by Dan Mitchell | Sep 18, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Waste
In 2023, we added a D.C. cop and an Italian teacher to the Bureaucrat Hall of Fame, which is an award bestowed on government employees who “have gone above and beyond the call of duty” in strange, disgusting,...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 22, 2024 | Blogs, Taxation
When asked about tax loopholes, my first reaction is to determine whether something is an actual tax preference or merely a mitigation of a tax penalty. And that means understanding the “tax base.” For instance, IRAs and 401(k)s are not loopholes. They are a way...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 31, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs
Governments are inherently inefficient and incompetent. But some of them are worse than others. Looking at states, places such as Illinois, California, and New Jersey seem to be the worst of the worst. But New York also...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 24, 2023 | Blogs, States, Tax Competition, Taxation
Two of the worst states for tax policy are California and New York. They have punitive income tax rates, high sales taxes, and myriad other ways of diverting money from the productive sector of the economy to finance bloated...
by Dan Mitchell | May 10, 2023 | Blogs, Crime, Society
In discussions about drug legalization, skeptics worry about addiction. I think that’s a legitimate concern, but the focus is too narrow. Yes, legalization may lead a few more people to get hooked on drugs, but we also need to pay attention to the...
