The Heavy Cost of Czechoslovakian Socialism

by Dan Mitchell | Apr 10, 2019 | Blogs, Economics

I was in Bratislava earlier today as part of the Free Market Road Show, where I spoke about how European nations are in trouble because of excessive spending and aging populations. But I’m not going to write about my presentation because Peter Gonda of the...

Slovakia, Economic Reform, and National Competitiveness

by Dan Mitchell | May 15, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation

I had mixed feeling when I spoke yesterday in Bratislava, Slovakia, as part of the 2018 Free Market Road Show. Last decade, Slovakia was a reform superstar, shaking off the vestiges of communism with a plethora of very attractive policies – including a flat...

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Which Nation Punishes Productive People Worst of All?

by Dan Mitchell | Feb 20, 2017 | Blogs, Taxation

Back in 2014, I shared some data from the Tax Foundation that measured the degree to which various developed nations punished high-income earners. This measure of relative “progressivity” focused on personal income taxes. And that’s important because that levy often...

What Was the Most Tragic Policy Development of 2012?

by Dan Mitchell | Jan 2, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation

I’m not sure I could pick out a significant victory for human freedom in 2012. Maybe I’m missing something, but the only good policy that’s even worth mentioning was the decision in Wisconsin to rein in the special privileges and excessive compensation for government...

Based on What’s Happening in the Czech Republic, Perhaps the Lesson to Learn Is that All Right-Wing Parties Are Controlled by Morons

by Dan Mitchell | Sep 9, 2012 | Blogs, Flat Tax, Taxation

I periodically mock Republicans for being the stupid party. Yes, some of them probably mean well, but they have this lemming-like instinct to throw themselves on hand grenades. But I noted back in April that the supposedly right-wing Christian Democrat party in...