by Dan Mitchell | Jul 23, 2014 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
I’m currently in Asia, where I just finished a series of speeches about economic policy in China and Hong Kong. These two jurisdictions offer very powerful lessons about the importance of economic policy. Hong Kong is supposed to be Nirvana for libertarians. It holds...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 10, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Back in 2012, I shared a sadly amusing image about how the modern political process has degenerated into two wolves and a sheep voting what to have for lunch. I was making an argument in that column against majoritarianism (and that is a critical issue, as explained...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 7, 2014 | Blogs, Free Market
Over the past several years, I’ve repeatedly argued that you get more unemployment when the government pays people to be unemployed. But I’m not just relying on theory. I’ve cited both anecdotes and empirical research to bolster my case. You won’t be...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 28, 2014 | Blogs, Economics, Free Market
Back in 2010, I shared a remarkable chart showing how quickly economic output doubles in a fast-growth economy, but it also showed how long it takes for GDP to expand if an economy only grows 1 percent or 2 percent per year. My main message was that nations should...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 20, 2014 | Blogs, Taxation
If some special-interest lobbies give money so that a left-wing group can propose something like a value-added tax to finance bigger government, that’s no surprise. And if a bunch of subsidy recipients donate money to Barack Obama or some other statist politician...