by Dan Mitchell | Feb 18, 2022 | Blogs, Crime, Society, Taxation
My friends sometimes tell me that libertarians are too extreme because we tend to make “slippery slope” arguments against government expansions. I respond by pointing out that many slopes are very slippery. Especially when dealing with politicians and...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 25, 2021 | Big Government, Blogs, Financial Privacy, Taxation
Remember back when Joe Biden said paying more tax is patriotic? He was being a hypocrite, of course, since he aggressively sought to lower his own tax burden. But he was also behaving exactly as “public choice” theory predicts. Politicians...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 5, 2021 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
Remember the supposedly breathtaking revelations from the “Panama Papers” back in 2016? We were told those stolen documents were an indictment against so-called tax havens, but the real lesson was that politicians and other government insiders are very prone...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 21, 2021 | Blogs, Taxation
Whenever I’m asked about the “tax gap,” I point to the academic evidence, from multiple sources, and explain that lower tax rates and tax reform are the best way to get higher levels of tax compliance. Indeed, even the pro-tax International...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 4, 2020 | Blogs, Economics, Supply Side, Tax Competition, Taxation
Yesterday’s column featured some of Milton Friedman’s wisdom from 50 years ago on how a high level of societal capital (work ethic, spirit of self-reliance, etc) is needed if we want to limit government. Today, let’s look at what he said back then about that era’s...
