Property Taxes on the Ballot
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The most famous ballot question on fiscal policy is California’s Proposition 13 passed in 1978. Voters passed the constitutional change to...
Complexity in State Government
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
One of the factors undermining efficiency and performance in American government is the rising complexity of laws, regulations, programs, and bureaucratic...
Spending on Police by State
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Amid the outcry over George Floyd’s death and subsequent protests, some people are calling for defunding the police. Zeroing out the...
U.S. Postal Service in Crisis
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
President Trump has reignited a feud with the U.S. Postal Service calling it “a joke” the other day. He does not like Amazon’s delivery...
Slashing Regulations to Combat Coronavirus
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The coronavirus is battering the U.S economy as businesses cut back and close down. Unfortunately, federal policymakers are pursuing their usual misguided response...
Coronavirus and NIH/CDC Funding
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The rapid spread of coronavirus (Covid‐19) is focusing attention on the health agencies that are helping to fight the pandemic. This...
Capital Gains Tax Hike Would Be a Mistake
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Democrats running for the White House are pushing all kinds of tax increases. One bad idea supported by all the leading...
Wasteful Local Infrastructure
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Politicians love infrastructure, but many local government projects seem awfully wasteful. We’ve all seen the questionable spending—the half dozen union guys...
Cato’s Letters: 300 Years
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
I grabbed a book off my shelf the other day that I had not read in years. The English Libertarian Heritage is a sampling of essays...
Infrastructure Policy: Eight Lessons
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The House Ways and Means Committee held hearings on infrastructure yesterday . The testimony by D. J. Gribbin was excellent. He was special assistant...
Neal Peart: An Appreciation
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Neil Peart, drummer for Canadian rock band Rush, passed away last week after a three-year battle with brain cancer. Peart was...
ITEP Study on Corporate Taxes
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The liberal tax group ITEP has a new study suggesting that many large corporations did not pay income taxes in 2018. The study...
How to Improve Thanksgiving Air Travel
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Millions of Americans will deal with the hassles of air travel this week as they join their families for Thanksgiving. Airports...
Rich Earn Wealth Slashing Prices for the Poor
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Albrecht family of Germany is one of the richest in the world. They earned their wealth from innovations in price-slashing for European grocery...
Wealth Tax Revenues
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have each proposed an annual wealth tax on the richest Americans. There are so...
Government Assets Fall Apart
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
A recent New York Times article described the wretched management of New York City’s public housing. The main problem highlighted is a common one...
More Opportunity Zone Cronyism
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The New York Times published an investigation over the weekend entitled “Symbol of ’80s Greed Stands to Profit From Trump Tax Break for Poor Areas.”...
Causes of Wealth Inequality
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders continue to blast wealth inequality. But the twin leftists seem oblivious that wealth inequality may reflect...
Higher Incomes, Higher Tax Rates
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
An article in the New York Times the other day was titled “The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes Than You,” and one in Bloomberg was subtitled...
Soak-the-Rich Taxes Would Morph into Middle-Class Flood
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
In the New York Times, David Leonhardt cheerleads for a new plan by left-wing economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman to raise taxes on...