Rhode Island Economy
It seems as if Rhode Island’s current government is pushing Moderate Party founder and gubernatorial candidate Ken Block toward an extreme: Every year at this time, my accountant looks me in the eye and says I’m nuts to own a business in Rhode Island. … A 6 percent hit to my bottom line is more…
The Providence Journal editorial board is right, of course, to speak out against Governor Chafee’s proposed expansion of sales taxes: This is not a matter of greed; for many businesses, it is a question of survival. Small businesses are the job engines of any economy, and when they are wiped out, jobs disappear. Rhode Island’s…
Perhaps it’s a function of idealism, but the continual penchant for racism in our country wearies me. By racism, I mean the division of people into racial groups and inclination to treat them as separate communities: Without the 39,835 additional residents who identified themselves as Hispanic, Rhode Island would have lost 35,587 people from 2000…
My Patch column, this week, defines the target population of Rhode Island’s recent and proposed tax changes and offers a brief economics lesson to suggest that the apparent strategy is perhaps not the best: The consequence, overall, is that Rhode Islanders who’ve invested in property have seen local taxes climb inexorably. Last year, the real…
Is it me, or does neither Allan Tear’s list of necessary attributes to grow RI’s economy nor the differently emphasized suggestions of John Simmons leave much room for optimism? Here’s Tear’s list, with my brief thoughts: “Access to talent.” It’s long been known among RI’s young that they must leave the state to find opportunity.…
Here’s an interesting tidbit from Ed Achorn: I asked Governor Chafee last week whether he, or anyone in his administration, had done an analysis of the number of jobs that his tax hikes would cost the state, since many financially stressed Rhode Islanders would respond by traveling the short distance to neighboring states for goods…
Here’s a point worth restating throughout the current session of the General Assembly (emphasis added): By broadening the general sales tax and levying a new 1 percent tax, Chafee’s budget would raise about $165 million in new tax revenue — even after taking into account the drop in the general sales tax rate. That would…
Sadly, whatever else they might say, people seem to believe Governor Lincoln Chafee’s characterization of himself as a deficit hawk. Indeed, following a press briefing from State Budget Officer Thomas Mullaney, which Ian Donnis mentions here, Ted Nesi put up a post titled “Chafee’s budget shrinks Carcieri’s long-term deficits.” And indeed, although Nesi’s accompanying chart…
Matt and I talked budget and a “broader tax base” for Governor Chafee’s sales tax on Matt Allen Show, last night. Stream by clicking here, or download it.
If the Sunday Providence Journal is any measure, commentators as a class have moved toward greater concern about the effect of Rhode Island’s stacked public-sector deck. From Froma Harrop to Julia Steiny to Mark Patinkin. Here’s an interesting bit from Patinkin’s offering, which imagines the Starship Enterprise reaction: “But things seem more peaceful and stable…