by Dan Mitchell | Sep 2, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Taxation
There’s a famous quote attributed to George Washington. Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. But it’s apparently an urban...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 18, 2015 | Blogs, Tax Competition, Taxation
The United States has what is arguably the worst business tax system of any nation. That’s bad for the shareholders who own companies, and it’s also bad for workers and consumers. And it creates such a competitive disadvantagethat many U.S.-domiciled companies are...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 16, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation
Defenders of Social Security often make a point of stating that the retirement system is a form of “social insurance” because people become eligible for benefits by paying into the system. Welfare programs, by contrast, give money to people simply as a form of income...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 13, 2015 | Blogs, Taxation
If you took a poll of Washington’s richest and most powerful people, you would probably find more than 90 percent of them support tax increases. At first glance, this doesn’t make sense. Why would a group of upper-income people want tax hikes? Are they self-loathing...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 6, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
I have a very mixed view of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which is an organization representing self-styled deficit hawks in Washington. They do careful work and I always feel confident about citing their numbers. Yet I frequently get frustrated...