Rhode Island Economy
Yesterday, I showed that the number of high-income tax returns increased every year in Rhode Island from 2002 to 2007. In fact, the rate of growth among taxpayers in every income category above $50,000 was greater in Rhode Island than in its neighboring states through 2004, when things began to change. During the decade, Governor…
Three critical considerations tend to get lost in debates about population and the ways in which it flows and changes over time. The first is that large trends trump. A tax break isn’t going to prevent a global economic hurricane from rearing its head in one state while devastating the next one over; there will…
Further to my point about a new political wave starting local, the landscape of Rhode Island politics stands as a stark example and testing ground: … while the state has been trying to work through the desperate finances of its smallest city [Central Falls], it has also been working with three other economically distressed communities…
Look, Pat Crowley of the National Education Association Rhode Island is a paid union hack. One knows what his conclusions will be simply by looking at his job title. He allows no illusion that he will say anything other than what he thinks will benefit his employer, whether true or not. If read at all,…
Here’s a worrying tidbit about a frontrunner for the open House Finance Committee chairmanship in the General Assembly: [Rep. Helio Melo (D, East Providence)] is the current deputy Finance Committee chairman, and House leaders signaled their confidence in him by letting him take the lead on last year’s big end-of-session, income-tax overhaul. I suppose that…
The fifth Dear Mr. Chafee column on Ted Nesi’s blog, by technology consultant Allan Tear, sounds really good, but I don’t know that it contributes all that much by way of concrete suggestions for Rhode Island’s advancement: Startups. A recent Kauffman Foundation study shows that firms less than five years old — startups — have…
Just about every workday, I drive by the Black Goose Café in Tiverton and think about how much I love their pumpkin chai, but with the beverage priced at $4.50 a pop, except in the most freewheeling moods, I pass right by. Oh, I continue to have a positive opinion of the business, based on…
An interesting juxtaposition. Reading around the Internet, yesterday, I came across Ed Morrissey’s observation that all ten states that lost seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are majority Democrat states: Michael Barone’s analysis probably comes closest to the truth: low-tax states attract larger populations, while high-tax, high-regulatory states tend to lose people. That also…
This is the sort of claim that begs for a well-researched response: “The data … clearly illustrates the need for more affordable homes in the Ocean State,” said Nellie M. Gorbea, executive director of HousingWorks. “As lawmakers convene in January, it is imperative that they fund affordable-housing programs like the Neighborhood Opportunities Program … to…
Earlier this week, URI economist Len Lardaro noted the reversal of his economic index’s positive trends for Rhode Island: A slump in October in two key indicators that make up an index that forecasts the Rhode Island economy may signal that the state could be in for a double-dip recession, according to Leonard Lardaro, the…