by Dan Mitchell | Oct 18, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Some issues never seem to get resolved. One would think, for instance, that leftists would be more cautious about pushing for a bigger welfare state given the fiscal crisis in Europe. But we have folks like Bernie Sanders openly arguing we should be more like nations...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 27, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Welfare and Entitlements
It’s no exaggeration to say that a nation’s long-run vitality and prosperity are correlated with the spirit of independence and self-reliance among its people. Simply stated, if too many people thinks it’s okay to ride in the wagon of government dependency, that a...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 24, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics
Two days ago, I contrasted the views of Pope Francis and Walter Williams about capitalism and morality. I explained that Walter had the upper hand because free markets are a positive-sum game based on voluntary exchange while redistribution (at best) is a zero-sum...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 23, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
As we get deeper into an election season, many politicians feel compelled to discuss how to deal with poverty. And some of them may even be serious about trying to improve the system. This hopefully will lead to big-picture discussions of key issues, such as why the...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 22, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
The biggest mistake of well-meaning leftists is that they place too much value on good intentions and don’t seem to care nearly as much about good results. Pope Francis is an example of this unfortunate tendency. His concern for the poor presumably is genuine, but he...
