by Dan Mitchell | Nov 20, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Laffer Curve, Taxation
President Obama and other statists in Washington want a big class-warfare tax hike. They claim the additional revenue is necessary to reduce red ink. But their ideological crusade is based on some blatant distortions. They tell us that tax increases are necessary, but...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 18, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Taxation
If there was a prize for fighting back against tax authorities, the Italians would probably deserve first place. I’m not aware of any other country where tax offices get firebombed. The Italians also believe in passive forms of resistance, with tens of thousands of...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 14, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Taxation
I’m a big believer in the Laffer Curve, which is the common-sense proposition that changes in tax rates don’t automatically mean proportional changes in tax revenue. This is because you also have to think about what happens to taxable income, which can move up or down...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 1, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Laffer Curve, Taxation, VAT
I’m not a big fan of the International Monetary Fund, largely because the folks in charge oftentimes advocate toxic policies such as bailouts, higher taxes, and currency devaluation. But there are some top-rate economists working at the IMF, and the bureaucracy has...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 4, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Tax Competition, Taxation
I’ve shared evidence from around the world (England, Italy, the United States, and France) and from various states (Illinois, Oregon, Florida,Maryland, and New York) to argue that it is foolish to ignore the Laffer Curve. Not that it makes any difference. I’m slowly...