“Common sense” sounds great, but economic truths are often the opposite of common sense. Donald Trump recently identified the Republican Party as …
Do We Sometimes Just Have to ‘Ignore’ Economists?
There are consequences to ignoring economic reality. Back in August, an article in The Atlantic titled “Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists” …
The Top 5 Most Misunderstood Economic Concepts
There are a lot of economic concepts people get wrong. Here are some of the most common missteps. By: Patrick …
The Failure of Bidenomics, Part VII
Let’s revisit the issues of Bidenomics. Previous editions of this series have focused on Biden’s dismal record with regards to subsidies, inflation, protectionism, household …
These Prices & Rates Preceded Every Recession Since 1957
In 1997, Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, while still an academic, wrote a famous historical study for the Brookings Institution: “Systematic …
Recession predictor? Oh yeah, and it’s bad
By Robert Romano The spread between 10-year and 2-year treasuries, a reliable indicator of incoming recessions that has predicted almost every …
Biden’s Abject Failure on Trade
by Dan Mitchell Biden campaigned for higher taxes and a bigger welfare state, so I haven’t been surprised by his misguided fiscal agenda. That …
The World’s Most Economically Illiterate Statement
by Dan Mitchell Back in 2014, I shared two videos, one narrated by Prof. Don Boudreaux and the other narrated by Prof. Deirdre McCloskey, …
Growth after World War II – Why the Keynesians were so very wrong
By Dan Mitchell Last week, I shared some data showing how the economy enjoyed a strong recovery from recession in the early 1920s …
Ranking Presidents: Was Woodrow Wilson the Worst of the Worst?
by Dan Mitchell I certainly don’t intend to do this for everyone who has made it to the White House, but …
Ranking Presidents: The Awful Economic Record of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Starting with a column about government-subsidized debt and ending yesterday with a column about why government shouldn’t own airlines, I’ve written about coronavirus-related …
“Price Gouging” – is it actually a good thing?
After Hitler’s National Socialists were defeated in World War II, the allies imposed price controls on the German economy for the ostensible …
Socialism: A Track Record of Failure
What’s socialism? Is it the centrally planned economies of Cuba and North Korea? Or the kleptocracies of Zimbabwe and Venezuela? How about the interventionist welfare states of Greece, Italy, and France? …
Understanding the Trade Deficit
by Dan Mitchell In January, I shared a short video about protectionism, which expanded on some analysis from a one-minute video from last year. Today, …
Government Programs Lure Older Workers into Idleness and Dependency
When I write about Social Security, I normally focus on the program’s huge fiscal imbalance ($44 trillion and climbing) says Dan Mitchell. …
Falling Red Tape = Rising Economic Growth
I was not optimistic about a Trump presidency, says Dan Mitchell. Before the 2016 election, I characterized him as a …
Throwing Good Money after Bad Doesn’t Improve Government Schools
Whenever I discuss education policy with one of my leftist friends, it usually follows the same script. They’ll ask whether …
Lessons from the Reagan Tax Cuts
In a column in the New York Times, Steven Rattner attacks Trump’s tax plan for being unrealistic. Since I also think the proposal …
Another Reminder that the United States Should Not Become a European-Style Welfare State
One of the more surreal aspects of the 2016 campaign was watching Bernie Sanders argue that the United States should become more …
A Cartoon that Tells You Everything You Need to Know about International Bureaucracies
by Dan Mitchell. Okay, I’ll admit the title of this post is an exaggeration. There are lots of things you should …
Other people’s money and why the government is hopeless about spending
Milton Friedman, Adam Smith, and Other People’s Money by Dan Mitchell From an economic perspective, too much government spending is harmful to economic …
Tax Havens Promote Economic Prosperity and Protect Human Liberty, Right?
I sometimes wonder if I was put on this planet to defend tax competition and tax havens. I argue for fiscal …
Everything You ever Needed to Know about Why Low Tax Rates Are the Best Way to Reduce Evasion
Why do many people engage in civil disobedience and decide not to comply with tax laws? Our leftist friends (the …
Why Federalism is a very good thing
Learning from New Jersey’s Bad Tax Policy by Dan Mitchell Federalism is a great idea, and not just because America’s Founders wanted a …
Utilizing FREE financial advice
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, the financial experts say. But as they speak, they are handing out …