by Dan Mitchell | Jul 5, 2018 | Blogs, Taxation
Last week, I shared very grim data, going all the way back to 1880, on the growth of the welfare state. I even claimed that the accompanying graph was the “western world’s most depressing chart” because it showed the dramatic increase in the burden of government...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 29, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Last week, I shared a graph showing that there are more guns than people in the United States, and I wrote that it was the “most enjoyable” chart of the year, mostly because it gets my leftist friends so agitated. But I’m more likely to share gloomy visuals. The “most...
by Dan Mitchell | May 30, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
America has a major dependency problem. In recent decades, there’s been a significant increase in the number of working-age adults relying on handouts. This is bad news for poor people and bad news for taxpayers. But it’s also bad news for the nation since it reflects...
by Dan Mitchell | May 9, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
According to research from the Bank for International Settlements, the long-term fiscal outlook for the United Kingdom is very grim. The data generated by the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development isn’t quite as...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 25, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
I’m conflicted. I’ve repeatedly expressed skepticism about the idea of governments providing a “basic income” because I fear the work ethic will (further) erode if people automatically receive a substantial chunk of money. Moreover, I also fear that a basic income...
