Center for Analysis of Delaware's Economy & Government Spending

The Center's mission is critically important to Delaware because state policies continue to be an unfortunate catalyst for the clear decline of Delaware’s economy for far too long. For instance…

Over the past 20 years, Delaware’s per capita income has gone from the highest in the nation to below the national average.

According to the Delaware Department of Labor, employment is projected to grow at only 0.5% over the next decade, thereby trailing most of the nation.

Since 2009, Delaware has had five recessions compared to one in the rest of the country.

Including the variable Gross Receipts Tax, small business owners in Delaware often pay the highest personal income tax rates in America.

In partnership with other like-minded Delaware organizations, the primary goals of this Center are to develop bi-partisan strategies and alternative policy options that will bring transparency, regulatory reform, and improved effectiveness to the tens of billions of dollars spent by the State every year.

Gross receipts tax will add to economic woes | 11/28/2018

This article was originally published at delawareonline.com on May 29 in The News Journal on May 30 The recent DEFAC Advisory Council on Revenue recommends an increase in the state's Gross Receipts Tax rate. This is a gross mistake for three reasons. First, if you tax s...

State Regulatory Burdens: How Does Delaware Compare? | 11/28/2018

The recovery from the 2008-2009 recession has been the longest and weakest since WWII. Typically an upswing in domestic real investment initiates a recovery. The two main components of real investment are residential housing and nonresidential (business) investment. The bursting of the housing bubbl...

High Electric Prices Hurt Economic Growth | 11/28/2018

This article was originally published on October 28, 2014 on the website InsideSources.com. This article is reprinted in its entirely with permission. Economic research on the impact of energy prices on economic growth has focused largely on the volatility of the price of oil, which has tri...

New Castle Co, Wilmington economic plans are a good start | 11/28/2018

This article originally appeared in The News Journal as a Delaware Voice opinion editorial on November 18, 2014. The link is: http://delonline.us/1p1urFA New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon and Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams are to be congratulated for allowing consultants to produce ...

How is the state paying so much overtime? | 11/28/2018

Caesar Rodneys Transparent Delaware website has been updated to include state employee payroll data through 2013. An initial pass at the latest data continues to raise the question as to why the State of Delaware government doe...

Are our politicians worth more? | 11/28/2018

This article originally appeared on delawareonline.com February 3, 2015, and in The News Journal February 4, 2015. View the original here Survey after survey shows high levels of disillusion among voters regarding their elected officials. The sense is that the political elite display a grow...

What will save Delaware Manufacturing? | 11/28/2018

Delaware manufacturing was hit hard by the "Great Recession". Between 2007 and 2012 total manufacturing jobs dropped almost 25% and the number of manufacturing establishments in the state fell 15%. Manufacturings annual payroll in Delaware shrank by over $366 million, a drop of 21%. The to...

COMMENTARY: Time for Delaware to amend the Prevailing Wage law | 11/28/2018

This article was originally published Sunday, May 31 in the Delaware State News and on the website. After years of doing business as usual and putting tough spending cut decisions to the side, the General Assembly is now facing the harsh reality that yes, we do need to make spending cuts. The rou...

Legislators just plain wrong on wage, right-to-work law | 11/28/2018

This article first appeared at delawareonline.com on March 27, 2015, and in the News Journal on March 28, 2015. Normally, and from a professional point of view, I do not spend my time replying to politicians’ op-eds. They usually are full of ideological and partisan talking points without fac...

The Latest Tax Climate Report | 11/28/2018

The Tax Foundation has recently released its 2015 State Business Tax Climate Index. As usual the "tax you until you leave" states of New Jersey, New York and California fall at the bottom of the rankings. Besides the "energy belt" states, it is no surprise that Florida, New H...