Taxes and Spending

If Social Security was efficient, equitable, reliable and sustainable, defending the status quo might be sensible. But it is none of those things.

Despite spending nearly $2 trillion, or 45% of the federal budget, every year on Social Security and Medicare, the feds are headed toward insolvency, and there is no relief in sight.

Social Security acts as a sort of "reverse insurance," doling out money now, leaving less for the future.

The center-left in Spain survived last weeks elections. Whether the economy can survive the left's tax addiction remains to be seen.

Government spending on higher education is higher in the US than in Switzerland, Germany, or France. But colleges remain expensive here because they focus more on non-educational perks and extras.

For many years in London, firefighting was provided privately by insurance companies. Oddly enough, the Americans rejected this model for the far-more-politicized fire department model we know today.

Dalio played the game, by the rules of the game. Now he appears to say, "I've got mine, let's change the rules."

If Canadian provinces (or US states) implement a regional carbon tax, they shouldn’t fool themselves that they are “doing the right thing.” Households and businesses will suffer from higher energy prices and slower economic growth, with very little to show for it.

Trump's high-tax trade policies have been a disaster for agriculture in the United States, marked by rising suicide among farmers, and declining incomes for farming households.

It turns out that workforce participation drops off significantly once it becomes possible to live off a government pension instead. Thus, pension policies have placed an enormous burden on those who still have to work.