by Dan Mitchell | Oct 21, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Europe, Welfare and Entitlements
Whenever there’s a discussion of the Nordic nations, I feel conflicted. I don’t like the punitively high tax rates and socially destructive levels of redistribution in nations such as Denmark, but I also admire the very laissez-faire policies those countries have when...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 18, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Some issues never seem to get resolved. One would think, for instance, that leftists would be more cautious about pushing for a bigger welfare state given the fiscal crisis in Europe. But we have folks like Bernie Sanders openly arguing we should be more like nations...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 16, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Federal government redistribution programs don’t work. We’ve ignored the lessons of history about the dangers of government intervention, so is it any mystery that we now have millions of people mired in dependency. Yet some people in Washington want to double down on...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 27, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Welfare and Entitlements
It’s no exaggeration to say that a nation’s long-run vitality and prosperity are correlated with the spirit of independence and self-reliance among its people. Simply stated, if too many people thinks it’s okay to ride in the wagon of government dependency, that a...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 26, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Welfare and Entitlements
I repeatedly try to convince people that the welfare state is bad for both taxpayers and poor people. Sometimes I’ll add some more detailed economic analysis and explain that redistribution programs undermine growth by reducing labor supply (with Obamacare being the...
