The DuPont Co just received a state grant for $920,000 for a prototype organic LED plant at Stine-Haskell Research Center in Newark. The money couldn’t come at a better time.   DuPont just announced a 20% increase in sales in 2011 for a total of $38 billion. But all is not coming up roses. In addition to fines paid to the EPA and for chemical leaks in West Virginia, DuPont also paid the state of Delaware a $500,000 fine for noncompliance with the Clean Water Act at its Edge M

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

10/25/2012   The core argument upon which the health care political campaigns rest is based on mis-information, emotion, jealousy, greed, fear and empty promises. It is a perfect political issue. One side professes to provide free health care for all, forever with no cost to the user (unless they are wealthy and will foot the bill). The other warns of the danger of socialism, elimination of the doctor patient relationship, destruction of the free market and an additional 16 %

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

There is a lot of misunderstanding around the recent Ebola outbreak. There is reason to feel safe from the disease based upon its prevalence or density in our population. There is also good reason to be concerned about the disease and act proactively, due to the extremely high death rate associated with the Ebola virus. It kills approximately 70% of those infected and is nearly impossible to treat large populations of people. In these cases of historically dangerous epidemics

As the surcharge for the 30 megawatt Bloom Project with Delmarva Power kicks in at over three times the expected cost to consumers questions persist about how this project got through the system. It is really a story of how rules were bent for a risky start up business that promised a lot of jobs in return for a very large financial guarantee.                As Director of the Caesar Rodney Institute’s Center for Energy Competitiveness I regularly work with the legislature an

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