The 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 MoreIn August of 2009 Delaware raised its cigarette tax from $1.15 to $1.60 per pack of 20 smokes. The consequences were predictable. State revenue from the cigarette tax fell between 2009 and 2012. In part this was due to the higher price discouraging smoking. In addition, however, Delawares ...
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 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...
Read MoreThe Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Committee (DEFAC) met on September 19th and the news isn’t encouraging. Less than three months into the new fiscal year, the state is running an operating balance deficit of $355 million and an unencumbered cash balance of $32 million. In ...
Read MoreUnder Governor Markell the Delaware Economic Development Strategic Fund has gone wild. Annual loans and grants from the Fund are up almost three fold. Why the flurry of activity? Will it pay off? The reason for the flurry of activity is straightforward. Delaware currently has a 67,000 job g...
Read More