by Dan Mitchell | Apr 14, 2020 | Blogs, States
I’m a big fan of federalism. After all, compared to what happens when Washington screws up, there’s a lot less damage if a state or city imposes a bad law. Moreover, it’s relatively easy to move across a border if a state or city is doing something foolish. Leaving...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 1, 2020 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, States, Taxation
The crowd in Washington has responded to the coronavirus crisis with an orgy of borrowing and spending. The good news is that the legislation isn’t based on the failed notion of Keynesian economics (i.e., the belief that you get more prosperity when the government...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 7, 2020 | Blogs, States
Last year, I said the nation’s most important referendum was the proposal to emasculate Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (I was delighted when voters said no to the pro-spending lobbies and preserved TABOR). This year’s most important referendum is taking place in...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 30, 2020 | Blogs, States, Taxation
I’ve written dozens of columns explaining why it would be a terrible idea for the United States to enact a value-added tax. But that’s not because I think consumption taxes are worse than income taxes. Indeed, sales taxes and VATs are less destructive because tax...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 14, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, States, Tax Competition, Taxation
I wrote last week about the ongoing shift of successful people from high-tax states to low-tax states. And I’ve periodically confirmed this trend by doing comparisons of high-profile states, such as Texas vs. California and Florida vs. New York. Today, I’m going to...