by Dan Mitchell | Sep 2, 2024 | Blogs, States, Tax Competition, Taxation
Massachusetts used to have a flat tax, but I warned back in 2019 that it was in danger. Sadly, my fears were warranted. In 2022, the state’s misguided voters approved a referendum to replace the flat tax with a system based on class warfare (a...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 15, 2024 | Blogs, States
In 2022, I wrote a two-part series (here and here) about fiscal decay in Illinois. I’m motivated to add Part III today because of this chart from Chris Edwards, which shows how many upper-income taxpayers are moving into a state compared to how...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 9, 2024 | Big Government, Blogs, Regulations, States
When I write about regulation, it’s usually to highlight how red tape is causing bad outcomes in specific sectors (banking, child care, dentistry, credit cards, the Internet, etc). But I’m a big fan of jurisdictional...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 8, 2024 | Blogs, States, Taxation
Writing about Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan in 2012, I opined that, “…it probably means nothing. I don’t think there’s been an election in my lifetime that was impacted by the second person on a presidential ticket.” I feel the same way about Tim Walz, who is...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 11, 2024 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
The fundamental insight of supply-side economics is that people respond to incentives. So if the government imposes a high tax rate on income, people will try to avoid or evade the money grab. Especially if they have any ability to control the...