Welfare Cowboy
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
A reporter called the other day to ask what I thought about the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) giving subsidies...
The Shutdown’s Real Lesson
Government Has Taken Hostage Too Much of the Economy
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
This article appeared on MarketWatch on January 10, 2019.
We are in the third week of...
Top-Scoring Governor Moving to Florida
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Maine Governor Paul LePage announced that he will be moving to Florida at the end of his term.
LePage is a staunch...
Mapping Interstate Migration
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Millions of Americans move between states each year. These migration flows are influenced by numerous factors including job opportunities, climate, and...
Opportunity Zones Fuel Corruption
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The federal government dispenses unequal treatment to Americans through subsidies, regulations, and narrow tax breaks. The unequal treatment generates lobbying and...
Multi-Billion Dollar Boondoggle at Department of Energy
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The federal government spends an unreal amount of taxpayer money cleaning up nuclear weapons sites. In this study at Downsizing Government, I...
TSA Still Awful After 17 Years
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
It has been 17 years since the federal government took over security screening at the nation’s airports, and they still haven’t figured out...
Who Gained from the Tax Cuts?
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Tax Policy Center (TPC) has released a new analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December. The analysis examines...
Federal Fuel Foolishness
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The federal government imposes a mandate to blend ethanol into gasoline. This “Renewable Fuel Standard” harms consumers, damages the economy, and...
Purging Unions from the Public Sector
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Supreme Court hears arguments today regarding the ability of state governments and their labor unions to extract union fees from...
Advantages to Trump’s Proposed Privatizing of PMAs – Cato Study
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Trump administration proposed privatizing the Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) in its budget last year.
Cato has released a study discussing the PMAs...
Government Shutdown Solution: Auto CR
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Part of the federal government is closed today because the two parties cannot agree on a discretionary spending plan for the...
Earmark Supporters Should Run for Public Office
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
If you are interested in national issues such as defense, foreign policy, and trade, and want to hold public office, you...
Corporate Welfare Absurdity
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
This small news bite from the Washington Post yesterday caught my eye:
Moving costs: Booz Allen Hamilton, the McLean, Va., consulting and government contracting giant,...
Talking Tax Reform with Nick Gillespie
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Last week I sat down to talk tax reform with Nick Gillespie, the editor-in-chief of Reason.com and an all-around guru of...
Corporate Tax Rate: 20 Percent Is Better
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The House and Senate have passed bills cutting the federal corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent. This overdue reform...
GOP Tax Plan: Middle Class Gets Largest Cuts
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Critics are saying that the Republican tax plan would give high earners the largest cuts. There has been a flood of news...
High Earners Pay Bulk of Income Taxes
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
President Trump and his advisors are stressing that they want tax cuts for the middle class, not high earners. Trump said, “the...
Federal Pay Outpaced Private Pay in 2016
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has released data on worker compensation for 2016. The data show that wages and benefits...
Hurricanes and USAs
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Congress may loosen 401(k) rules to allow Harvey and Irma victims to access their retirement savings without the usual 10 percent...