by Dan Mitchell | Jan 23, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Free Market
When trying to educate people about the superiority of free enterprise over statism, I generally show them long-run data comparing market-oriented jurisdictions with those that have state-driven economies. Here are some of my favorite examples. North Korea vs. South...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 8, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Crime, Society, Welfare and Entitlements
Whenever mass shootings occur, some people quickly jump to conclusions before there’s any evidence. Folks on the right are occasionally guilty of immediately assuming Islamic terrorism, which is somewhat understandable. Folks on the left, meanwhile, are sometimes...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 26, 2016 | Blogs, Economics
There’s a somewhat famous quote from Adam Smith (“there is a great deal of ruin in a nation“) about the ability of a country to survive and withstand lots of bad public policy. I’ve tried to get across the same point by explaining that you don’t need perfect policy,...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 23, 2016 | Blogs, Economics
While the overall issue of immigration is highly controversial and emotional, I’ve explained before that everyone should be able to agree that it’s a very good idea to bring in people who can be expected to increase per-capita economic output. The good news is that we...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 18, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Immigration, Society, Welfare and Entitlements
As a general rule, I like immigration and I don’t like redistribution. As such, I share the late Milton Friedman’s concern about the risks of having a welfare state combined with open borders. And based on many conversations all over the country, I think that’s a big...