by Dan Mitchell | Nov 1, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Laffer Curve, Taxation, VAT
I’m not a big fan of the International Monetary Fund, largely because the folks in charge oftentimes advocate toxic policies such as bailouts, higher taxes, and currency devaluation. But there are some top-rate economists working at the IMF, and the bureaucracy has...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 13, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT
For years, I’ve been warning that a value-added tax (VAT) would be a terrible idea. Simply stated, politicians would have no reason to control spending or reform entitlements if they had a new source of tax revenue. In this video, I explain why this European-style...
by Dan Mitchell | May 4, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT
I’ve written before how “The Value-Added Tax Would Be a Money Machine for Big Government.” Writing for Bloomberg, Josh Barro has a piece entitled, “Value-Added Tax Would Raise Tons for U.S. Coffers.” So you might think we see eye to eye on this issue, but that would...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 30, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Flat Tax, Taxation, VAT
What do the flat tax and national sales tax (and even the value-added tax) have in common? As I explain in this Senate Budget Committee testimony, they are all single-rate, consumption-base, loophole-free tax systems that fulfill the key principles of good tax policy....
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 16, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending, Taxation, VAT
In a recent column for the Wall Street Journal, I explained why Mitt Romney’s interest in a value-added tax is deeply troubling. One of my key points was that the VAT is a money machine for big government. But don’t believe me. Look at Japan, where the politicians see...
