by Dan Mitchell | May 15, 2016 | Blogs, Economics, Socialism
Incentives matter. Sometimes that can be explained with wonky discussions of marginal tax rates orwelfare traps. But that may not be the best approach when trying to convince someone with no aptitude for economics. So what’s the best way of introducing such concepts...
by Dan Mitchell | May 5, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Welfare and Entitlements
One of the more interesting policy debates, both in America and around the world, is whether convoluted and counterproductive welfare states should be scrapped and replaced with a “basic income” payment from the government. Finland is experimenting with the concept....
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 10, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Remember when I wrote about a week ago that I was somewhat optimistic about entitlement reform? Well, given what just happened in New Hampshire, I must have been smoking crack. It would now be more accurate to say something will happen with entitlements, but it will...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 8, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Welfare and Entitlements
Taxpayers don’t like coughing up big amounts of money so other people can choose not to work. And they really get upset when welfare payments are so generous that newcomers are encouraged to climb in the wagon of government dependency. This has an effect on the...
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...
