Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'tax'

June 29, 2015

Big Oil Advocacy for Carbon Taxes

Today at The Federalist I explore “Why Big Oil Wants A Carbon Tax.” Perhaps such advocacy isn’t just made out of a sense of global citizenship and environmental stewardship. On the surface such advocacy may seem counter-intuitive. Continue Reading...
April 15, 2015

7 Figures: Tax Day Edition

Today is tax day, the day when individual income tax returns are due to the federal government. Here are seven figures you should know about tax day: 1. The average federal tax rate for all households (tax liabilities divided by income, including government transfer payments) before taxes is 18.1 percent. Continue Reading...
December 03, 2014

Where Does Your State Rank on Economic Freedom?

The Fraser Institute has released the tenth edition of their annual report on economic freedom in North America. The report considers how such factors as size of government, takings and discriminatory taxation, and labor market freedom affect people’s freedom to choose how to produce, sell, and use their own resources, while respecting others’ rights to do the same. Continue Reading...
September 29, 2014

Russ Roberts on What Thomas Piketty Ignores

Thomas Piketty’s new book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, has created quite the stir, and with its overwhelming size (700 pages) and corresponding array of commentaries and critiques, it’s tough to know where to start. Continue Reading...
June 12, 2014

Feel-Good Taxation and the Monkey’s Paw

File under allegory: An Austin, Texas, resident whose property tax bill has her “at the breaking point.” As noted by Katherine Mary Ham at HotAir, the resident in question, Gretchen Gardner, deems the $8,500 bill for which she’s on the hook a wee tad cumbersome. Continue Reading...
April 24, 2014

Capital Then and Now

Speaking of Thomas Piketty, here’s a very helpful and revealing interview with Matthew Yglesias, “Thomas Piketty doesn’t hate capitalism: He just wants to fix it.” (HT: PEG) A few highlights with some comment: On the need for a historical perspective in economics: Thomas Piketty: … It’s not only economists’ fault. Continue Reading...
April 15, 2014

7 Figures: Tax Day Edition

[Note: ‘7 Figures’ is a new, occasional series highlighting data and information from a variety of surveys and reports.] 1. The average federal tax rate for all households (tax liabilities divided by income, including government transfer payments) before taxes is 18.1 percent. Continue Reading...