Delaware’s Goods Producing sector, like manufacturing and construction, declined 24% from pre-recession levels to 2012! The rest of the country was only down 2% and is on the way to full recovery. There are policy bar...
Read MoreThe recovery of employment since the 2008 crisis has been unusually slow. The unemployment rate has at last dropped below 7 percent because many have left the labor force. Total employment is still below its 2007 level. Persistent unemployment can be due to structural causes. For example, contr...
Read MoreAs governments in Delaware and throughout the Northeast and Midwest struggles with writing checks that they now are unable to cash, perhaps it is time to consider a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). Colorado was the first state to introduce a TABOR in 1992. The provision, approved by voter...
Read MoreThe state of Delaware gross receipt tax is levied against total business income, regardless of whether a firm makes a profit or not. Following the onset of the recent recession, one of the state’s answers to falling revenues was to twice raise the gross receipt tax. First, an increase of 25% i...
Read MoreThe latest Gallup Economic Confidence Index (ECI) numbers for Delaware are stark. Every week Gallup conducts a nationwide survey of consumers. The ECI is based on two questions: the first asking consumers to rate their perceptions of current economic conditions as "excellent," &q...
Read MoreThe Delaware Public Employees’ Retirement System is what you have dreamed about but are unlikely to ever enjoy. DPERS is a “defined benefit plan” which means that participants’ retirement benefits are paid out “regardless of market events.” State government r...
Read MoreAgain and again and again politicians have to learn that raising taxes above a reasonable level results in less tax revenue by encouraging tax avoidance. The current tax rate of 35% on the repatriated income of the foreign operations of U.S. firms, the highest rate in the developed world, is a class...
Read MoreThe most recent data from the Tax Foundation shows that Delaware is driving out wealthy residents by raising its state and local tax burden. Every year the Tax Foundation calculates each state-local tax burden as a percentage of the state’s per capita income. Since 2001 Delaware&rsquo...
Read MoreIt was very helpful to receive the comments in the News Journal of Delaware OMB director, Ann S. Visalli, regarding the unfunded retiree benefits of government employees. My response follows. First, Ms. Visalli is correct that the state’s pension fund is 94% funded. The data that the ...
Read MoreAs documented by the Caesar Rodney Institute using U.S. Department of Justice data on convictions of state and local public officials, corruption is a growing problem in Delaware. The historical and research evidence is clear that corruption undermines economic growth. The Governor through an execut...
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