by Dan Mitchell | Apr 21, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation, VAT
The value-added tax is a very dangerous levy for the simple reason that giving a big new source of revenue to Washington almost certainly would result in a larger burden of government spending. That’s certainly what happened in Europe, and there’s even more reason to...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 15, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation, VAT
This is a very strange political season. Some of the Senators running for the Republican presidential nomination are among the most principled advocates of smaller government in Washington. Yet all of them have proposed tax plans that, while theoretically far better...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 5, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation, VAT
The left is very clever about accepting “compromise,” so long as the result is a larger burden of government. This is one of the reasons why I’m so concerned about Senator Cruz’s proposal for a value-added tax. Even though he wants a VAT for good reasons (to finance...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 17, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT, Welfare and Entitlements
My views on the value-added tax are very simple and straightforward. If we completely eliminated all income-based taxes, I would be willing to accept a VAT (or even a national sales tax) as a revenue source for government. But unless that happens, I’m unalterably...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 15, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, VAT
It’s not my role to pick sides in political fights, but I am very interested in trying to make bad ideas radioactive so that politicians won’t be tempted to do the wrong thing. This is why I’m a big fan of the no-tax-hike pledge. The folks in Washington salivate at...
