Chris Edwards

Why Does New York’s Bureaucracy Cost So Much More Than Florida’s?0
- Economics
- January 14, 2020
New York and Florida have similar populations of 20 million and 21 million, respectively. But state and local governments in New York spent twice as much ($348 billion) as governments in Florida ($177 billion), as discussed here. New York’s excess includes spending more on handouts such as welfare. Another cause of New York’s high spending is
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Aldi’s Owners Gained Riches by Cutting Prices 0
- Culture
- October 17, 2019
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders continued to bash wealth in the Democratic presidential debate Tuesday night. They view wealth as a zero-sum – that people at the top essentially stole their fortunes from the rest of us. Sanders said, “And we cannot afford a billionaire class, whose greed and corruption has been at war with the working
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This County Discovered It’s Possible to Operate Debt-Free… and Its Citizens Are Reaping the Benefits 0
- Economics
- November 8, 2018
The other day, I wrote about the disadvantages of state and local governments issuing general obligation debt. Those governments currently have more than $3 trillion in overall debt outstanding. Government borrowing enriches financial firms, encourages corruption, and magnifies the ultimate tax burden that citizens will bear for the related spending. It is prudent and practical for states
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Why Federal Debt Is Damaging 0
- Economics
- October 17, 2018
The U.S. Treasury reports that the federal budget deficit was $779 billion in fiscal 2018. The deficit is caused by spending in excess of tax revenues and is financed by borrowing from foreign and domestic creditors. Federal spending in 2018 was $4,108 billion and tax revenues were $3,329 billion, so Congress financed 19 percent of its spending
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