by Dan Mitchell | Sep 20, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
I argued last year that leftists should be nice to rich people because upper-income taxpayers finance the vast majority of the American welfare state according to government data. Needless to say, my comment about being “nice” was somewhat sarcastic. But I was making...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 13, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) must be anxious to get on my list of government bureaucracies that shouldn’t exist. The bureaucrats have engaged in some really silly and petty behavior (such as confiscating Airsoft toy guns because they might be...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 11, 2017 | Blogs, Economics
If tax policy was a religion, the Holy Trinity of reform would be very straightforward. Lower tax rates in order to encourage more productive behavior. Get rid of double taxation in order to enable saving and investment. End distorting preferences in order to reduce...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 6, 2017 | Blogs, Taxation
Whenever I see an otherwise sensible person express support for a value-added tax, it triggers a Pavlovian response. And it’s not a favorable reaction. I’ve criticized Tom Dolan, Greg Mankiw, and Paul Ryan, for pro-VAT comments. I’ve gone after Kevin Williamson, Josh...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 2, 2017 | Blogs, Taxation
Why were the Reagan tax cuts so successful? Why did the economy rebound so dramatically from the malaise of the 1970s? The easy answer is that we got better tax policy, especially lower marginal tax rates on personal and business income. Those lower rates reduced the...
