by Dan Mitchell | Feb 7, 2016 | Blogs, Taxation
When I give speeches in favor of tax reform, I argue for policies such as the flat tax on the basis of both ethics and economics. The ethical argument is about the desire for a fair system that neither punishes people for being productive nor rewards them for being...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 5, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation, VAT
The left is very clever about accepting “compromise,” so long as the result is a larger burden of government. This is one of the reasons why I’m so concerned about Senator Cruz’s proposal for a value-added tax. Even though he wants a VAT for good reasons (to finance...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 31, 2016 | Blogs, Taxation
What’s the difference between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton? I suspect that most people would cite differences in personal ethics, but I’m a policy wonk so I actually think the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination are two peas in a pod....
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 21, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation, Welfare and Entitlements
This isn’t intentional, but there’s been a European theme to this week’s posts. I wrote yesterday about economic chaos in France, and the previous day I wrote about the grim consequences of Italian statism. Today, we’re going to look at Greece. In the past, I’ve...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 17, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT, Welfare and Entitlements
My views on the value-added tax are very simple and straightforward. If we completely eliminated all income-based taxes, I would be willing to accept a VAT (or even a national sales tax) as a revenue source for government. But unless that happens, I’m unalterably...
