Voluntary universal curbside recycling does offer the possibility to provide a distinct fee for the service and remove most of the hidden cost for recycling from DSWA. The recommendations in this paper would allow DSWA to significantly lower the 35% price increase now planned for July, 2010.

Over recent decades the performance of Delawares economy has steadily deteriorated. Growth in output, income and jobs has slowed, converging on the national average. Slower growth diminishes opportunities for all of Delawares citizens. The contention of this report is that providing increased opportunities to individuals and firms fuels the creative destruction process that is essential to economic growth and development. The report identifies areas where economic freedom in

A comparison of DE to other states in taxation with respect to the day every year when we are finally finished paying our taxes.

Across a variety of measures, Delawares labor market is hurting. First, the states official unemployment rate is 7.2%, double the historic average of 3.5%. This means 32,000 persons have actively looked for a job in the past four weeks without success. Five years ago this group totaled 15,000 Delawareans. Today the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects more detailed data on "discouraged workers."   Discouraged workers are people who are not in the labor force but wan

The “gray wave” is hitting Delaware as the leading edge of the baby boomers reached 65 in 2010. Born between 1946 and 1964, the baby boomers have a long history of reshaping America. The boomers have sent shock waves through the economy, through state and local government, and through the world of nonprofit organizations. This report evaluates the impact of the coming "gray wave".

Producing business climate rankings of states has become a cottage industry. There are now at least 11 such rankings published by credible organizations. Delaware ranks between 2 and 42 across the various rankings. So, do these rankings provide any useful information to encourage economic growth in Delaware?   A recent analysis of business climate rankings from the Public Policy Institute of California is a big step forward. Using relatively sophisticated statistics, the anal

What do the numbers on Delaware’s production tell us about the effectiveness of the state’s economic policies_OLD?       Delaware’s economic growth rate, as measured by growth in gross state product (GSP) in chained 2009 dollars, has lagged behind the nation, the mid-Atlantic region and comparator states such as Maryland and Virginia. The US growth rate over 5 years 2009-2013 is 8.37%. The mid-Atlantic region (DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA) lags behind at 5.64%. Maryland does slightly b

The state will award $2.4 million and local officials will provide a ten year property tax break for Johnson Controls to build a second manufacturing and distribution facility in Middletown, Delaware. Is this simply corporate welfare? Well, yes and no.   On one hand, giving handouts to Johnson Controls appears to be like making donations to Bill Gates. In the most recent fiscal year Johnson Controls had total sales of $34 billion from 1,300 locations in 63 countries and 142,0

Have you ever wondered which state employee receives the most compensation? (Orlando George with $454,230 in 2010…more than two and a half times what the Governor is paid. George has been paid more than $1.6 million over the past four years.) What about use of overtime and other pay by state employees? (A staff person in Health and Social Services had a salary of $58,000 in 2010 and earned an additional $132,000 in overtime and other pay.) Are you surprised that the Universit

9/20/2012   The on-going analysis of the Transparent Delaware data on state payroll continues to raise puzzling results. For this round, CRI compared the total compensation of state employees in 2008 and 2010 and found that some state employees are treated far more generously than others with regard to supplemental pay.    For each individual employee, the state records the annual salary, overtime pay and “other” pay. Together, overtime pay and “other” pay are considered supp