Dniel J. Mitchell is a top expert on tax reform and supply-side tax policy at the Cato Institute. Mitchell is a strong advocate of a flat tax and international tax competition. Prior to joining Cato, Mitchell was a senior fellow with The Heritage Foundation, and an economist for Senator Bob Packwood and the Senate Finance Committee. He also served on the 1988 Bush/Quayle transition team and was Director of Tax and Budget Policy for Citizens for a Sound Economy. His articles can be found in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Investor's Business Daily, and Washington Times. He is a frequent guest on radio and television and a popular speaker on the lecture circuit. Mitchell holds bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.
Jonah Goldberg’s Good Advice for the GOP: Confess Your Spending Sins and Repent By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 31, 2012) In a post last week, I explained that Obama has been a big spender, but noted his profligacy is disguised because TARP outlays caused a spike in spending during Bush’s last... more
The States Are a Fiscal Policy Laboratory, but Obama Isn’t Learning the Right Lesson By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 30, 2012) The fiscal nightmare in Europe should be all the proof that’s needed about the dangers of wasteful spending and punitive tax rates. Unfortunately, if his proposals for bigger... more
Mocking America’s Feckless Politicians By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 29, 2012) Who are the worst people in America? For sheer evil, I’m sure murderers, rapists, and child molesters belong at the top of the list. But if we’re talking about overall damage... more
From Hooters to Marylou’s, Great Moments in EEOC Bureaucracy By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 28, 2012) I’ve written about the high cost of red tape, and have cited crazy examples of regulation run amok. Special bathroom rules for “pee-shy” employees. Making banks put... more
Based on the Reform Agenda of German Free Market Advocates, Europe Is Doomed By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 27, 2012) Guido Westerwelle is supposed to be the German version of a libertarian. Currently serving as Foreign Minister, he was the chairman of the supposedly pro-market Free... more
New Study from U.K. Think Tank Shows How Big Government Undermines Prosperity By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 26, 2012) It seems I was put on the planet to educate people about the negative economic impact of excessive government. Though I must be doing a bad job because the burden of the... more
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Which President Is the Biggest Spender of All? By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 25, 2012) A financial columnist named Rex Nutting recently triggered a firestorm of controversy by claiming that Barack Obama is not a big spender. Here’s the chart he prepared, which... more
Eurobonds: The Fiscal Version of Co-Signing a Loan for Your Unemployed Alcoholic Cousin Who Has a Gambling Addiction By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 24, 2012) I’ve written many times about the foolishness of bailing out profligate governments (or, for that matter, mismanaged banks and inefficient car companies). Bailouts reward... more
Thieving and Reprehensible Government By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 23, 2012) I hope you’re a libertarian already. But if you’re not, I hope you’ll be one after you finish reading this post. And if you’re not a libertarian after reading this post, I... more
Another “Government Shutdown” Fight in Washington’s Future By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 22, 2012) One of the big stories from Washington is that there may be another fight over the debt limit, which could mean…gasp, hide the women and children…gridlock, downgrades,... more
Another Magnificent Moment in the World of Government Stimulus By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 21, 2012) Most of my work on government stimulus focuses on economic theory and evidence. But every so often it’s a good idea to remind ourselves of the ridiculous ways that... more
California’s Train to Nowhere By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 20, 2012) I’ve explained before that “high-speed rail” is a boondoggle, and I’ve also posted a thorough presentation on the topic from the folks at Reason about this issue. But some... more
Julia: The Most Disappointing Daughter in the World By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 19, 2012) I wrote about Julia the Moocher earlier this month, linking the Obama campaign’s make-believe leech with a real-world Greek woman who thought the government should take care... more
Rand Paul’s “Monstrous” and “Nasty” Budget Got 16 More Votes than Obama’s Budget By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 18, 2012) A few months ago, I wrote some very nice things about a budget plan put together by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, noting that: Senator Paul and his colleagues are... more
