Economics

Many in the Washington establishment were shocked Aug. 17, when the Congressional Budget Office reported a surge of “unanticipated tax receipts” that will sharply push down this year’s deficit. Those who had been proclaiming the Bush tax rate cuts would result in a big reduction in tax revenues tried to hide their disappointment. It was tough being proved wrong again Read More ›

MIAMI, Fla. — The skyline appears to have more cranes than buildings, as if the city were just one vast construction site, and that has been the good news. The bad news here in Miami, as well as most major U.S. cities, is that the real estate boom of the last few years is coming to an end. The villain Read More ›

If you knew the U.S. government was going bankrupt primarily because of spending on Social Security and Medicare, and the only solutions were the following, which one would you pick? Doubling individual and corporate income tax rates. Immediately cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits by two-thirds. Immediately cutting all federal discretionary spending (including defense) by 143 percent. Reforming Social Security Read More ›

Should the U.N. be able to tax you? Over the last several years, officials at the U.N. and other international organizations have been hatching schemes to directly tax the world’s people. Traditionally, only sovereign governments have the right to tax. The U.N. and other international organizations have largely depended on their ability to extract dues or other payments from their Read More ›

VIENNA, Austria. — Human lifespans in developed countries have been increasing 15 seconds every minute for the past 125 years, and they are increasing even faster in the developing countries — on average about 20 seconds every minute. This means that in Europe and America lifespans increase about one year over every four-year period. Why has this happened? In one Read More ›

Does the language you speak or use help influence how wealthy you are? When trying to determine why some countries are wealthier than others, economists rarely, if at all, consider language. However, if you look at the list of wealthiest countries on a per capita income basis, you will notice almost all the top 20 are English-speaking, or use some Read More ›

Is the European Union a democracy? The Europeans and most others will argue yes, but there are many different degrees of democracy. Many Europeans increasingly feel powerless when it comes to their national government and particularly that of the EU, and for good reason. Despite the fact that many of the nations of Europe are much older than the U.S., Read More ›

This article, published by National Review, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellow George Gilder: The most articulate and successful advocates of tax cuts in the last thirty years — George Gilder, Jack Kemp, Ronald Reagan, Wall Street Journal editorial page editors, and Steve Forbes among them — all argued for cuts to prompt higher economic growth. The rest of the article can be Read More ›

Alain Akouala, communications minister for the Republic of Congo, in his June 11 article in the Commentary pages of The Washington Times, made an interesting stab at defending the indefensible. For those who have not followed the story, here is a quick summary. The Republic of Congo (not to be confused with the former Belgium Congo next door) is an Read More ›

You can bet that almost anytime a politician attempts to raise your taxes or pushes for a big, new government spending program, the justification is at least partially based on the results of some mathematical model. Al Gore, and many others endorsing the global warming rage, tell us the climate models show government must do something about global warming before Read More ›