Rhode Island Economy
Jennifer Hushion submitted an op-ed to the Ocean State Current explaining why the City of Cranston and the state of Rhode Island are pushing her family toward the door: The economic climate in Rhode Island — and specifically Cranston — is why we are considering leaving. It’s not that we are necessarily against higher taxes;…
Last week I commented on the good news “that there is movement in the Legislature–specifically a commission headed up by Jamestown Rep. Deborah Ruggiero–to develop Quonset/Davisville as a short sea shipping port.” To accomplish this, dredging of the harbor would be necessary. According to the story from the ProJo, “The commission recommended that the state…
I think it’s good news (and about freakin’ time!) that there is movement in the Legislature–specifically a commission headed up by Jamestown Rep. Deborah Ruggiero–to develop Quonset/Davisville as a short sea shipping port. Imagine: taking advantage of our geography and greatest natural resource for possible economic gain! There are some hurdles (‘allo Guvnah!) The commission…
In the debate about higher tax rates for “the rich”, Missouri farmer Blake Hurst thinks something is being overlooked. It’s obvious that the Obama administration does not believe that tax rates on investment are a factor in investment decisions, or that marginal rates on real income affect how hard and how much people work….In all…
Dan McGowan at GoLocalProv has a story on how Governor Chafee’s budget sends more money to the cities and towns. A GoLocalProv review of the Governor’s budget plan shows Barrington, East Greenwich, Lincoln, Cranston, Scituate and North Providence will all receive at least 16 percent bumps in aid, with Barrington and East Greenwich – two…
In Rhode Island, class differentiation has a high degree of overlap with insiderdom — perhaps because people who aren’t insiders don’t see as much value in remaining, so they’ve filtered out. In that context, comments from one representative of the “business community,” offered in an article about Governor Chafee’s promise of “painful cuts” — are…
Tyler Dorden’s point, with his post about trying to send money to his friend (actually named Time) in Zimbabwe is that the United States strangles business with meddling. In this case, he suggests, it does so by requiring Western Union to layer on burdensome precautions before allowing people to transfer money there. I don’t know…
I don’t relish the observation, but it seems to me that Rep. Joe Trillo (R, Warwick) is displaying an unhealthy political philosophy in his quest for a Quonset casino: “It would have to be bigger than Foxwoods, bigger than Mohegan Sun, otherwise it’s not going to work,” he said. “To just go with a regional…
I’ll admit that I don’t have much new to say about the continuing activities of the state-appointed budget commission now ruling East Providence: The state-appointed budget commission overseeing the city’s finances convened for the first time Wednesday, chose Michael O’Keefe, a former state budget director, as its president, and established its first priority: improving the…
Reading about Rhode Island’s effort to return its unemployment fund to solvency in yesterday’s Providence Journal, I got the impression of a system so counterproductive that only government officials could conceive of it (and getting worse): The employers’ payments are determined by the number of former workers qualifying for payments; those paying the highest taxes…
