Two Cheers for Spain’s Anti-Tax “Carrot Rebellion”

by Dan Mitchell | Nov 18, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Taxation

If there was a prize for fighting back against tax authorities, the Italians would probably deserve first place. I’m not aware of any other country where tax offices get firebombed. The Italians also believe in passive forms of resistance, with tens of thousands of...

The Laffer Curve Strikes Again: Revenues Falling in Spite of (or Perhaps Because of) Spain’s Punitive Corporate Tax Rate

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 4, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Tax Competition, Taxation

I’ve shared evidence from around the world (England, Italy, the United States, and France) and from various states (Illinois, Oregon, Florida,Maryland, and New York) to argue that it is foolish to ignore the Laffer Curve. Not that it makes any difference. I’m slowly...

Tax Havens Like the Cayman Islands Have Better Fiscal Policy…and More Diligent Enforcement of Laws against Dirty Money and Terrorist Financing

by Dan Mitchell | Sep 24, 2012 | Blogs, Financial Privacy, Tax Competition, Tax Havens, Taxation

Since I’m probably the foremost defender of tax havens in the United States, I tend to get a lot of press inquiries whenever something happens that brings attention to these low-tax jurisdictions. In recent months, almost all of the media calls have been because...

Just as “Fair Trade” Means Protectionism for the Benefit of Special Interests, “Fair Tax Competition” Means Tax Harmonization for the Benefit of Politicians

by Dan Mitchell | Sep 21, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Europe, Tax Competition, Tax Harmonization, Taxation

Very few people are willing to admit that they favor protectionism. After all, who wants to embrace a policy associated with the Great Depression? But people sometimes say “I want free trade so long as it’s fair trade.” In most cases, they’re simply protectionists who...

Study from German Economists Shows that Tax Competition and Fiscal Decentralization Limit Income Redistribution

by Dan Mitchell | Sep 4, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Tax Competition, Tax Harmonization, Taxation

If we want to avoid the kind of Greek-style fiscal collapse implied by this BIS and OECD data, we need some external force to limit the tendency of politicians to over-tax and over-spend. That’s why I’m a big advocate of tax competition, fiscal sovereignty, and...