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A Lesson from Illinois: Higher Taxes Perpetuate Bad Policy and Exacerbate...
Last year, I said the nation’s most important referendum was the proposal to emasculate Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (I was delighted when voters said no to the pro-spending lobbies and preserved...
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The Most Important Ballot Initiative of 2020
On election day, most people focus on the big-ticket partisan battles, such as this year’s contest between Trump and Biden. Let’s not forget, though, that there are sometimes very important referendum...
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The Six Most Important Ballot Initiatives of 2020
Since Americans are not as sensible as the Swiss, I’m generally not a fan of direct democracy in the United States. Simply stated, I don’t like untrammeled majoritarianism, which occurs when 51 percent...
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The Best and Worst of 2020
One of my traditions, which started in 2013, is to share the year’s best and worst policy outcomes of the past 365 days. For instance, last year I celebrated Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in the...
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Iowa Adopting a Flat Tax?
I wrote last year about an encouraging trend of lower tax rates at the state level. As you can see from this map, one of the states moving in the right direction is Iowa. But Governor Kim Reynolds...
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Iowa Joins the Flat Tax Club
At the state level, we have another victory for good tax policy. I wrote last month that Iowa might replace its discriminatory tax regime with a simple and fair flat tax. And I pointed out that this...
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Is It Time to Resuscitate the National Sales Tax?
About 14 years ago, I narrated this video about the flat tax and national sales tax (sometimes referred to as a “Fair Tax”). I used the video as an opportunity to explain that both plans effectively...
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The IMF’s Tax-Free Bureaucrats Target Bulgaria
I’m not a fan of the International Monetary Fund, in part because the international bureaucracy is infamous for pressuring nations to impose higher taxes. The bureaucrats at the IMF have even claimed...
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Idaho Joins the Flat Tax Club (More to Follow?)
There isn’t much good news coming from Washington, DC, especially since Biden was able to push through a (fortunately watered-down) package of more spending and higher taxes. But there have been some...
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The Most Important Ballot Referendum of 2022
While most people pay attention to which political party enjoys success when there’s an election, I think it’s also important to look at ballot initiatives. In 2021, voters in the left-leaning state of...
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The Correct Rate for a State Income Tax Is Zero
Looking at reforms at the state level, the past two years have produced very good news on education policy and tax policy. Regarding the latter, many states have lowered tax rates and several of them...
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Applauding Governor Ducey of Arizona
Because politicians have built-in incentives to expand the size and scope of government, it is very rare to find elected officials who actually deliver more liberty. Some of them will offer rhetoric,...
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Time to Resuscitate the Flat Tax
It is economically foolish to have high tax rates, double taxation, and corrupt loopholes. The answer, as Steve Forbes explains in this video, is the flat tax. He makes excellent points, similar to the...
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Trump’s Tax Returns and the Flat Tax
I applauded when Joe Biden used clever tax strategies to reduce his (apparently unpatriotic) tax bill to the IRS. I also applauded when Bill and Hillary Clinton engaged in clever tax avoidance, as well...
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Addressing IRS Dysfunction
I’m not a big fan of the Internal Revenue Service, but our awful (and anti-growth) tax system is mostly the fault of politicians. Ever since that dark day in 1913 when the income tax was enacted,...
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Should America Copy Estonia’s Pro-Growth Flat Tax?
The Baltic nation of Estonia is an improbable success. After breaking free from the horror of Soviet communism, leaders adopted pro-market reforms. Including a low-rate flat tax for households....
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(Even Better) State Tax Rankings
There’s been great progress in recent years with regards to state tax policy. When I put together my first ranking back in 2018, there were 9 states with flat taxes and and 3 states with low-rate...
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Is Iowa Becoming the “Florida of the North”?
According to both Economic Freedom of North America and Freedom in the 50 States, Iowa is boringly average, ranking in the 20s. That’s better than being terrible, like New York or California. But it’s...
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Estonia’s Transition from Socialist Misery to Free-Market Prosperity, Part II
In Part I of this series, we looked at the many pro-market reforms that turned Estonia into an “improbable success.” For Part II, let’s look at fiscal policy. And we’ll start with the country’s best...
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The Case for a Flat Tax
I explained the benefits of a flat tax in a video 14 years ago. And I’ve since shared two videos (here and here) of Steve Forbes arguing for a flat tax. If those are not enough, here’s a recent...
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The Five Most Important Ballot Initiatives of 2024
One of my traditions is that I highlight the most important ballot initiatives every year (see 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, etc). Unlike contests between flawed and deceptive politicians, these...
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Louisiana Joins the Flat Tax Club
While there are plenty of reasons to be depressed about public policy (particularly the growing burden of government spending), there are a few reasons to feel optimistic. Argentina’s libertarian...
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Tax Loophole Madness
When I write about tax reform, I emphasize that there are three equally important features of the flat tax. One low tax rate on productive behavior. No double taxation of saving and investment. No...
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Estonia’s Transition from Socialist Misery to Free-Market Prosperity, Part III
I’m in Estonia as part of the Free Market Road Show, so this is a good opportunity for Part III of my series on that country’s rebound from communism. To follow up on Part I and Part II, let’s start...
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Ohio Joins the Flat Tax Club
In 1972, Ohio politicians made the mistake of imposing a state income tax. That first tax had a top rate of 3.5 percent, but politicians quickly became addicted to this new source of tax revenue. By...
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Bulgaria and the 20th Theorem of Government
My 20th Theorem of Government is based on the very simple – but empirically rigorous – premise that the key fiscal variable is spending growth. If government is restrained, there are inevitably good...
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IMF Bureaucrats (Who Get Tax-Free Salaries) Recommend Big Tax Increases for...
I normally have a Thanksgiving-themed column every year (2024, 2023, 2022, etc, etc), but I just saw something so irritating from the pro-tax crowd at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that I’m...
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The Tradeoff Between Tax Progressivity and Economic Output, Part II
The Center for Freedom and Prosperity released this video back in 2010, but I don’t think I’ve re-shared it since 2016, so let’s begin today’s column with a reminder that it is possible to have a...
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OECD Urges Bigger Burden of Government in Romania
Sixteen years ago, I wrote a celebratory column because Romanian lawmakers opted to keep their flat tax, notwithstanding pressure from international bureaucracies. Unfortunately, something bad has...
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State Tax Divergence, Part II
Adding to what I wrote in April, let’s look at dramatic changes in state taxation. And we’ll start with this video about the foolishness of class-warfare policy. I’m sharing that video because...
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