Which Country Enjoys More Economic Liberty, the United States or Denmark?

When writing yesterday’s column about new competitiveness rankings from the IMD business school in Switzerland, I noticed that I have not yet written about this year’s edition of the Index of Economic Freedom. Time to rectify that oversight. We’ll start with a look at the nations with the most economic freedom. Interestingly, Singapore has now […]

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Denmark, Socialism, and Free Markets, Part II

I explained yesterday that Denmark is not a good role model for American leftists. Simply stated, Otto Brøns-Petersen’s video shows that the admirable outcomes in that country are the result of laissez-faire markets and the bad outcomes are the result of the welfare state imposed beginning in the 1960s. In any event, Denmark is not […]

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Denmark, Socialism, and Free Markets, Part I

I’ve repeatedly dealt with the argument over Denmark’s supposed socialism. My core argument is that Denmark is very bad on fiscal policy, but very laissez-faire on other issues such as regulation. The net effect is that Danes have about the same amount of economic liberty as Americans. The bottom line is that Denmark isn’t socialist. […]

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Paul Krugman Is Learning the Wrong Lesson from Denmark

Paul Krugman has butchered numbers when writing about fiscal policy in nations such as France, Estonia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Today, we’re going to peruse his writings on Denmark. Here’s some of what he wrote earlier this month. Denmark can teach us…about the possibilities of creating a decent society. …Denmark, where tax receipts are 46 percent of GDP compared with […]

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Denmark’s Successful Transition from Tax-Financed Old-Age Payments to Private Retirement Accounts

The United States has a bankrupt Social Security system. According to the most recent Trustees Report, the cash-flow deficit is approaching $44 trillion. And that’s after adjusting for inflation. Even by DC standards of profligacy, that’s a big number. Yet all that spending (and future red ink) doesn’t even provide a lavish retirement. Workers would […]

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Debunking Leftist Mythology on Sweden and Denmark

I’m still in China, as part of a week-long teaching assignment about markets, entrepreneurship, economics, and fiscal policy at Northeastern University in Shenyang. One point that I’ve tried to get across to the students is that China should not copy the United States. Or France, Japan, or Sweden. To be more specific, I warn them […]

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No Matter How You Slice the Data, Senator Sanders and other Leftists Are Wrong to Think Nations like Sweden and Denmark Are More Prosperous than America

I periodically make comparisons of the United States and Europe that are not very flattering for our cousins across the Atlantic. Though this isn’t because of any animus toward Europe. Indeed, I always enjoy my visits. And some of America’s best (albeit eroding) features, such as rule of law and dignity of the individual, are […]

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Will Denmark Become a Shining Example of Mitchell’s Golden Rule?

I suggested earlier this year that Denmark’s ratio of private sector workers compared with government dependents produced the world’s most depressing Powerpoint slide. It’s hard to be optimistic, after all, if a nation has an ever-growing number of people riding in the wagon (or the “party boat“) and a stagnant population of productive people. But […]

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The World’s (or at least Denmark’s) Most Depressing PowerPoint Slide

Okay, I’ll admit right away that the title of this column is an exaggeration. But if you’re a public policy wonk and you worry about the rising level of government dependency and the erosion of self reliance, then you’ll understand why the chart below, which was presented earlier today at the Copenhagen conference of the […]

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Denmark’s Party Boat and the Ever-Expanding Welfare State

My all-time most-viewed blog post wasn’t the parable about beer and the tax system. Nor was it the joke about California, Texas, and the Coyote. Those won the silver and bronze trophies. The gold medal belongs to the two pictures that explain how the welfare state begins and how it ends. Those images make a […]

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If Tax Policy Is any Indication, Birthers Should Accuse Obama of Being Born in Denmark

I’m not a big fan of government conspiracy theories, largely because the people in Washington are too bloody incompetent to do anything effectively. Heck, sometimes they can’t even waste money properly even though they have lots of practice. But it recently crossed my mind that maybe President Obama was born in Denmark. Not in a […]

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Paul Krugman Admits Big Government Means Huge Tax Increases for Ordinary Americans

While Paul Krugman sometimes misuses and misinterprets numbers for ideological reasons (see his errors regarding the United States, France, Canada, the United States, Estonia, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom), he isn’t oblivious to reality. At least not totally. He’s acknowledged, for instance, that there is a Laffer Curve and that tax rates can become […]

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International Comparisons of Capital Tax Burdens

There are three important principles for sensible tax policy. Low marginal tax rates on productive behavior No tax bias against capital (i.e., saving and investment) No tax preferences that distort the economy Today, let’s focus on #2. I’ve written many times about why double taxation is a bad idea. This occurs when governments – thanks […]

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Biden Wants America to Have the World’s Highest Tax Burden on Capital Gains

Because of the negative impact on competitiveness, productivity, and worker compensation, it’s a very bad idea to impose double taxation of saving and investment. Which is why there should be no tax on capital gains, and a few nations sensibly take this approach. But they’re outnumbered by countries that do impose this pernicious form of […]

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Another Honest Leftist Admits Big Government Requires Big Tax Hikes on the Middle Class

