by Dan Mitchell | Jul 6, 2015 | Blogs, Economics
I’ve written over and over again that the federal government’s so-called War on Poverty has been a disaster. It’s been bad news for taxpayers, of course, but it’s also been bad news for poor people since they get trapped in dependency. So what’s the alternative? Well,...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 4, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
Based on a new report from the Congressional Budget Office, I wrote two weeks ago about America’s dismal long-run fiscal outlook. Simply stated, we face a Greek-style fiscal future because of changing demographics and poorly designed entitlement programs. But I was...
by Dan Mitchell | Jun 2, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Back during the 2012 presidential campaign, I criticized the view that America was divided between “makers” and “takers.” But not because I disagreed with the notion that people trapped in government dependency have an unfortunate self-interest in supporting...
by Dan Mitchell | May 31, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Society, Welfare and Entitlements
When I write about the “suicidal” welfare state in Europe, I’m generally making an economic argument that involves demographic change, labor participation rates, and fiscal burdens. And that’s a non-trivial argument, based on very sobering data from the Bank for...
by Dan Mitchell | May 19, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
President Obama recently took part in a poverty panel at Georgetown University. By D.C. standards, it was ideologically balanced since there were three statists against one conservative(I’ve dealt with that kind of “balance” when dealing with the media, as you...
