Delaware's unrealistic look at its finances | 11/28/2018

On Jan. 14, Gov. Jack Markell issued an executive order establishing the DEFAC (Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Committee) “Advisory Council on Revenue.” The primary charge to the council is to evaluate whether the state’s principal revenue sources are adequate and appropr...

Delaware's Fiscal Future Poor | 11/28/2018

A recent report from the Mercatus Center uses fourteen metrics to assess whether states can meet their short-term bills and long-term obligations. Delaware is poorly positioned with regards to its long-term obligations.   The analysis in the report is based upon FY 2013 data from the Comprehens...

Delaware's Personal Income Problem | 11/28/2018

The Federal Bureau of Economic Analysis has released the first quarter 2015 personal income data for Delaware and the changes since 2005 are striking.   Total personal income for Delawareans rose 39% over the latest 10 years. Adjusted for inflation, real personal income has averaged growth of 1...

The reason Delaware's retail industry... | 11/28/2018

Retail trade in northern Delaware seems to be in a funk. Between 2007 and 2014 total inflation-adjusted retail sales in New Castle County decreased 11%. Retail trade employment is down by over 7% and the total number of retail trade establishments has dropped by almost 11%.   What explains this...

Why is Delaware's output flat? | 11/28/2018

This article originally appeared in the News Journal and at delawareonline.com.   The total inflation adjusted output of goods and services in Delaware rose a mere 0.6% over the past 10 years. This contrasts to 8.2% in Pennsylvania, 16.6% in New York, 34.3% in Texas, and 12.1% across the nation...

A Review of Gabel Associates, Inc. Report | 11/23/2018

A Review of Gabel Associates, Inc. Report, “Benefit Cost Analysis for Electric Vehicle Adoption in the Delaware DPL Territory”     David T. Stevenson, Policy Director November 23, 2018 Revised 12/12/2018 WWW.CaesarRodney.org     Tabl...

A smarter economic pathway for Delaware | 2/19/2016

With a budget battle about to begin, what does the data suggest as the direction Delaware should take?   Let’s start with a quick look back and compare the year 2005 to the year 2015.   Since 2005 Delaware has added a total of 12,000 jobs. This is an employment growth r...

Government integrity in Delaware | 11/19/2015

This article first appeared at Delawareonline.com on November 18, 2015, and in the News Journal November 19, 2015.   As noted by The News Journal, a recent report by the Center for Public Integrity and Global integrity rated Delaware State Government as 48th among the states in accountability...

Reviving Delaware Manufacturing | 10/12/2015

This article originally appeared on Delawareonline.com on October 11, 2015, and in the News Journal October 12, 2015.   Despite their coordinated public relations splash on The News Journal’s Opinion pages, both Sen. Coons and Gov. Markell demonstrated a surprising lack of knowledge...

If Delaware Adopts a Sales Tax... | 1/1/2015

Overall, Delaware has the 14th best 2015 business tax climate according to the Tax Foundation. Even more important, as jobs are far more likely to move between contiguous states, Delaware’s tax climate is far better than surrounding states in the region (see the tabe available in the download ...