by Dan Mitchell | Apr 8, 2013 | Blogs, Economics, Financial Privacy, Tax Competition, Tax Havens, Taxation
Using data stolen from service providers in the Cook Islands and the British Virgin Islands, the Washington Post published a supposed exposé of Americans who do business in so-called tax havens. Since I’m the self-appointed defender of low-tax jurisdictions in...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 6, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Are we about to see a new kinder-and-gentler Obama? Has the tax-and-spend President of the past four years been replaced by a fiscal moderate? That’s certainly the spin we’re getting from the White House about the President’s new budget. Let’s look at this theme,...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 2, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Laffer Curve, Taxation
Back in 2010, I wrote a post entitled “What’s the Ideal Point on the Laffer Curve?“ Except I didn’t answer my own question. I simply pointed out that revenue maximization was not the ideal outcome. I explained that policy makers instead should seek to maximize...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 28, 2013 | Blogs, Economics, Laffer Curve, Taxation
If I live to be 100 years old, I suspect I’ll still be futilely trying to educate politicians that there’s not a simplistic linear relationship between tax rates and tax revenue. You can’t double tax rates, for instance, and expect to double tax revenue. Simply...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 28, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Check out some of the ridiculous details about the woman who has earned the title of California’s Golden Bureaucrat. Alameda County supervisors have really taken to heart the adage that government should run like a business — rewarding County Administrator Susan...