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What is a Special Interest?
But the problem with special interests is that they are only easy to spot when they’re not your own.
That’s me, writing at the Economic Intelligence blog over at US News.
Can New Jersey Reverse Course? v1.2Recent Blog Posts
Shortfalls in non-profit disaster rebuilding This post originally appeared at Market Urbanism, a blog about free-market urban development. After receiving years of praise for its work in post-Katrina recovery, Brad Pitt’s home building organization, Make It Right, is receiving some media criticism. At the New Republic, Lydia Depillis points out that the Make It Right homes built in the Lower Ninth Ward have resulted in scarce city dollars going [...]Governors’ Priorities in 2013: Medicaid Funding, Pension Reform As the month of March draws to a close, most governors have, by this point, taken to the podiums of their respective states and outlined their priorities for the next legislative year in their State of the State addresses. Mike Maciag at Governing magazine painstakingly reviewed the transcripts of all 49 State of the State [...]
Civil Disobedience and Detroit’s financial manager Michigan’s Governor Rick Synder may be greeted by protestors when he arrives for a meeting today on Detroit’s financial condition. His recent appointment of Kevyn Orr as the city’s emergency financial manager has angered many of Detroit’s residents who are afraid he has powers that are far too sweeping and is thereby destroying local control. [...]
Why now is a good time to worry about the future There are many smart people who think that deficits are a problem, but not now. Right now, they say, we need growth. And growth, according to standard Keynesian theory, requires higher deficits today. This perspective has three problems. That’s me at US News. Click here to see why I think the “no need to worry [...]
Implications of an emergency fiscal manager for Detroit Reuters reports that an emergency financial manager might provide Detroit with a path toward bankruptcy. This week I’m at US News writing on how an emergency financial manager might help the city renegotiate the obligations that it cannot afford to pay: An emergency financial manager will have a greater incentive than elected city officials to improve [...]
Assorted Links China’s Ghost Cities The Purple Line’s uncertain future Maryland’s new gas tax for transportation Is Maryland copying Virginia’s new sales tax? The Micro-Apartment craze
A price tag on congestion The research organization TRIP finds that traffic congestion comes at a steep price for drivers in the Washington, DC area. They determine that congestion and poor road conditions cost drivers $2,195 annually in lost time and the added vehicle operating costs of driving on congested, poor quality roads. TRIP supports increased infrastructure spending, and I [...]
A time when politicians tried to coax ‘the opposition’ to their view On May 28, 1986, Ronald Reagan delivered an Oval Office speech calling for tax reform: a revenue-neutral plan to reduce marginal tax rates and close scores of loopholes that privileged particular firms, industries, and individuals. The Great Communicator lived up to his reputation, delivering a flawless speech that somehow managed to evoke lofty images (“Two [...]
Government shouldn’t pick winners either Last week, Steven Mufson of the Washington Post reported: The Energy Department gave $150 million in economic Recovery Act funds to a battery company, LG Chem Michigan, which has yet to manufacture cells used in any vehicles sold to the public and whose workers passed time watching movies, playing board, card and video games, or volunteering [...]
Pre-K for All? I’m at US News’s Economic Intelligence blog this week, writing about President Obama’s proposal for universal Pre-K. One problem with his proposal is that we don’t have data demonstrating that state- or federally-funded preschool will improve outcomes for children: Accurately measuring the outcomes of education programs is critical for providing policymakers, educators, and the public [...]
Why did the ratings agencies mess up so badly? When companies or countries issue debt, ratings agencies assign grades based on how creditworthy the issuers are believed to be. Low grades can cost the issuers dearly. But during the housing crisis, the major ratings firms gave the highest grades to mortgage-based securities that proved worthless. This month, the government sued one of the three dominant agencies, Standard & [...]
When politicians can’t see their own loopholes According to a 2008 IRS report, the Federal Tax Code “has grown so long that it has become challenging even to figure out how long it is.” A search of the Code conducted in the course of preparing this report turned up 3.7 million words. A 2001 study published by the Joint Committee on Taxation [...]
Translating the President and the Republican Response Economic jargon can be difficult to parse. Political speech—often by design—can be just as impenetrable. So, it stands to reason that when politicians are talking economics, it’s easy to get lost. As a guide to this year’s State of the Union and the Republican response, below are some translations of statements each might make. That’s [...]
The battle of the taxes In my last post, I discussed several exciting tax reforms that are gaining support in a handful of states. In an effort to improve the competitiveness and economic growth of these states, the plans would lower or eliminate individual and corporate income taxes and replace these revenues with funds raised by streamlined sales taxes. Since [...]
Distinguishing between Medicaid Expenditures and Health Outcomes As the LA Times reports, the Obama administration has vowed not to approve any cuts to Medicaid during budget negotiations: Preserving Medicaid funding became even more crucial to the Obama administration after the Supreme Court ruled last summer that states were not required to expand their Medicaid coverage. Administration officials are working hard to convince states to [...]
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