by Dan Mitchell | Feb 23, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
I recently appeared on CNBC to talk about everyone’s favorite government agency, those warm and cuddly folks at the IRS. Our tax system is a dysfunctional mess, but you’ll notice that I mostly blamed politicians. After all, they are the ones who have unceasingly made...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 14, 2018 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Since I’m a proponent of tax reform, I don’t like special favors in the tax code. Deductions, exemptions, credits, exclusions, and other preferences are back-door forms of cronyism and government intervention. Indeed, they basically exist to lure people into making...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 4, 2018 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
There are three reasons why the right kind of tax reform can help the economy grow faster. Lower tax rates give people more incentive to earn income. Less double taxation boosts incentives to save and invest. Fewer loopholes improves incentives for economic...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 29, 2018 | Blogs, States, Taxation
Politicians who preach class warfare repeatedly assert that we need higher taxes on “the rich.” Indeed, that’s been the biggest political issue (and oftentimes biggest economic issue) in every recent tax fight (the Trump tax reform and Obama’s fiscal cliff), as well...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 30, 2018 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Earlier this month, I talked about the economy’s positive job numbers. I said the data is unambiguously good, but warned that protectionism and wasteful spendingwill offset some of the good news from last year’s tax reform. This is what’s frustrating about the Trump...