Rhode Island Economy
This gave at least a brief reprieve in a feeling of having company: WHATEVER YOU TAX — and excessive regulation may also be viewed as a tax, since it forces companies to shell out money that might better be spent elsewhere — disappears, including, in the long run, revenues collected by the tax. This is…
Surely, I’ve become too apt to be suspicious, but something in this labor rep’s reaction to the supplemental budget — in conjunction with the legislators’ “yelling and screaming” during debate of it — reminds me that this was merely the preface: “It’s devastating,” said Dennis Grilli, head of the largest state employees union, Council 94.…
Yeah, well, while I’m not so sure that forcing hospitals to pay property taxes is such a good idea, RI Senator Harold Metts (D, Providence) has a point when it comes to universities: “In 1989, it was estimated that 35 percent of the city’s taxable properties were owned by a few tax exempt institutions,” said…
Today’s Providence Journal has more on the supplemental budget. There’s some reason to hope that the General Assembly will manage to avoid making things worse — although without bold changes, treading water could simply mean drifting further out to sea. Here’s the key part of the report, though: The vote marks a significant step forward…
I get that winning clients sometimes requires wooing them — especially in the glamor-obsessed entertainment industry. As a government activity, however, this makes me very uncomfortable: When Steven Feinberg entertains people in the television and moviemaking industry, he entertains them in style. He sprang for the Ravioli al Filetto at Venda’s Café, the rib-eye special…
Almost as if it’s a coordinated emphasis on ignorance, the criticisms of my op-ed have done two things: 1) doggedly held to 2005 data, and 2) insisted that I haven’t proven causation. The argument is that people aren’t leaving, and there could be other explanations for their flight. Well, contradictions happen. The reality is that…
It would seem that a confession of my naivété is in order, because I was actually surprised at the response to my recent op-ed on Rhode Island taxpayer flight that the Poverty Institute’s Ellen Frank offered as a letter to the editor. Either she is being deliberately deceptive, or she did not manage to understand…
You’re probably aware that after Rhode Island proposed one casino, Massachusetts proposed three. I’m not sure whose plan came first, but according to Tamara Race and Jack Encarnacao of the Quincy Patriot Ledger, the same thing is happening with movie studios: Rhode Island proposes one, while Massachusetts proposes two…There is room and business enough for…
In response to my recent column on Rhode Island’s economy and taxes, I’ve received email asking whether it’s merely the economy to blame — nothing unique to Rhode Island. Well, let’s see: Rhode Island was one of only five states nationally and the District of Columbia to post a higher unemployment rate in February than…
Two bits of testimony from Tuesday’s opinion pages are worth reading if you missed them. The firstL comes via Ed Achorn: MIKE HAMEL grew up in Providence. He went to work at the age of 16 at Regal Plating on South Street, drying the jewelry produced at the plant. He has been working ever since.…