by Dan Mitchell | Oct 30, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Supply Side, Taxation
In some cases, politicians actually understand the economics of tax policy. It’s quite common, for instance, to hear them urging higher taxes on tobacco because they want to discourage smoking. I don’t think it’s their job to tell people how to live their lives, but I...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 10, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Supply Side, Taxation
In addition to being a contest over expanding the burden of government spending, the Democratic primary also is a contest to see who wants the biggest tax increases. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have made class-warfare taxation an integral part of their...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 9, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
The New York Times is going overboard with disingenuous columns. A few days ago, I pointed out the many errors in David Leonhardt’s column extolling the wealth tax. I also explained back in August how Steven Greenhouse butchered the data when he condemned the American...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 8, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Supply Side, Taxation
At the risk of over-simplifying, the difference between “supply-side economics” and “demand-side economics” is that the former is based on microeconomics (incentives, price theory) while the latter is based on macroeconomics (aggregate demand, Keynesianism). When...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 1, 2019 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Assuming the goal is faster growth and higher living standards, there are three core principles of good tax policy. Low marginal tax rates on productive activity such as work and entrepreneurship. No tax bias (i.e., extra layers of tax) against saving and investment....