Reformers vs the GOP Establishment: The Battle to Eliminate the Income Tax By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 17, 2012) Putting Republicans in charge is never a guarantee of good public policy. It was during the Bush years, for instance, that the nation was saddled with a prescription drug... more
Great Moments in Government Waste: Stimulus Spending on…um…Stimulus By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 16, 2012) Two years ago, I posted a mildly inappropriate photo of an old guy protesting Obama’s faux stimulus. I should have realized that no amount of satire can match the real-world... more
California Is the Canary in the Class-Warfare Coal Mine By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 15, 2012) President Obama’s fiscal policy is a dismal mixture. On spending, he wants a European-style welfare state. On taxes, he is fixated on class-warfare tax policy. If we want to... more
More Jokes about America’s Native Criminal Class By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 14, 2012) My favorite political jokes tend to be parables, such as using beer to explain the tax system, the PC version of the story about the ant and the grasshopper, the joke about... more
GOP Bullied into a Tax Hike by President Obama and Senator Reid? By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 13, 2012) Last year, as part of the fight over the debt limit, Congress created a “super-committee” that was designed to produce at least $1.2 trillion of “deficit reduction.” The... more
Facebook Billionaire Gives Up Citizenship to Escape Bad American Tax Policy By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 12, 2012) It is very sad that America’s tax system is so onerous that some rich people feel they have no choice but to give up U.S. citizenship in order to protect their family... more
Gun Humor: Why Southern California Is Different than Real America By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 11, 2012) Here’s a joke I got from a friend in Alabama. It’s somewhat similar to this gem about the difference between conservatives, liberals, and... more
Debunking the Austerity Charade in Europe By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 10, 2012) I wrote a detailed blog post yesterday, showing that European governments have been very reluctant to restrain the burden of government spending. Part of the problem is that... more
Paul Krugman and the European Austerity Myth By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 09, 2012) With both France and Greece deciding to jump out of the left-wing frying pan into the even-more-left-wing fire, European fiscal policy has become quite a controversial... more
The Richard Nixon Disinfectant Rule By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 08, 2012) Even though he is a foolish statist, I wanted Francois Hollande to win the French presidency. Sarkozy was a statist as well, after all, and my “Richard Nixon Disinfectant... more
What Motivates the Left, Love for the Poor or Hatred against the Rich? By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 07, 2012) I shared an amazing video last year featuring Margaret Thatcher exposing the left for wanting to keep the poor destitute if that was the price of hurting the so-called... more
The Laffer Curve Strikes Again and More Mooching Julia By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 06, 2012) I periodically explain the principles of the Laffer Curve, particularly in hopes that I will educate lawmakers that higher tax rates are a bad idea – even if they wind up... more
Olga and Julia: Moochers of the World Unite! By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 05, 2012) Back in 2010, I declared that Olga Stefou was a symbol of everything that’s wrong with the Greek welfare state. She was one of the protesters and – if the story captured her... more
The Value Added Tax Would Raise Tons of Money; and that's Why it's Wrong By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 04, 2012) I’ve written before how “The Value-Added Tax Would Be a Money Machine for Big Government.” Writing for Bloomberg, Josh Barro has a piece entitled, “Value-Added Tax... more
Australia vs. the United States: Two Charts that Tell You Everything You Need to Know about Social Security Reform By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 03, 2012) There are two serious problems with America’s Social Security system. Almost everyone knows about the first problem, which is that the system is bankrupt, with huge unfunded... more
New IRS Regulation Shows the “Willful Negligence” of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 02, 2012) I’ve been fighting for more than 10 years to stop an IRS regulation that would force American banks to put foreign tax law above US tax law. Sadly, I recently lost that... more
Former Obama Official Calls for U.S.-Financed Keynesian Spending Binge in Europe By Daniel J. Mitchell (May 01, 2012) There’s an old saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. This certainly is a good description of Keynesians,... more
