Why is President Obama so fixated on a class-warfare agenda of higher taxes on the rich and government dependency for the poor? Is it because a tax-the-rich agenda is good politics, as determined by clever pollsters who have tapped into the collective mind of American voters (and as demonstrated by this cartoon)? Or is the President ideologically committed to […]

The polling data I shared last month about confused young people was a bit of a downer, so let’s look at three different polls that are a bit more encouraging. First, I’m glad to see that many Americans feel that government and politicians are their leading cause of daily stress. Here’s some of what the Washington Post reported on this […]

I periodically share polling data. This is because public opinion research (if done honestly) provides insights on the degree to which people are either well informed, uninformed, or misinformed. And that kind of information is useful for policy wonks like me since it shows where we need to re-double our efforts to educate the American people. And some […]

I’m ecumenical on tax reform. I’ll support any plan that rips up the internal revenue code and instead lowers tax rates, reduces double taxation, and cuts out distorting loopholes. And as I explain in this interview, both the flat tax and national sales tax have a low tax rate. They also get rid of double taxation and they […]

I’ve been asked whether I’m a hypocrite because I support decentralization while at the same time being critical of state and local governments. I don’t think there’s any inconsistency in my position. Here’s some of what I wrote last July. I’m a strong believer in federalism, but not because I think state and local governments are competent. Politicians […]

Why do statists support higher tax rates? The most obvious answer is greed. In other words, leftists want more tax money since they personally benefit when there’s a larger burden of government spending. And the greed can take many forms. They may want bigger government because they’re welfare recipients getting handouts. They may want bigger government because […]

After nearly five years in office, what’s President Obama’s most significant accomplishment? This is a serious question, so no jokes about the Nobel Prize he received for not being Bush. And no partisan GOP answers about the 2010 election, either. Put yourself in the position of a future historian and think about what you would […]

I was very pleased to report the other day that the people of France overwhelmingly favor spending cuts, even when they were asked a biased question that presupposed that Keynesian-style spending increases would “stimulate” the economy. Now I have some polling data about British voters, though I confess I’m not sure whether to be pleased […]

I like the think I’m a reasonably savvy observer of public opinion and international economics, but every so often I’m stunned by some bit of data. Several years ago, for instance, I was very surprised to see that more than half of the French people would consider moving to the United States if they had […]

It’s a challenge to be a libertarian in Washington because you have to swim against the tide. The vast majority of people in town are looking for excuses to spend money and amass power, and a small band of us are trying to convince them that the federal government should be limited in size and […]