How Congress Lost Control of Government Spending
The Washington Times, July 15, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Did you know that the portion of the federal budget that Congress actually votes on (the discretionary budget) has been falling for years?

The End of the Progressive Income Tax
The Washington Times, July 8, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
A progressive income tax, in which the government attempts to tax all labor income and capital income, such as interest, dividends and capital gains more than once, cannot help becoming so complex that it eventually dies of its own weight.

An Act of Economic Strangulation
The Washington Times, July 1, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
The obvious solution is to reduce the U.S. corporate tax rate to a globally competitive level, but the economic know-nothings in the administration and Congress are proposing to increase penalties for moving — in an oppressive and destructive attempt to make both individuals and companies tax slaves.

The Cold Facts about Reality Deniers
The Washington Times, June 24, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
In the coming years, we face many problems that are far more likely to kill people than global warming — unsustainable government debt and global terrorism — but the reality deniers prefer to waste resources on a potential threat a century from now than to deal with the immediate threats to our well-being.

Reducing the Risk of Oil Price Spikes
The Washington Times, June 17, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
You may have noticed gasoline prices are rising. If the Middle East situation gets much worse, gasoline prices will rise even more. The good news is that we are likely to avoid long gas lines as we had in the late 1970s under President Carter, because fracking and other new technologies have lessened our dependence on foreign oil and gas.

So Many Bad Decisions, So Little Time
The Washington Times, June 10, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Decision theory is an orderly way of thinking and choosing among alternatives when there is a number of variables for which the probabilities of each may or may not be known to the decision-maker. A related concept is that of “regret,” which is the difference between the actual payoff and the best one. 

How Fracking has Saved Obama
The Washington Times, June 3, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Without fracking of oil and gas deposits, there would have been no economic growth in the U.S. over the past five years. Yet the oil and gas industry has been a favorite whipping boy of the environmental zealots both inside and outside of the administration.

Financial Tyranny against Political Enemies
The Washington Times, May 27, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
If the government can prevent you from spending your money on legal products and information services it does not like, it soon has control over much of your life. You might be thinking this could not happen in America, but it is. 

Recalling the Reagan-Kemp Vision
The Washington Times, May 20, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Smart, strong-minded individuals in the past have been able to articulate a vision that attracted not only the public but other politicians. Ronald Reagan accomplished this, and he was fortunate to have a visionary economic evangelist by his side who helped shape much of the Reagan program and became its principal salesman. His name was Jack Kemp.

Economic Freedom versus Big Government
The Washington Times, May 13, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
The next time politicians tell you they are going to spend more of your tax dollars to create jobs and increase your income, ask them whether they are ignorant of the facts or they think you are.

No Western Counter to Russia's Ukraine Gambit
The Washington Times, May 6, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Without a large and diversified real economy, despite geographical expansion, Mr. Putin does not have a long-term successful endgame.

Making Congress Accountable
The Washington Times, April 29, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Citizens can make government less abusive and less costly by demanding that candidates sign specific pledges (not just general, feel-good statements) for constructive change and then hold them strictly accountable.

The World did not End
The Washington Times, April 22, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
The good news is that mankind will probably adapt to climate change just fine, as we have been adapting since the end of the Ice Age. New studies show that to date, the benefits of global warming have been greater than the costs, and are likely to remain so for many more decades.

Abusive Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws
The Washington Times, April 15, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Do you think the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies should have the right to seize your assets, including your bank accounts, when you have not been convicted of wrongdoing? 

Why do We Still Use Paper Money?
The Washington Times, April 8, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Paper currency is dirty and is a major transmitter of disease as it goes from unwashed hand to unwashed hand. It is easily lost and stolen, and can be easily destroyed by getting wet or burned.

How Far an Economy Can Fall?
The Washington Times, April 1, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
The Greek economy is entering its fifth year of decline. Nominal gross domestic product is about 28 percent lower than it was four years ago. The official unemployment rate is 27.5 percent (as though the decimal point matters, given the poor quality of the data). The unemployment rate for young people is about 60 percent. Nonperforming loans continue to rise. The privatization program continues to fail, in part because of an absence of bidders.

Foxes in the Financial Henhouse
The Washington Times, March 25, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
To whom would you be willing to trust with all of your financial and tax information: close family members or the U.S. government and foreign governments, including Russia?

How the Greens Help Putin in Crimea Incursion
The Washington Times, March 18, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Economic warfare is far preferable to military warfare, but economic warfare requires that those who engage in it are not dependent on the enemy for needed raw materials, energy or markets. Europe is dependent on Russia for all three — and America has so hobbled itself that it cannot bail out Europe. Poor Ukraine, poor Europe, poor America.

The Responsibility to Resist Irresponsible Politicians
The Washington Times, March 11, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
If voters refuse to discipline their elected officials and continue to buy the "feel-good" line, economic stagnation, inflation or worse will occur. Voters who say they are personally responsible in managing their own finances are not being responsible if they vote for politicians whose policies will ultimately destroy their and everyone else's financial well-being.

Legal and Illegal Political Corruption
The Washington Times, March 4, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Most legal corruption is all about increasing power for those in government.

Officialdom's 'Fatal Conceit'
The Washington Times, February 25, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Few express opinions different from what they are paid to say, and such is equally true for those who work for government. On an almost daily basis, the world is treated to presidential spokespeople denying what most people understand to be true.

Being Taxed for Bad Advice
The Washington Times, February 18, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
If you became aware that the advice you were receiving from your economic advisers was causing you to get poorer rather than richer, how long would you keep them? Among the general public, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and their lesser known younger sibling, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), had reputations far exceeding their actual achievements. 

Russian Meddling in Ukraine Could Trigger Financial Turmoil
The Washington Times, February 11, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Why worry about Ukraine? To many, it seems far away and a country about which they know little.

Going Global with Tax Devastation
The Washington Times, January 28, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
The administration and many in Congress seem to have learned nothing from the Obamacare disaster. Now that they have destroyed the world's best health care system, they are in the process of further destroying what was at one time a very functional global financial system.

Lawless and Dangerous
The Washington Times, January 21, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Can you imagine how the American Founders would have reacted to a requirement that you had to pay taxes on your rights to peacefully assemble and speak your mind about elected officials or candidates, without first getting the permission of the tax authorities and then paying a tax on those activities?

The Wolves of Washington
The Washington Times, January 14, 2014
by Richard W. Rahn
Are business people more corrupt than those in government? Hollywood loves to portray those in business as the baddies and those in government as the good guys.