When Hugo Chavez Battles Supply and Demand Curves, Guess What Happens? By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 30, 2012) Haiti may be the poorest nation in the Americas. Cuba may have the dictator with the longest lifespan. But Venezuela arguably has the worst government. Not the clownish... more
The Utterly Horrifying English Welfare State By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 29, 2012) I’ve occasionally commented on foolish public policy in the United Kingdom, including analysis on how the welfare state destroys lives and turns people into despicable... more
Switzerland’s “Debt Brake” Is a Role Model for Spending Control and Fiscal Restraint By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 28, 2012) I’ve argued, ad nauseam, that the single most important goal of fiscal policy is (or should be) to make sure the private sector grows faster than the government. This “golden... more
The Selfishness Debate: Ayn Rand vs the Dalai Lama By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 27, 2012) I’m in Monaco for the 10th forum of the Convention of Independent Financial Advisors, a Swiss-based NGO that focuses on promoting an ethical and productive environment for... more
The Jon Lovitz Tax Rant: If Obama Loses the Hollywood Left By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 26, 2012) Many years ago, before it became associated with foreign intervention, neo-conservatism was simply a term for former liberals who migrated to the right. It was said that they... more
Portuguese FM Admits Stimulus Flop- Don’t Wait for Obama to do Same By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 25, 2012) President Obama imposed a big-spending faux stimulus program on the economy back in 2009, claiming that the government needed to squander about $800 billion to keep the... more
Miracles Do Happen: Someone in Brussels Accurately Analyzes Europe’s Fiscal Crisis! By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 24, 2012) With the exception of a few top-notch thinkers such as Pierre Bessard and Allister Heath, there are very few people in Europe who can intelligently analyze public policy,... more
New York Times Columnist Bumps into Reality, Learns Nothing By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 23, 2012) The pro-statism crowd routinely argues that we need more government. Every so often, though, one of them inadvertently stumbles on the truth. But they then refuse to draw the... more
Comparing Obamanomics with Reaganomics, Looking at Evidence from the States By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 22, 2012) I’ve done a couple of posts comparing Reaganomics and Obamanomics, mostly based on data from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve on employment and economic output. I even did a... more
Choosing a President: The Long-Awaited Dan Mitchell Endorsement By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 21, 2012) I periodically get emails asking whether I support a presidential candidate. Most of these messages complain that I’ve been critical... more
The Supreme Court’s Job Is to Protect Americans from Democracy By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 20, 2012) I have to give the Washington Post credit. It may have a bias for statism, but at least they have some diversity on the op-ed pages. Less than two months after E.J. Dionne... more
Time for Me to Defend My Work on Tax Havens By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 19, 2012) A few days ago, I explained why I’m a big fan of tax competition. Simply stated, we need to subject governments to competitive pressure to at least partially offset the... more
Why High Taxes Will Never Soak Rich By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 18, 2012) Whether it’s through the Buffett Rule, higher income-tax rates or double taxation of dividends and capital gains, President Obama often demands that “rich” taxpayers and big... more
Professor Greg Mankiw: If You Value Individual Liberty, then Protect, Promote, and Preserve Competition Between Governments By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 17, 2012) Other than my experiment dealing with corporate taxation, the first video I narrated for the Center for Freedom and Prosperity dealt with the issue of tax competition. It... more
Time to Follow Sweden’s Lead on Fiscal Policy By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 16, 2012) Sweden has a very large and expensive welfare state, but it’s actually becoming a bit of a role model for economic reform. I’ve already commented on the country’s impressive... more
The Right Capital Gains Tax Rate Is Zero By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 15, 2012) The silly debate about the “Buffett Rule” is really an argument about the extent to which there should be more double taxation of income that is saved and... more
The European Evidence Shows Why the Left’s Real Goal Is Higher Taxes on the Middle Class By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 14, 2012) Why are taxes so much higher in Europe, consuming 46 percent of economic output compared to 32 percent of GDP in America? Is it because nations such as France, Greece, and... more
