by Dan Mitchell | Aug 4, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Health Care, Welfare and Entitlements
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...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 1, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
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...
by Dan Mitchell | May 8, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
The Census Bureau just released a report on America’s aging population. The big takeaway is that our population will be getting much older between now and 2050. And since I’m a baby boomer, I very much like the fact that we’re expected to live longer. But as a public...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 30, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Self awareness is supposed to be a good thing, so I’m going to openly acknowledge that I have an unusual fixation on the size of government. I don’t lose a wink of sleep thinking about deficits, but I toss and turn all night fretting about the overall burden of...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 22, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Health Care, Welfare and Entitlements
One of the challenges of good entitlement reform (or even bad entitlement reform) is that recipients think they’ve “earned” benefits. If you tell them that programs such as Medicare are unsustainable and need to be changed, some of them suspect you’re trying to...
