The Congressional Budget Office has just released their annual “Long Term Budget Outlook” which shows the path of taxes, spending, and debt over the next thirty years. As usual, it’s a very depressing document. There’s already good write ups on it in the Wall Street Journal, as well as by Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute […]
In a recent piece in The Atlantic “How American Politics Went Insane,” Jonathan Rauch argues that the bizarre 2016 cycle is essentially the consequence of over-reforming Washington. The problem, according to Rauch, is that when you try to take the politics out of politics nothing gets done. The solution? Bring back pork. Rauch writes: “For […]
Before the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), where Philip II of Macedon prevailed over a common Greek alliance, the city-states had been weakened by years of social and economic turmoil. To read the classical speeches in the Athenian assembly is to learn of the democracy’s constant struggles with declining revenues, insolvency, and expanding entitlements. Rome […]
The budget deficit is going up. The Congressional Budget Office recently warned that revenues this year are lower than had been expected. This means that the deficit will almost certainly be higher than the $544 billion previously projected. With our national debt now topping $19.15 trillion and likely to reach $29 trillion by 2026, this […]
If you want to see welfare-state socialism in action, go to bankrupt Puerto Rico. Let’s hope Bernie Sanders’ voters are paying attention to what their worker paradise dreams turn into in real life. Puerto Rico is a financial basket base with the island’s $75 billion debt now eclipsing 100% of its output. The government is […]