An Example of Cronyism, Sleaze, and Corruption at the Export-Import Bank By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 13, 2012) One of my first posts on this blog featured this video showing how big government breeds corruption. I’ve periodically provided examples of how this process works, citing... more
Rejecting the Buffett Rule and Fighting Obama’s Class Warfare By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 12, 2012) I’ve already explained why Warren Buffett is either dishonest or clueless about tax policy. Today, on CNBC, I got to debate the tax scheme that President Obama has named... more
The Laffer Curve Shows that Tax Increases Are a Very Bad Idea – even if They Generate More Tax Revenue By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 11, 2012) Dan Mitchell The Laffer Curve is a graphical representation of the relationship between tax rates, tax revenue, and taxable income. It is frequently cited by people who... more
Notwithstanding the “Grand Bargain” Siren Song, there’s No Practical Argument for Tax Hikes By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 10, 2012) Many people think that my opposition to tax increases is ideological, but they’re wrong. If someone told me that I magically had the power to flick a switch and give the... more
If We Can’t End the Fed, Can We at Least Subject It to Competition? By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 09, 2012) Ron Paul has made “End the Fed” a popular slogan, but some people worry that this is a radical untested idea. In part, this is because it is human nature to fear the... more
Taxpayers Finance a $537,767-Per-Year Bureaucrat By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 08, 2012) I’ve reported some horror stories about bureaucrats ripping off taxpayers with lavish compensation packages, including: The chief bureaucrat of a low-income California... more
Lib Logic: Global Warming Skeptics are Crazy Racists By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 07, 2012) I’ve written about the government’s war on light bulbs, its rule against working toilets, and its prohibition of washing machines that actually clean, so I sometimes cover... more
Barbara Boxer Looks to Restrict Travel from US Over Taxes By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 06, 2012) Some of the world’s most disgusting and evil regimes restricted the right to emigrate, including the imposition of exit taxes designed to fleece those who did want to... more
Socialism for Kids, the Obama Version By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 05, 2012) I have several amusing posts about the left’s fixation on redistributionism, including this Halloween classic, this Elizabeth Warren takedown, this mockery of the Occupy Wall... more
President Obama Accuses Bill Clinton of “Thinly Veiled Social Darwinism” By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 04, 2012) Actually, Bill Clinton must be something even worse than a social Darwinist. That’s because the title of this post is wrong. Obama said that Paul Ryan’s plan (which allows... more
Revolt of the Irish Tax Slaves By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 03, 2012) I wrote last year about a backlash from long-suffering Greek taxpayers. These people – the ones pulling the wagon rather than riding in the wagon – are being raped and... more
With Washington Now Imposing the World’s Highest Corporate Tax Rate, Every Day is April Fool’s Day for American Companies By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 02, 2012) Last year, I expressed skepticism that the White House was serious about reducing the corporate tax rate. And, sure enough, when the Obama Administration produced a plan... more
Politicians Should be Mocked More Often By Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 01, 2012) I’m periodically asked why I share political humor on this blog. The glib and easy answer is that it’s good to share amusing material. But there’s also a serious... more
E.J. Dionne Forgets that America Is a Constitutional Republic By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 31, 2012) My daily email containing the editorials and opinion columns from the Washington Post included an item written by E.J. Dionne entitled “Supreme Court activists: Conservative... more
Prosecution of Gun Owner Is another Reason to Despise Illinois By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 30, 2012) Illinois is a hopeless state, filled with greedy bureaucrats and senseless politicians. Not surprisingly, it’s also a state that prosecutes people who try to protect... more
Explaining Pro-Growth Tax Reform to the Senate Budget Committee By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 29, 2012) What do the flat tax and national sales tax (and even the value-added tax) have in common? As I explain in this Senate Budget Committee testimony, they are all single-rate,... more
Should America Copy Europe, as Obama Believes? By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 28, 2012) Last year, I shared a very amusing Michael Ramirez cartoon showing Obama as the European lemming. Today, Mark Helprin takes a much more serious look at the same issue in the... more
