Taxes and Spending

US aid to foreign regimes helps free governments from having to raise funds from their own people. So, the recipients of foreign aid are likely to become less responsive and more corrupt.

Even if discretionary spending stays flat, total government outlays are estimated to increase by more than $1 trillion, significantly above any measure of tax revenues. And that is without considering a possible recession.

Argentina is only going to prosper when it recognizes that its fiscal and monetary imbalances are not the fault of the citizens and their small businesses, but of the government.

If the government were a sitcom family, they would be called the Spendthrifts, and no one would dream of trusting them with credit.

The Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of North America report provides the method of evaluating the economic freedom of Brazilian states. Results suggest that Brazilian states' freedom scores have been declining.

The moral of this economic story is that whenever someone who has an incentive to lowball the burden of a tax is speaking or writing, be careful to look at what happens to take-home income as a better guide to policy.

So long as governments exist, it is essential that we minimize the ability of groups and individuals to use the power of the state to enrich themselves.

Bob Murphy tackles a common objection from atheist libertarians.

The American Left used to argue that we needed higher taxes on the rich so they would "pay their fair share." Nowadays, they are arguing that billionaires shouldn't exist at all.

Bob Murphy interviews researcher and Columbia economics professor Wojciech Kopczuk.