by Dan Mitchell | Dec 11, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
The world is in the middle of a dramatic demographic transition caused by increasing lifespans and falling birthrates. One consequence of this change is that traditional tax-and-transfer, pay-as-you-go retirement schemes (such as Social Security in the United States)...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 2, 2018 | Blogs, Taxation
President Trump thinks he can boost Republicans next Tuesday by promising a new round of tax relief for the middle class. I’m skeptical of his sincerity, as noted in this segment from a recent interview, but I also warn that his proposed tax cut is impractical because...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 7, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
The United States has a bankrupt Social Security system. According to the most recent Trustees Report, the cash-flow deficit is approaching $44 trillion. And that’s after adjusting for inflation. Even by DC standards of profligacy, that’s a big number. Yet all that...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 15, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
If you did man-on-the-street interviews across America and asked people about Social Security, I suspect most of them would have some degree of understanding about the program’s looming fiscal crisis. Since they’re not policy wonks, they presumably wouldn’t know the...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 6, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Writing a column every day can sometimes be a challenge, in part because of logistics (I have to travel a lot, which can make things complicated), but also because I want to make sure I’m sharing interesting and relevant information. My task, however, is very easy on...