Why Did the Founding Fathers Bother with a List of Enumerated Powers if not to Prevent Obamacare? By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 27, 2012) I think Obamacare is bad policy because it exacerbates the main problem with the current healthcare system, which is third-party payer. And as a public finance economist, I’m... more
How the Left Thinks Gun Control Actually Works By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 26, 2012) While there are some statists who viscerally despise freedom and want ordinary citizens disarmed so that only the government has guns, most supporters of gun control... more
The Toulouse Child Killer: Another Case of Welfare Being Used to Subsidize Terrorism? By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 25, 2012) I’m not a big fan of welfare programs, in part because I sympathize with taxpayers (check out these outrageous examples of waste) but mostly because redistribution programs... more
Romney Big Gaffe Is TARP, not Etch-a-Sketch By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 24, 2012) Governor Romney’s campaign is catching some flak because a top aide implied that many of the candidate’s positions have been insincere and that Romney will erase those views... more
A Victory over the Ideological and Tyrannical Thugs at the EPA By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 23, 2012) In some recent polling data, most Americans expressed a negative view of the federal government, with many of them in another poll saying it poses an “immediate threat to... more
Ryan's Budget Restrains Spending Growth, Allows Private Sector to Expand Faster than Burden of Government By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 22, 2012) The Chairman of the House Budget Committee has produced a new budget plan which contrasts very favorably with the tax-heavy, big-spending proposal submitted by the President... more
A Test for the GOP: Shutting Down the Spigot of Corporate Welfare By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 21, 2012) Republicans are telling voters that they’ve learned the hard lessons from the 2006 and 2008 elections and that they are back on the side of taxpayers. I’m not convinced,... more
An Indictment of Barack Obama’s Economic Record By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 20, 2012) In a recent post comparing Reaganomics and Obamanomics, I explained why I think Barack Obama’s policies have been hurting the economy. In today’s New York Post, I do a... more
The Tax System Explained in Beer By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 19, 2012) In my explanations of the Laffer Curve, I’ve shown evidence that high tax rates discourage productive behavior and boost the underground economy. And if higher tax rates are... more
Government Stupidity Defies Satire When a $50 Light Bulb Wins an Affordability Prize By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 18, 2012) I’ve written about the government’s war on consumer-friendly light bulbs (and also similar attacks on working toilets and washing machines that actually clean), so I’m... more
Congratulations to Congressman Rick Crawford, Winner of the First Charlie Brown Award for Vapidness and Gullibility By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 17, 2012) I’ve remarked before that Democrats are the evil party and Republicans are the stupid party. Well, if anyone needs additional proof about GOPers being clueless and tone deaf,... more
Three Cheers for this Lawsuit against the Thugs at the IRS By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 16, 2012) Early in 2010, I wrote about a reprehensible IRS plan to create a cartel in the tax preparation industry, which would screw small firms and entrepreneurs to help line the... more
Obama: "This Offer Good in China Only" By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 15, 2012) Back in 2009, I got very excited when President Obama stated, “No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top.” Did that mean he... more
From England, the "Modern" Glossary of Financial Terms By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 14, 2012) I’ve always admired the English sense of humor, and this post on terrorism alerts is a good example. In that spirit, here’s something that just arrived in my inbox,... more
Senator Paul Shows How It’s Simple to Balance the Budget By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 13, 2012) Last year, while lounging on the beach in the Caribbean…oops, I mean while doing off-site research, I developed the first iteration of a rule to describe how fiscal policy... more
Research Shows Obamacare Resulted in 25 Additional Democratic Losses in 2010 Elections, but Was It a Long-Term Victory for the Left? By Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 12, 2012) I like to think people in the United States still believe in liberty, and I’ve cited some polling data in support of American Exceptionalism. And it seems like that... more
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