Center for Analysis of Delaware's Economy & Government Spending

Delaware state governmental policies have been an unfortunate catalyst for the decline of Delaware’s economy for far too long. For instance…

Over the past 10 years, both the Delaware per capita income and average wage have gone from above the national average to below.

According to the Delaware Department of Labor, employment is projected to grow at only 0.6%.

Since 2009, Delaware has had five recessions compared to one in the nation.

By opposing choice in public education, the State government reinforces a system where two-thirds of Delaware students are not proficient in reading and math. In addition to the ramifications for Delaware’s students and their future employability, as has been widely reported, one of the other most evident outcomes is the number of professionals with school-age children who work in Delaware but choose to reside out of state.

Misguided environmental policies have driven industrial electric rates well above neighboring states’ rates, creating the documented exodus of manufacturing jobs to other states and an impediment to developing new, well-paying manufacturing jobs.

Utilizing publicly available data, voluminous research from respected academic institutions, and federal and state resources, CRI is the only non-profit entity in Delaware that is objectively identifying the regressive outcomes of certain state policies and disseminating those damaging ramifications to not only county and state legislators but also the public.

In partnership with other like-minded organizations, the primary goals of this Center are to develop strategies and alternative policy options that will bring transparency - and changes - to the State’s $9 billion budget process while objectively advocating for regulatory reform.

Co-Director Charlie Copeland has an MBA from Duke University with a focus in Finance and spent over 25 years growing a marketing services business that achieved several global awards for operational excellence. He also spent six years in the Delaware State Senate, serving his last two years as the Senate Minority Leader. Charlie, who focused much of his Senate career on education reform and government accountability, remains a sought-after speaker on issues related to governmental accountability.

The Gray Wave | 11/28/2018

The leading edge of the baby boomers hits age 65 this year and will contribute to a surge in Delawares senior population over the coming decade. The Delaware Population Consortium projects a 10% increase in the states population from 2010 to 2020 while the senior population jumps 41%. This surge in ...

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Corporate Welfare? Johnson Controls | 11/28/2018

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 Johnso...

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Delaware's Prevailing Wage: A Long History of... | 11/28/2018

In March of this year, Caesar Rodney Institute’s Center for Economic Policy and Analysis released a technical study of the methodology behind Delaware’s prevailing wage system. With regard to the prevailing wage (PW) the study documented that: a) the methodology used by the Department of...

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Delaware's Filthy Rich | 11/28/2018

The mantra of President Obama is to raise taxes on the rich rather than cut the size of government. In Delaware, the governor, supported by the legislature, has already done this. Effective January 1, 2010 the top marginal tax rate applied to personal income of $60,000 or more was raised from almost...

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Delaware's Occupation License Requirements Harm... | 11/28/2018

In a May 2012 report the Institute for Justice ranked all the states with regards to barriers to entry to low- and moderate-income occupations. Delaware had the 42nd most burdensome licensing laws and was the 25th most extensively and onerously licensed state. The report documents the l...

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How Bad is Delaware's Labor Market? | 11/28/2018

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 Delawa...

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Invest in Delaware's Future | 11/28/2018

No other organization in Delaware does what we do at the Caesar Rodney Institute: provide in-depth, non-partisan analyses of public policy issues and advocate in Dover for better policies_OLD related to economics, the state budget, energy issues and education policy. Every day CRI makes a difference...

DELAWARE'S PREVAILING WAGE: CHANGE WE CAN... | 11/28/2018

Are union rates over represented in determining Delaware’s prevailing wage rates? Is there alternative Federal data that would more accurately represent construction-market wage rates in Delaware? Would this save the Delaware Department of Labor (DDoL) the expense of compiling and generating a...

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Delaware's Tax Rates Out of Order | 11/28/2018

When a state taxes something there will be less of it and when it rewards something there will be more of it. Delaware’s tax structure heavily taxes those who are most likely to create sustainable economic growth and new jobs, but rewards businesses like Fisker Automotive who receive generous ...

Delaware's economic growth lags behind neighbors | 11/28/2018

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 natio...