by Dan Mitchell | Apr 4, 2023 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe
Why did many European nations, most notably Greece, suffer fiscal crises about a dozen years ago? Because the burden of government spending, which already was excessive, increased even further. And with taxes already very onerous in...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 1, 2023 | Blogs, Education
It’s not easy being a libertarian, especially when your job is to protect economic liberty. Politicians have a natural incentive to increase the size, scope, and power of government. In almost all cases, our freedoms are best protected when politicians...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 25, 2022 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending
I wrote yesterday to speculate about a possible fiscal crisis in Italy. Today, here are my thoughts on why there should not be a bailout if/when a crisis occurs. I have moral objections to bailouts, but let’s focus in this column on the practical impact. And let’s...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 24, 2022 | Blogs, Europe
I’m in Europe to give a couple of speeches about fiscal policy, so I’m going to spend all week commenting on the continent’s (mostly miserable) fiscal policy. Let’s start with comments about Italy, the nation most likely to suffer a crisis. Normally, I tell...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 27, 2022 | Blogs, Economics, Socialism
Based on Sunday’s election in Italy, the nation’s next Prime Minister almost certainly will be Giorgia Meloni, which has some worried that Italy is returning to the “far right” fascism of Benito Mussolini. From an economic perspective, though, it would...