by Dan Mitchell | Mar 31, 2015 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation, VAT
I warned just last week about the dangers of letting politicians impose a value-added tax. Simply stated, unless the 16th Amendment is repealed and replaced with a new provision forever barring the re-imposition of any taxes on income, a VAT inevitably would be a new...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 22, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation, VAT
Even though I fret about a growing burden of government and have little faith in the ability (or desire) of politicians to make wise decisions, I somehow convince myself that good things will happen. Here’s some of what I wrote two years ago, when asked whether I...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 29, 2014 | Blogs
Libertarians are sometimes accused of being unrealistic and impractical because we occasionally talk about unconventional ideas such as competitive currencies and privatized roads. But having a vision of a free society doesn’t mean we’re incapable of...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 10, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian, Taxation, VAT
Regular readers know that good fiscal policy takes place when government spending grows slower than the private economy. Nations that maintain this Golden Rule for extended periods of time shrink the relative burden of government spending, thus enabling more growth by...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 4, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation, VAT
I’m a supporter of a single-rate tax regime, especially if there’s no double taxation of income that is saved and invested. That’s why I like the flat tax. But I’ve expressed concern about the national sales tax, even though it’s basically the same as a flat tax (the...