by Dan Mitchell | Aug 12, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
Even though they ostensibly exist to promote economic growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have an unfortunate track record of promoting higher taxes and bigger government. Not that we...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 1, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I realize few readers are interested in small, faraway countries. But I periodically write about nations such as Jordan, Cyprus, Latvia, Vanuatu, Panama, and Pakistan because they offer important lessons – mostly negative, but sometimes positive – about fiscal policy....
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 24, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Bureaucracy
One of the (many) unfortunate tendencies of politicians is that they focus on the short run (i.e., their upcoming reelection battles). Why is this unfortunate? Because there are some policy changes that may be costly in the short run, but they are...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 2, 2021 | Big Government, Blogs
When criticizing the IMF, I usually focus on how the bureaucrats relentlessly urge higher taxes. Indeed, I often complain about how the bailouts are provided only if countries agree to raise taxes (another lose-lose situation). Today, though, I want to write...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 16, 2021 | Blogs, Economics
A regular theme of these columns is that the economy is not a fixed pie. If Person A becomes rich, that doesn’t mean less income for Persons B and C. Indeed, the evidence is very strong that successful entrepreneurs only capture a tiny fraction of the...
