by Dan Mitchell | Sep 22, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Taxation
I realize it’s wrong, but I can’t help cheering for France’s socialist president. Francois Hollande seems determined to raise every tax, expand every program, and augment every bit of red tape that afflicts the French economy. I fully expect this to end poorly, but at...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 14, 2012 | Economics
In my travels through Europe, I often wind up debating whether policy is better in the United States or Europe. I generally try to explain that this is the wrong comparison, both because Europe is not a monolithic bloc and also because most individual nations have...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 6, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
I wrote a celebratory post last November about the dramatic difference between Americans and Europeans. There truly is American exceptionalism in that Europeans are much more likely to think it is government’s responsibility to provide the basics of life. Another poll...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 25, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Welfare and Entitlements
It’s not often that I read something by Paul Krugman and think, “Good point, I hope he’s correct.” After all, I had to correct Krugman’s inaccurate analysis of Estonia, and also point out the errors in what he wrote about the United Kingdom. And I also noted mistakes...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 14, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
I wrote last year about the way in which welfare programs lead to very high implicit marginal tax rates on low-income people. More specifically, they lose handouts when they earn income. As such, it is not very advantageous for them to climb the economic ladder...
