Richard W. Rahn
Articles by Richard W. Rahn
RAHN: Stop global economic malpractice
Two centuries ago, it was common practice for the doctors to bleed a patient in the belief that it would get rid of the "vapors" that were thought to be causing the illness. As a result, most patients got worse and many died. Much of the world is now suffering from equally incompetent politicos playing economic doctors. Published August 20, 2012
RAHN: Economic lessons from the Olympics
Do you admire what the Olympic athletes have been able to accomplish, and do you think they should be applauded for their outstanding performances? Most people in the world would answer the question in the affirmative. Most people also admire and applaud great musicians and artists. Published August 13, 2012
RAHN: Resist the U.N.’s disability convention
Which level of government do you think should have the responsibility for protecting the rights of the disabled -- local, state, federal or the United Nations? The United States has been a global leader in protecting the disabled and advancing its interests. Published August 6, 2012
RAHN: No excuse for bad policies
The Obama administration and its apologists, including many in the media, keep telling us that the Great Recession was the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s, and that is why the recovery has been so anemic. Is that true? Published July 30, 2012
RAHN: Irrational infatuation with biofuels
Are you upset about rapidly rising food costs and high gas prices? You can thank members of Congress and the administration for this situation. Much of the United States is in the midst of a major drought. That's not the fault of the political class, but those folks have made the consequences of the drought far worse for the entire world. Published July 23, 2012
RAHN: Obama plans to fund government for eight days
When President Obama announced that he again wanted to increase taxes on the top 2 percent of taxpayers, I would have recommended to Mitt Romney that he reply by saying: "President Obama has called for a tax increase on job creators, which will only fund the government for eight days, while I have an economic growth program that will fund the government for eight years and beyond. Published July 16, 2012
RAHN: Rise of the global tax collectors
The Constitution gives Congress the exclusive right to tax Americans at the federal level. Yet Congress continues to give away this most fundamental responsibility to international organizations, the most dangerous of which is the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Published July 9, 2012
RAHN: Similar problems, similar solutions
SAN PEDRO, BELIZE Published July 2, 2012
RAHN: Constitutional fix to overspending
Tea Party members are going to be very unhappy. Many of the new members of the House and Senate that the Tea Party helped elect are already becoming part of the political class, as evidenced by their votes for continued farm subsidies, refusals to put reasonable limits on the growth of the food- stamp program, support for unaccountable international organizations, and on and on. Published June 25, 2012
RAHN: Wanted: Servants, not celebrities
Barack Obama has been loudly proclaiming that he is not responsible as president for the big increase in spending because it was already "baked in the cake." He could have been more accurate by noting that under the Constitution, Congress is responsible for spending. Published June 18, 2012
RAHN: Wrong tools for the job
Assume you are a skilled heart surgeon and your patient needs a new heart valve, but you were given a spoon rather than a scalpel to cut open a chest. Relying on the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) to cure the lack of job growth is going to be no more effective than giving a heart surgeon a spoon. Published June 11, 2012
RAHN: Taxation goes global
What government unit has the right to tax you - your local government, regional or state government, federal government or multinational organizations, such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organization? The reason the question is becoming more important is that rising numbers of politically powerful persons and institutions are calling for global taxes on such things as financial transactions, tobacco, sugar and carbon emissions. Published June 4, 2012
RAHN: Spending lies run into facts
Many in the political class, including President Obama and many members of Congress, have an interest in confusing, rather than enlightening, the public. Published May 28, 2012
RAHN: How soon they forget
If you are a nonimmigrant American reading this, do you know why your ancestors came to America? The fact is, a large percentage of immigrants were trying to escape various forms of government persecution, including religious and tax persecution. Published May 21, 2012
RAHN: Killers of banks and jobs
Last week, Jamie Dimon, CEO of the nation's largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, revealed that the bank had made a $2 billion-plus trading mistake. The bank has more than $2 trillion in assets and made a profit of about $20 billion last year. Published May 14, 2012
RAHN: Austerity is blamed
Denial is leading to collective economic suicide in Europe and the United States. The French on Sunday elected a socialist president who wants to raise taxes on those elusive rich and keep spending as if there is no tomorrow. Published May 7, 2012
RAHN: Geithner’s willful negligence
What would you think of a secretary of the Treasury who failed to do serious cost-benefit analysis about regulations that could cost millions of Americans their jobs and cause innocent people to be subject to political abuse or worse and yet have almost no benefit to the United States? Published April 30, 2012
RAHN: Corporate tax madness
The United States already has the highest corporate tax rate in the world, but the Obama administration is proposing to make the U.S. even less competitive internationally by reducing the corporate tax deferral on income made abroad. Published April 23, 2012
RAHN: Buffett rule’s deceitful consequences
Do you think it is more important to have a tax policy that raises the most revenue at the least cost in order to maximize job growth and economic opportunity or to have a tax policy like the Buffett rule, which falsely claims it would make all millionaires pay a higher tax rate than their secretaries? Published April 16, 2012
