by Dan Mitchell | May 1, 2020 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs, States
A Supreme Court Justice pointed out in 1932 that “a state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” Well, we’ve had several experiments in higher taxes and higher...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 18, 2020 | Blogs, States
I’ve written that policy makers need to consider both the human toll of the coronavirus and the human toll of a depressed economy. I also discussed this tradeoff with Brian Nichols, beginning about seven minutes into this podcast. And, as you can see from this tweet,...
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...