by Dan Mitchell | Mar 14, 2013 | Blogs, Europe, Tax Competition, Taxation
As a general rule, it’s not right to take pleasure at the misfortune of others. But I think we’re allowed an exception to that Schadenfreude rule when the “others” are greedy politicians pursuing spiteful policies. We want the political elite to suffer misfortune...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 2, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Society, Welfare and Entitlements
One of my favorite political cartoons is this Michael Ramirez gem showing President Obama following the European lemmings over the cliff of statism. But this isn’t a laughing matter. As shown in this remarkable graph on global living standards, Americans enjoy...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 10, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
In previous posts, I’ve expressed pessimism about the future of the United Kingdom, largely because all political parties have a statist mentality. I criticized Gordon Brown, the former Labor Party Prime Minister, for being a compulsive redistributionist, big spender,...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 9, 2013 | Blogs, Economics
I’ve always been a big fan of Economic Freedom of the World because it provides a balanced and neutral measure of which nations do best in providing free markets and small government. And I like it even when it gives me bad news. It’s somewhat depressing, after all,...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 2, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
I’m not sure I could pick out a significant victory for human freedom in 2012. Maybe I’m missing something, but the only good policy that’s even worth mentioning was the decision in Wisconsin to rein in the special privileges and excessive compensation for government...