Lessons from the Global Laboratory of Economic Experimentation

Since I'm first and foremost a public finance economist, I'll share
one of my favorite tactics when debating fiscal policy. I'll oftentimes
share a table showing a list of nations that have achieved very good
results by restraining the growth of government spending. I'll show how
the burden of government spending declined as a share of economic
output and I'll show how budget deficits also shrank as a share of GDP.
I'll then ask my colleague from the other side to please share a list of
nations that got good results by raising taxes. Unsurprisingly, the usual
response is either untrue claims or hemming and hawing.
When seeking to educate and convince a non-ideological audience
that they should favor economic freedom, I've learned that there's
no substitute for this kind of real-world evidence. Most people think of
themselves as being practical. My daily columns are designed to reach
these people. If I can reach their minds, maybe their hearts will follow.
-- From the Introduction