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...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 23, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
As we get deeper into an election season, many politicians feel compelled to discuss how to deal with poverty. And some of them may even be serious about trying to improve the system. This hopefully will lead to big-picture discussions of key issues, such as why the...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 8, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Back in 2013, my colleagues at the Cato Institute, Michael Tanner and Charles Hughes, released a study looking at the value of welfare programs in various states. The most shocking finding was that the overall package of welfare benefits was greater than the median...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 3, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Like Sisyphus pushing the rock up a hill, I keep trying to convince my leftist friends that growth is the best way to help the poor. I routinely share new evidence and provide real-world data in hopes that they will realize that good results are more important than...
