As dependency goes up, cultural capital plummets.

We’re not in immediate danger of hitting the tipping point, but the trends are not good.

Finding the good and the bad in AEI’s plan.

More tax hikers not paying taxes.

Medicare’s fiscal black hole, and why Jonathan Gruber got at least one thing right.

I’m very worried about the burden of government spending. Moreover, I’m quite concerned that poorly designed entitlement programs will lead to fiscal disaster. And I’m especially irked that Obama made the problem worse by ramming through yet another misguided and costly health care entitlement. Given this background, you can imagine that I was very interested (and depressed) to see […]

Since I primarily work on fiscal policy, I normally look at the budgetary impact of entitlement programs. And the numbers are very grim. But I’m also an economist, so I periodically comment on how government intervention undermines the efficient functioning of markets in the healthcare field. Last but not least, I’m also a taxpayer, so I can’t resist occasionally […]

When government suppresses the free market and takes over the healthcare sector, you get some really odd results. Consider these stories from Sweden:  A man sewing up his own leg after getting frustrated with a long wait. The government denying a wheelchair to a double amputee because the bureaucrats decided his impairment might not be permanent. Speaking of amputations, […]

I had a very bad lunch today. But not because of what I ate. My lunch was unpleasant because I moderated anoontime panel on Capitol Hill featuring Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and my Cato colleague Chris Edwards. And I should hasten to add that they were splendid company. The unpleasant part of the lunch was […]

A festival of statist hypocrisy