by Dan Mitchell | May 31, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Financial Privacy, Tax Competition, Taxation
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) arguably is the worst feature of the internal revenue code. It’s an odious example of fiscal imperialism that is based on a very bad policy agenda. But there is something even worse, a Multilateral Convention on Mutual...
by Dan Mitchell | May 11, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
In my presentations about how to deal with budgetary deterioration and fiscal crisis, I often share with audiences a list of nations that have achieved very positive results with spending restraint. The middle column shows how these countries limited the growth of...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 29, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
We can learn a lot of economic lessons from Europe. Never adopt a VAT unless you want much bigger government. Bigger government means lower living standards. Don’t believe Bernie Sanders about the Nordic nations. Today, we’re going to focus on another lesson, which is...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 14, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
If you follow the contest between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, most of the tax discussion is about who has the best plan to squeeze the rich with ever-higher tax rates. For those motivated by spite and envy, Bernie Sanders “wins” that debate since he wants...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 31, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, States, Taxation
Even though it’s theoretically possible to design a desirable budget deal that includes a tax increase, I’m a big advocate of the no-tax-hike pledge for the simple reason that – in the real world – support for genuine spending restraint and real entitlement reform...
