Richard W. Rahn

RAHN: Government waste stifling growth worldwide

The International Monetary Fund announced this past week that it expects world GDP growth to be only 2.9 percent this year. This is below the 3.2 percent in 2012, which was below the 30-year average of about 3.6 percent, and far below the one-of-the-best recent four-year periods, from 2004 to 2007, when it averaged 5.1 percent. The differences may seem small, but the rate of GDP growth determines how quickly global poverty declines and real incomes rise.

RAHN: Stepping on the bureaucrat’s cape

Congress must rein in special immunities for federal employees. Why should government employees have special perks denied ordinary Americans?

RAHN: Bankrupt ideas lead to bankrupt governments

Beware of politicians who think every problem can be solved with more spending

RAHN: Model meltdown

Government funds the forecast it is looking for

RAHN: Surprise among the spendthrift nations

America and the West lead the way to the bottom of the list

RAHN: Unwise and undeterred

Doubling down on mistakes is a fool's gamble

RAHN: A carbon tax would make no sense

Attempting to regulate carbon dioxide is folly

RAHN: Should the Constitution be amended?

What amendments to the U.S. Constitution, if any, would you like to see? The widespread belief is that the American constitutional republic, if not actually broken, is in a state of disrepair. In his new, best-selling book, "The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic," Mark R. Levin, president of the Landmark Legal Foundation and nationally syndicated talk-show host, proposes a number of amendments to the Constitution as a fix. Mr. Levin argues that amendments are needed because the nation has entered an age of "post-constitutional soft tyranny" — as defined by the great 19th-century French historian and philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville, who wrote in "Democracy in America":

RAHN: Saving consumers from lower prices

Why does the Obama administration claim it wants you to pay less for your airline ticket, but more for the shrimp you buy?

RAHN: Protecting the wrong people

The Obama administration has a penchant for not safeguarding agents of the U.S. government that it ought to protect, while at the same time protecting errant civil servants, some of whom belong in jail.

RAHN: Making regulations that do more harm than good

Terrorists, money launderers, drug dealers and tax evaders use automobiles, airplanes, telephones, computers, banks and countless other goods and services that we all use.

RAHN: The last days of the IRS

RAHN: Obama’s bad news for blacks

If you knew nothing else about President Obama other than looking at the data, you might conclude that he was insensitive to blacks, given that they have done far worse economically under his administration than Hispanics or whites.

RAHN: How to make the government behave

Most people who work in government have no problem giving their real names and telling you what they do, but there are exceptions.

RAHN: Flat tax? Sales tax? Value-added tax?

What type of tax reform do you want? Simplification of the existing progressive income tax system? A flat tax? A sales tax? A value-added tax?

RAHN: Approaching economic stall speed

Stall speed is the airspeed at which an aircraft stops producing lift. Unless immediate corrective action is taken, such as reducing the wing's angle of attack or the weight of the aircraft, the results are not likely to be good.

RAHN: A tale of two economies

Guayaquil, Ecuador

RAHN: Evolutionary anomalies in our midst

San Cristobal, Galapagos

RAHN: Tyranny of the taxers

There is an all-too-common tendency for humans (particularly members of the political class) to blame or scapegoat others when they bungle their jobs.

RAHN: IRS troubles go global

Vienna, Austria