Should International Bureaucracies Get Taxing Powers or Direct Funding?

By Daniel J. Mitchell

Over the years, I’ve strenuously objected to schemes that would enable international bureaucracies to levy taxes. That’s why I’ve criticized “direct funding” proposals, most of which seem to emanate from the United Nations. A scheme to let the United Nations tax services such as air travel. A proposal, pushed by George Soros and other statists, [...]

Should International Bureaucracies Get Taxing Powers or Direct Funding? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

New President in the Dominican Republic: Change or More of the Same?

By Juan Carlos Hidalgo

Danilo Medina of the incumbent Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) beat former president Hipólito Mejía yesterday to become the new president of the Dominican Republic.
The vote was marred by some irregularities …

New President in the Dominican Republic: Change or More of the Same? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

Taxes in the European Union Are Going Up

By Marian L. Tupy

After declining during the prosperous 2000s, taxes in the EU have been going up in recent years. That is not good news – especially if the Europeans are trying to …

Taxes in the European Union Are Going Up is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

Daniel in the Looter’s Den: My Adventures at the UN

By Daniel J. Mitchell

I was at the United Nations yesterday for something called “The High Level Thematic Debate on the State of the World Economy.”
Most speakers, including the secretary general of the United …

Daniel in the Looter’s Den: My Adventures at the UN is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

All Europe Needs Is a Massive Earthquake and Tsunami

By Juan Carlos Hidalgo

Paul Krugman looks at the first-quarter growth results from some developed economies and notes Japan’s strong performance due to the post earthquake and tsunami reconstruction. He then compares it to Italy’s dismal results due to austerity measures (which, as I’ve pointed out here, consists almost exclusively of tax increases, not cuts in spending). Krugman then [...]

All Europe Needs Is a Massive Earthquake and Tsunami is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

Looking at Austerity in Italy

By Juan Carlos Hidalgo

The Italian economy contracted for a third quarter in a row, deepening the country’s recession and adding to the fire of the euro crisis. Italy is the third largest economy in the Eurozone, and many view it as the endgame of an eventual collapse of the common currency because it is too big to fail. [...]

Looking at Austerity in Italy is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

Another Fairly Insane Cross-National Health Care Comparison

By Michael F. Cannon

Yesterday, countless newspapers published a really disappointing story by Noam Levey that the Los Angeles Times ran under this title: Global push to guarantee health coverage leaves U.S. behind; China, Mexico and other countries far less affluent are working to provide medical insurance for all citizens. It’s viewed as an economic investment. The article is little more [...]

Another Fairly Insane Cross-National Health Care Comparison is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

Caribbean Trade Dispute Gives the U.S. a Rum for Its Money

By K. William Watson

Rum subsidies in U.S. Caribbean islands have sparked an internal trade war and are inviting a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge from ill-affected countries in the region. According to an envoy representing a number of Caribbean countries that recently came to Washington, the U.S. government is unwittingly funding industrial policy in the U.S. Virgin Islands [...]

Caribbean Trade Dispute Gives the U.S. a Rum for Its Money is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

Krugman Is Wrong about Austerity in Britain – Say the Brits

By Marian L. Tupy

When, late last month, Great Britain slipped back into recession, New York Times‘ Paul Krugman saw it as a vindication of his neo-Keynesian policies. According to Krugman, Britain failed to return to growth, because David Cameron’s government stepped on the fiscal break instead of infusing the British economy with more borrowed funds. My colleagues Juan Carlos Hidalgo from Cato and Veronique [...]

Krugman Is Wrong about Austerity in Britain – Say the Brits is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog

Revolt of the Italian Tax Slaves

By Daniel J. Mitchell

I wrote last year about a tax protest in Ireland, and I wrote earlier this year about a tax revolt in Greece. But Irish and Greek taxpayers are wimps compared to their Italian compatriots. When Italians decide to have a tax revolt, they don’t kid around. Here are some remarkable details from the UK-based Telegraph. [...]

Revolt of the Italian Tax Slaves is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog