by Dan Mitchell | Mar 5, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT
When I warn about the fiscal and economic consequences of America’s poorly designed entitlement programs (as well as the impact of demographic changes), I regularly suggest that the United States is on a path to become Greece. Because of Greece’s horrible economy,...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 16, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Remember Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day, the 1993 comedy classic about a weatherman who experiences the same day over and over again? Well, the same thing is happening in Japan. But instead of a person waking up and reliving the same day, we get politicians pursuing the...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 21, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Japan is the poster child for Keynesian economics. Ever since a bubble popped about 25 years ago, Japanese politician have adopted one so-called stimulus scheme after another. Lots of additional government spending. Plenty of gimmicky tax cuts. All of which were...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 17, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Maybe future events will require a reassessment, but right now the biggest danger to the western world isn’t terrorism. Nor is it climate change. Or Zika. Or even Donald Trump. The real threat is demographic change. America’s population profile already has changed,...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 26, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian
It’s very hard to be optimistic about Japan. I’ve even referred to the country as a basket case. But my concern is not that the country has been mired in stagnation for the past 25 years. Instead, I’m much more worried about the future. The main problem is that Japan...
