Taxes and Spending

Why Social Security cannot be reformed.

Privatization is code for an expensive mandatory savings program.

They said the deficit meant they could not cut taxes. What's the latest excuse?

Will government use any trick to get more revenue? Have a look at what's happening to the oil industry.

It was a news story to end all news stories—literally. The announcement that a giant asteroid was headed for the vicinity of the earth caused a momentary sensation.

Far from having been reformed, much less abolished, welfare continues to grow. The most recent example is the attempt by the Clinton administration to convince Americans that there is a "child care crisis," which can only be "solved" through expansion of government. The welfare state has become a deeply destructive but sadly unavoidable fact of life in modern society.

When Clinton declared he would use budget surpluses to "fix" Social Security, the ruse was obvious. He was trying to forestall the only moral use of any surplus: cutting taxes. But a few days later, a very strange trend began to develop. Clintons words were endorsed and echoed by D.C. conservatives and libertarians.

Seen and heard almost everywhere in New York are these four words: "Hey, you never know." It's the slogan of the New York State Lottery Commission, and it is used to trick people into a self-imposed form of higher taxation.

For fifteen tedious years, Republicans demanded that Congress give the president the "line-item veto." Reaganites concocted this policy gimmick as a diversionary tactic. It allowed them to blame Congress when the budget wouldn't balance and spending soared. If only the president could eliminate pork, line by line, spending wouldn't be perpetually out of control.

As recently as 50 years ago, economists regarded the vitality of the economy as consonant with its ability to produce things people want (and would pay for). Today, the economy has been redefined into something called the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP. It measures all goods and services brought to market in a given year. But is it really an accurate measure of how well an economy is serving people's needs? Here are some outlandish ways the GDP can be boosted.