Big spending and centralization has not worked in education.

Divided government is good for America’s economy. Or, to be more specific, divided government is a net plus if the alternative is to have statists fully in charge of economic policy. I made this point back in 2012 when I pointed out that the unemployment rate started falling after Republicans captured the House of Representatives, and […]

My colleagues Chris Edwards and Nicole Kaeding have just released the biannual Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors from the Cato Institute. The Report Card is on the Cato Institute’s most impressive publications sincedevelopments on the state level help illustrate the relationship between good fiscal policy and economic performance. The top scores were earned by Pat McCrory […]

I’ve complained over and over again that America’s tax code is a nightmare that undermines competitiveness and retards growth. Our aggregate fiscal burden may not be as high as it is for many of our foreign competitors, but high tax rates and poor design mean the system is very punitive on a per-dollar-raised basis. For more information, the Tax Foundation […]

A story in Fortune reports that government corruption at the state level is very costly. …corruption is everywhere, in one form or another. And it’s costing U.S. citizens big time. A new study from researchers at the University of Hong Kong and Indiana University estimates that corruption on the state level is costing Americans in the 10 most corrupt […]

I wrote the other day that Americans, regardless of all the bad policy we get from Washington, should be thankful we’re not stuck in a hellhole like Venezuela. But we also should be happy we’re not Europeans. This is a point I’ve made before, usually accompanied by data showing that Americans have significantly higher living standards than their cousins on the other […]

With Crimea potentially breaking away from Ukraine and the ongoing risk of conflict, it’s time to revisit the topic. I explained a few weeks ago that decentralization was one way of defusing the crisis. Now Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute has a refreshing and important analysisexplaining how bad economic policy has hindered Ukraine’s development. He explains […]

If you look at measures (such as the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World index) of what makes a nation competitive and prosperous, you’ll find some obvious variables such as fiscal policy, trade openness, regulatory burden, and monetary policy. But in addition to those policy levers, you’ll find that it’s equally important that a nation does a good job […]

What’s the best state in America? I’m not sure I can answer that broad question, but I can address the more narrow issue of which state has the most economic freedom. Last month, for instance, I shared some data from the Canada-based Fraser Institute which showed that South Dakota was America’s most laissez-faire state, followed by Tennessee, Delaware, […]

If you’re a libertarian, you generally don’t act and think like other people. Most folks, when they heard about Governor Christie’s bridge-closing scandal, focused on the potential political ramifications. But not me. My immediate reaction was to think that the problem could have been avoided if the bridge and its various entry points were privately […]