by Dan Mitchell | May 28, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Taxation, Welfare and Entitlements
I periodically explain that a European-sized welfare state can only be financed by huge taxes on lower-income and middle-class taxpayers. Simply stated, there aren’t enough rich people to prop up big government. Moreover, at the risk of mixing my animal metaphors,...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 3, 2017 | Blogs, Education
What federal program is most sacrosanct, even though it delivers poor results? Is it federal aid to education, which has plenty of defenders even though it is inversely related to school performance? Is it unemployment insurance, which has plenty of defenders even...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 14, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
I wrote last year about the way in which welfare programs lead to very high implicit marginal tax rates on low-income people. More specifically, they lose handouts when they earn income. As such, it is not very advantageous for them to climb the economic ladder...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 30, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
In their never-ending efforts to buy votes with other people’s money (see the first cartoon in this post), politicians have been expanding the welfare state and creating more dependency. This is bad for the overall economy because it means a larger burden of...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 26, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
In past posts, I’ve groused about food stamp abuse, including people using them to buy luxury coffee at Starbucks and to purchase steaks and lobster. I’ve complained about college kids scamming the program, the “Octo-Mom” mooching off the program, and the Obama...
