In a new article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Grasping budget’s billions and trillions: Incomprehensibly huge numbers mask real burdens,” Independent Institute Research Fellow Emily Skarbek (Director of the Government Cost Calculator) discusses the meaning and absurdity of the $3.8 trillion federal budget and the meaningless reforms being proposed. Taxpayers might have strong feelings about…
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The Associated Press reports that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) questions the claims of the Obama administration regarding projected budget deficits over the next ten years in which the White House overestimates tax revenues and savings from Medicare payments to doctors. A new assessment of President Barack Obama’s budget released Friday says the White…
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It�s September, and election season is under way. Marching to the tune of President Obama�s class-based political rhetoric, some candidates for Congress are campaigning on promises to raise taxes significantly on electorally safe targets. This year�s list of victims includes �the rich,� Wall Street and America�s oil companies. Those three groups are in Washington�s…
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Not everyone has the stomach for perusing the national income and product accounts, but one who does can learn a great deal about what ails the present economy and about its prospects for returning to a healthier condition. (I draw the data I discuss here from Table B-2, Real Gross Domestic Product, 1960-2009, in…
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