It’s simple to mock Democrats like Joe Biden, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders. One reason they’re easy targets is they want people to believe that America can finance a European-style welfare state with higher taxes on the rich. That’s nonsensical. Simply stated, there are not enough rich people and they don’t earn enough money (and […]

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Five Notable Takeaways from the 2021 Index of Economic Freedom

The 2021 edition of the Index of Economic Freedom was released today (as I’ve repeatedly stated, it’s my favorite annual publication from the Heritage Foundation). There are five things that merit attention 1. Hong Kong is no longer in first place. Indeed, it’s no longer even part of the rankings because the authors have determined […]

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The Looming Crisis of Demographic Decline and Entitlement Expansion

There are many compelling economic arguments against entitlement programs. They discourage savings. They discourage work. They are funded with taxes. They are funded with debt. Since I’m a libertarian, I also have moral concerns about tax-and-transfer programs. Today, though, let’s address the big problem of entitlements and demographics, especially with regards to social insurance programs […]

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The Case Against Socialism, Part II

Two years ago, I explained that socialism is an economic failure, regardless of how it is defined. In today’s follow-up column, let’s start with an excellent video from John Stossel. Before addressing the three myths mentioned in the video, it’s worth noting that there’s a technical definition of socialism based on policies such as government […]

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Socialism Humor

As I wrote last November, the one good thing about socialism is the endless opportunities it creates for satire. Indeed, I have an entire collection of socialism humor (along with jabs at communism, its authoritarian cousin). We’re adding to that page today and our first item involves some commentary on the taste preferences of bees […]

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The Destabilizing Mix of Demography and Entitlements, Part I

I’ve written many times about demographic change and the implications for public policy – both in the United States and around the world. Simply stated, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain tax-and-transfer entitlement programs in societies where people are having fewer children and people are living longer. I’m raising this issue because I spoke […]

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Part III: Poverty Is a Problem, not Inequality

Ethical people, regardless of ideology, should be motivated by an empathetic desire to help the poor rather than a spiteful thirst to punish the rich. That was the message in Part I and Part II of this series. That’s also today’s message, and we’ll start with this video. There’s a lot of information in this […]

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Will Mississippi Join the No-Income-Tax Club?

When examining state public policy, big jurisdictions such as California, Texas, New York, and Florida get a lot of attention. But what about Mississippi? It has mediocre scores for overall economic policy. It’s #29 according to the American Legislative Exchange Council. It’s #39 according to the Fraser Institute. It’s #35 according to Freedom in the […]

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New Zealand’s Risky Wage-Rigging Gamble

I’m a big fan of New Zealand because the nation is a great example of how sweeping free-market reforms lead to very good results. The Kiwis got rid of all agriculture subsidies and farmers benefited. The Kiwis put the clamps on government spending, both in the 1990s and 2010s. The Kiwis used private property rights […]

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Ranking Societal Capital: USA Is #4, but the Long-Run Outlook Isn’t Encouraging

I’m a voracious consumer of publications that rank economic liberty and national competitiveness. Simply stated, these apples-to-apples rankings tell us which countries have policies that are friendly to growth (and thus the places that will enjoy rising living standards). I’m also very interested in “societal capital,” which is the degree to which the people of […]

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Deconstructing Socialism, an Ideology Based on Government Control

Given my complete and utter disdain for socialism, I’m obviously a big fan of this discussion between Rand Paul and John Stossel. In the video, Paul and Stossel draw a distinction between market-friendly welfare states in Scandinavia and genuinely socialist nations such as the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and modern-day Venezuela. That’s because, from a […]

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Migration Patterns and Class-Warfare Taxation

When I opine about class-warfare taxation, I generally focus on the obvious argument that it’s not a good idea to penalize people for creating prosperity. This argument against punitive tax policy is based on the fact that entrepreneurs, investors, business owners, and other successful people can choose to reduce their levels of work, saving, investment, […]

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More Scholarly Evidence for Switzerland’s Debt Brake

For a land-locked nation without many natural resources, Switzerland is remarkably successful. One reason for the country’s success is pro-market policy. Switzerland routinely scores in the top 5 according to both Economic Freedom of the World and Index of Economic Freedom. More specifically, I’m a big fan of the country’s fiscal policy, especially the “Debt […]

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For a Competitive Tax System, the U.S. Should Copy Estonia Rather than Italy

Whether we’re examining Economic Freedom of the World, Index of Economic Freedom, World Competitiveness Ranking, the Global Competitiveness Report, or the World Bank’s Doing Business, publications that endeavor to give us apples-to-apples comparisons of economic policy provide useful measuring sticks. We can learn how Hong Kong compares to Singapore. We can determine the freest nation […]

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How Can the New York Times Write about the Failure of Venezuela and not Mention Socialism?

Every so often, I’ll grouse about media sloppiness/media bias, most often from the Washington Post or New York Times, but also from other outlets (Reuters, Time, ABC, the Associated Press, etc). Let’s add to the collection today by perusing an interesting – but frustrating – article in the New York Times about Venezuela’s near-decimated oil […]

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Help Reduce Poverty With Capitalism

Back in 2017, I shared this video explaining why capitalism is unquestionably the best way to help poor people. I’m recycling the video today because it’s a great introduction for a discussion about how best to help poor people. As part of my Eighth Theorem of Government, I made the point that it’s wrong to […]

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