by Dan Mitchell | Jun 1, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Bureaucracy, Education
While most of my disdain is reserved for the federal government in Washington, I periodically share horror stories about foreign governments and state governments. And today we’re going to add to our collection of bone-headed policies by local governments. In some...
by Dan Mitchell | May 16, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Bureaucracy
I wrote just yesterday that it’s tough to be a libertarian because “public choice” means never-ending pressure for bigger government. But the good part of working in public policy as a libertarian is that I never lack for topics. Simply stated, governments do so many...
by Dan Mitchell | May 7, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs
What word best describes the actions of government? Would it be greed? How about thuggery? Or cronyism? Writing for Reason, Eric Boehm has a story showing that “all of the above” may be the right answer. At first it seems like a story about government greed. When Mats...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 29, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
If I had to pick my least-favorite tax loophole, the economist part of my brain would select the healthcare exclusion. After all, that special preference creates a destructive incentive for over-insurance and contributes (along with Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, etc)...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 5, 2017 | Blogs, Economics, Minimum Wage
The real world is like a cold shower for our friends on the left. Everywhere they look, there is evidence that jurisdictions with free markets and small government outperform places with big welfare states and lots of intervention. That’s true when comparing nations....