I contrasted the views of Pope Francis and Walter Williams about capitalism and morality. I explained that Walter had the upper hand because free markets are a positive-sum game based on voluntary exchange while redistribution (at best) is a zero-sum...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 28, 2015 | Blogs, Free Market
At the risk of stereotyping, the Chinese people are remarkably productive when given the chance. Hong Kong and Singapore are dominated by ethnic Chinese, and those jurisdictions routinely rank among the world’s top economies. Taiwan is another high-performing economy...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 19, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
I’m a huge fan of the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World. I always share the annual rankings when they’re released and I routinely cite EFW measures when writing about individual countries. But even a wonky economist like me realizes that there is more...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 20, 2015 | Blogs, Economics
I’ve written before about the tremendous success of Hong Kong. The jurisdiction routinely is ranked as being the world’s freest economy, and its fiscal policy is a role model for spending restraint. One reason Hong Kong has prospered is that it has enjoyed a policy of...
by Dan Mitchell | May 28, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Back in March, I shared a remarkable study from the International Monetary Fund which explained that spending caps are the only truly effective way to achieve good fiscal policy. And earlier this month, I discussed another good IMF study that showed how deficit and...
