by Dan Mitchell | Mar 6, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Bad ideas definitely have the ability to cross borders. The income tax first appeared in England, on a temporary basis during the Napoleanic wars and then permanently in 1842. It then spread like a cancer to other parts of the world, eventuallyreaching – and plaguing...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 5, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Tax Competition, Taxation
I’m a relentless (probably to the point of being annoying) proponent of tax competition among jurisdictions. It’s one of the reasons why I favor tax havens and federalism. Simply stated, politicians are less likely to do bad things when they know economic activity can...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 18, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
If the Moocher Hall of Fame ever moves from the virtual world to brick-and-mortar reality, it’s going to need a lot of space. That’s because, to use a politically correct term, many of the featured freeloaders are plus-sized. Stanley looks like a rather robust eater,...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 30, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian
I’m tempted to feel a certain degree of sympathy for Paul Krugman. As a leading proponent of the notion that bigger government stimulates growth (a.k.a., Keynesian economics), he’s in the rather difficult position of rationalizing why the economy was stagnant when...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 17, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
I wrote the other day about the importance of “social capital,” which is a catch-all phrase for a society’s attitudes about things such as the work ethic, a sense of self-reliance, and the spirit of independence. Today we’re going to look at the flip side of social...
