Pub Restrictions, Tax Freedom Day and Turmoil in Kyrgyzstan
UK regulators are punishing pub owners for promoting happy hour specials and drinking games.
April 9th is Tax Freedom Day, statistically the day Americans have to work until just to pay their taxes.
The former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan is in turmoil after anti-government protests.
1. REGULATION
UK regulators are punishing pub owners for promoting happy hour specials and drinking games.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Policy Analyst Michelle Minton on why the new regulations are foolish.
“While leaders in the UK hope that keeping prices high will slow peoples’ drinking, it will most likely just result in bigger tabs. As pubs continue to struggle and close thanks to the increasing liquor taxes, they might not be too angry about their patrons spending more money, of course without the specials pubs may find their patron numbers drying up.”
2. TAXES
April 9th is Tax Freedom Day, statistically the day Americans have to work until just to pay their taxes.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Journalism Fellow Ryan Young on why taxes alone doesn’t come close to accounting for the full cost of government.
“The federal government spends far more than it taxes. $1,414,000,000,000 more, last year alone. The burden of federal deficit spending adds another 40 days. Not even counting state and local deficit spending, that puts us out to May 19 by my calculations (May 17 by the Tax Foundation’s). Even that’s not all. The hidden tax of federal regulation cost businesses and consumers an additional $1,187,000,000,000 last year, according to Wayne Crews’ soon-to-be-released 2010 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments (previous editions are online here). None of that extra trillion-plus actually shows up in the federal budget. Regulation eats up an additional 9.2 percent of national income, or 8.3 percent of GDP. So you have to work an additional 34 days until you pay off the federal regulatory burden.”
3. INTERNATIONAL
The former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan is in turmoil after anti-government protests.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Policy Analyst William Yeatman on his experience in the Kyrgyz Republic and his prognosis for the country’s future.
“In any case, the prognosis is bleak. In the Kyrgyz Republic, the state is just one more player in the black market, so it doesn’t matter who’s in charge. Everyone knows it: There is even a saying, to the effect of “corruption is a way of life.” One of my most enduring memories, unfortunately, is the languid flip of the wrist with which cops beckoned motorists to the side of the road for a bribe. What struck me was the sense of routine. You slipped your money into your passport, handed it over, received the passport, and drove on. Rinse, wash, repeat.”