Politicians have never met a new taxpayer-funded government program they didn’t like.
There are two problems with an estate tax: 1. The belief that estates should be taxed at all reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of economics, and 2. The actual taxing of estates has very different effects than those that advocates imagine it will have.
[Alexander Hamilton] was decidedly retrograde in pushing for an exclusive nationwide bank with a sweetheart government deal. He was not a creative policy genius so much as a persuasive second-hand dealer in discredited mercantilist ideas.
Without young, healthy individuals buying insurance and thereby paying into the system, the government is finding itself saddled with the responsibility for supporting the healthcare of the older, sicker population.
After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti that killed around 250,000 people and displaced 1.5 million others, the billion dollar state-led humanitarian relief effort failed to accomplish even the most basic tasks like rebuilding houses. The situation remains dire with 80,000 people still living in “temporary” tent camps. In the new Learn Liberty video below, Professor […]
The relative worth of a dollar is dependent on a range of factors that vary from state to state.
Should we allow the wealthy to pass on large inheritances to their children and grandchildren? After all, allowing one generation to transfer large sums of money to another seems to exacerbate the problem of inequality, allowing second and third generations to bask in wealth they really didn’t earn. If we, at the very least, taxed […]
Elon Musk’s hyperloop project seems well on its way from vision to reality. For a little bit of context: Billionaire Elon Musk began designing the hyperloop out of frustration with the California High Speed Rail System, which is still under development but is promising to be one of the slowest, most expensive bullet trains in the […]
When we left the colonists in the first installment of America’s Founding, the British Empire had begun taxing Americans for the purpose of retaining its vast military power. But the colonists viewed the very military they were funding with ire, as soldiers often treated the colonists with disregard. In the latest installment of this series, Professor […]
What would you do if the U.S. Army came to your door tomorrow and demanded you pay taxes and tariffs on many of the items in your home? Would you fight back against them; would you declare yourself free and independent from America? Yeah, we didn’t think you’d opt for the latter route… But, believe […]
Political slogans tend to obscure more than they enlighten. Barack Obama’s 2008 call for “Change We Need,” for example, turned out to mean almsgiving rather than substantive policy reform. Similarly, the American Revolution’s most famous slogan, “No taxation without representation,” failed to capture the essence of what colonists sought, or what, as freemen, they soon […]
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared at the Washington Post. The author, Emily Ekins, will be joining Learn Liberty on Facebook Live this upcoming Thursday the the 30th at 3pm to talk about this and other election issues. Millennials are the only age group in America in which a majority views socialism favorably. A national […]
A county in Georgia is raising taxes in order to pay for public parks, even as it spends $400 million to fund a new stadium for the Atlanta Braves. Further, while citizens of Cobb County voted in favor of funding public parks, they weren’t given a say about building the stadium. As Reason reports: …in […]
You know, some Skittles would be really good about now. Lunch was over and I wanted something sweet, Skittles specifically, as I’ve rediscovered a taste for them during my daughter’s last few “go to work with dad” days. I grabbed a dollar and walked over to the bookstore. The Skittles rang up…$1.04. The last few […]
Editor’s Note: This is part two in a two part series from Sarah Skwire on women and liberty. You can read part one here. The Tax Code Is Designed to Penalize Working Women Shortly after writing a check to the IRS, I got an $800 bill from my accountant for her work preparing my taxes, […]
It’s March, which means the deadline to pay your taxes is just around the corner. That makes it a great time to reflect on the complexity, and sometimes the absurdity, of the U.S. tax code. The federal tax system alone is over 10 million words long, and each state has a tax code with its […]
Recently the hearts and minds of internet users have been captivated by a simple yet radical sentiment expressed in meme form. Step aside “taxation without representation,” there’s a new taxation meme in town: Taxation is Theft. The following are the best taxation is theft memes we here at Learn Liberty have come across so far. […]
More than 11 percent of Americans claim Irish heritage, the second largest ancestry group in the country after German. But on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone — as the saying goes — is Irish for the day. For many, that means enjoying Irish music, food, and beer. But the Irish product the U.S. should really be […]
Nobody likes taxes. But not all taxes are equally bad. From a moral perspective, some taxes are more unjust than others – imposing costs, for instance, on precisely those people who are least able to afford them. And from an economic perspective, some taxes are more inefficient than others, distorting economic activity by discouraging work […]
Fill in the blank: “He who dies with the most toys _______________.” If you answered “dies,” award yourself full credit. If you answered “wins,” read on and revisit your answer when you’re finished. My wife and I just sold our house in the suburbs and bought a cheaper, smaller house in the city. We’re thrilled […]
The Congressional Budget Office announced last week that the growth of the federal budget deficit will outpace the growth of the economy in 2016 for the first time since 2009. The drag this places on economic growth is hard to overstate, but what can be done to solve this problem for the future? Harvard University’s […]
Christmastime isn’t just about giving presents and sleeping in all morning. For many, it means boozy holiday parties and a chance to kick back a beer (or three) with family and friends. But holiday brews aren’t cheap—and it’s not the alcohol that makes them so expensive. In the video below, George Mason University Professor Christopher […]
States compete with each other to attract film studios with subsidies that make the cost of filming cheaper. While politicians sell these subsidies as good for economic development, they often cost taxpayers quite a bit of money. This is one of the reasons that many shows and movies which take place in Washington, D.C., like […]