by Dan Mitchell | Mar 21, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
I’ve looked at some of the grim fiscal implications of demographic changes the United States and Europe. Now let’s look at what’s happening in Asia. The International Monetary Fund has a recent study that looks at shortfalls in government-run pension schemes and...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 20, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
I shared yesterday a remarkable TV show about Estonia’s entrepreneurial miracle. Today, let’s look at the Chilean version in the series. It shows how the South American nation, which now is ranked very high for economic freedom, is a shining example of how small...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 13, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending
Changing demographics is one of the most powerful arguments for genuine entitlement reform. When programs such as Social Security and Medicare (and equivalent systems in other nations) were first created, there were lots of young people and comparatively few old...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 8, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Europe, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
The most depressing data about America’s economy is not the top tax rate, the regulatory burden, or the level of wasteful of government spending. Those numbers certainly are grim, but I think they’re not nearly as depressing as America’s demographic outlook. As you...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 17, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Flat Tax, Taxation
I’m in Hong Kong for series of meeting and briefings on various economic and policy issues. As you can imagine, I’m a huge fan of the jurisdiction’s simple 15 percent flat tax. It’s basically about as close to a pure flat tax as anyplace in the world. There is...