by Dan Mitchell | Sep 5, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Regulations
I like France, in part because it’s a nice place to visit, but also because I’ve been able to use the country as an example of bad public policy. Its tax system is a nightmare, leading entrepreneurs to escape to other nations (hardly a surprise when tax rates can...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 21, 2017 | Blogs
Trump has been President for more than 200 days and those of us who want more economic liberty don’t have many reasons to be happy. Obamacare hasn’t been repealed, the tax code hasn’t been reformed, and wasteful spending hasn’t been cut. The only glimmer of hope is...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 15, 2017 | Blogs, States
When I write about the actions of state governments, it’s usually to highlight a specific bad policy. As you can imagine, states like California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey give me a never-ending amount of material. But I frequently run across...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 22, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Crime, Regulations, Society
Thanks to decades of experience and research, we now know several things about so-called anti-money laundering (AML) laws. They don’t reduce crime or discourage bad behavior. They require banks to spy on innocent people and report their transactions. They impose heavy...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 19, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Regulations
When I write about regulation, I usually focus on big-picture issues involving economic costs, living standards, and competitiveness. Those are very important concerns, but the average person in American probably gets more irked by rules that impact the quality of...