Tag Archives : Taxation
The Danish Dr.-Jekyll-Mr.-Hyde Paradox and Wagner’s Law
What nation is a role model for economic reformers? I’ve certainly cited Hong Kong as an example, but I’ve also explained that we can learn lessons – at least on certain issues – from nations such as Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the Baltics. Today, let’s talk about the curious case of Denmark, which is a […]
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The Sun Rises in the East, the Pope is Catholic, Democrats Push for Tax Hikes…and Republicans Often Are the Stupid Party
Some things don’t need to be said because they are so obvious, and the title of the blog post gives a couple of examples. But sometimes it’s worth elaborating on these eternal truths, at least when we need to warn gullible Republicans that they shouldn’t get seduced into doing something stupid. As part of the […]
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Happy Fiscal New Year (with an Unhappy Obama Hangover)
Today, October 1, is the first day of the 2012 fiscal year. And if you’re wondering why America’s economy seems to have a hangover (this cartoon is a perfect illustration), it’s because politicians had a huge party with our money in FY2011. We don’t have final numbers for the fiscal year that just ended, but […]
read more...Growing Opposition to Obama’s IRS Proposal to Make Banks Put Foreign Tax Law above U.S. Tax Law
Why impose a regulatory burden on a weakened banking sector when it has nothing to do with enforcing American tax law?
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Coca-Cola CEO Says China Now More “Business Friendly” than the United States
Having grown up during the Cold War, I never though I would write a sentence like the title of this blog post, but there have been lots of firsts during the reign of Obama. When the head of a major multinational company says the American tax system is worse than the policy of a nation […]
read more...Explaining the Perverse Impact of Double Taxation with a Chart
Whether I’m criticizing Warren Buffett’s innumeracy or explaining how to identify illegitimate loopholes, I frequently write about the perverse impact of double taxation. By this, I mean the tendency of politicians to impose multiple layers of taxation on income that is saved and invested. Examples of this self-destructive practice include the death tax, the capital […]
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Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan Is Great in Theory, but…
I became a big admirer of Herman Cain back in the 1990s when he was a member of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform (aka, the Kemp Commission). I worked as a staffer for the Commission and was able to observe Mr. Cain in action over a period of several months. Suffice […]
read more...A Picture of Tax Code Complexity and Corruption
Have you ever wondered why the tax code is a Byzantine mess that requires 72,000 pages of law and regulation? Hopefully you don’t ponder such dark and dreary thoughts, but the answer is that politicians and lobbyists have spent nearly 100 years creating all sorts of loopholes, shelters, deductions, preferences, exemptions, credits, and shelters. Beginning […]
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One Simple Reason (and Two Easy Steps) to Show Why Obama’s Soak-the-Rich Tax Hikes Won’t Work
It’s hard to keep track of all the tax hikes that President Obama is proposing, but it’s very simple to recognize his main target – the evil, nasty, awful people known as the rich. Or, as Obama identifies them, the “millionaires and billionaires” who happen to have yearly incomes of more than $200,000. Whether the […]
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CPAs Celebrate as Obama Proposes to Create a Turbo-Charged Alternative Minimum Tax
Wow, this is remarkable. The alternative minimum tax (AMT) is one of the most-hated features of the tax code. It is such a nightmare of complexity that even Democrats routinely have supported “patches” and “band-aids” to protect millions of additional households from getting trapped in this surreal parallel tax universe – one that requires taxpayers […]
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