European Fiscal Policy Week, Part VI: The Swiss Spending-Cap Solution

As part of “European Fiscal Policy Week,” I’ve complained about bad Italian fiscal policy, bad Europe-wide fiscal policy, bad British fiscal policy, and also the unhelpful role of the European Union. But I want to end the week on an optimistic note, so let’s take a look at Switzerland‘s spending cap. Known as the “debt […]

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European Fiscal Policy Week, Part V: The European Union, Centralization, and Redistribution

The European Union started as a good idea (unfettered free trade between member nations) and has morphed into a troubling idea (a super-state based on centralization, harmonization, and bureaucratization). And I fear it is heading further in the wrong direction since many European politicians want European-wide taxes and spending to facilitate more redistribution (on top […]

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European Fiscal Policy Week, Part IV: Bad U.K. Monetary Policy Leads to Bad U.K. Fiscal Policy

I was excited about the possibility of pro-growth tax policy during the short-lived reign of Liz Truss as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. However, I’m now pessimistic about the nation’s outlook. Truss was forced to resign and big-government Tories (akin to big-government Republicans) are back in charge. As part of my “European Fiscal Policy […]

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European Fiscal Policy Week, Part III: A Continent-Wide Spending Problem

I discussed Italy’s looming fiscal crisis on Monday and then argued against a potential bailout on Tuesday. Today, let’s focus on the rest of Europe. I gave a presentation yesterday in Brussels about “Public Finances in the Eurozone” and used the opportunity to explain that governments are too big in Europe and to warn that […]

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European Fiscal Policy Week, Part II: The Right Response to Italy’s Fiscal Crisis

I wrote yesterday to speculate about a possible fiscal crisis in Italy. Today, here are my thoughts on why there should not be a bailout if/when a crisis occurs. I have moral objections to bailouts, but let’s focus in this column on the practical impact. And let’s start with this chart, which shows debt levels […]

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European Fiscal Policy Week, Part I: Italy’s Looming Fiscal Crisis

I’m in Europe to give a couple of speeches about fiscal policy, so I’m going to spend all week commenting on the continent’s (mostly miserable) fiscal policy. Let’s start with comments about Italy, the nation most likely to suffer a crisis. Normally, I tell people to focus on government spending rather than red ink. After […]

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