Taxes & Economy
Pennsylvania Bottom-of-the Pack in State Competitiveness
A recent report by the Beacon Hill Institute, a free-market think-tank out of Suffolk University in Massachusetts, provided even more dismal news on Pennsylvania’s economic climate. According to the…
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How Do Pennsylvania’s Highways Rank
The Reason Foundation has been analyzing state highway systems since 1984. This month they released their 18th Annual Highway Report. Overall the Commonwealth ranked 38th for the most efficient…
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The underlying costs of unemployment compensation
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How Dumb is the Jobs Bill?
So the logic behind Stimulus 3, or the so-called “jobs bill” is that the first stimulus (the Bush stimulus of 2008, predicated largely on tax rebates) worked so well the…
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The Trillion Dollar (and then some) Pension Gap
The Pew Report on state pensions, finding a $1 trillion unfunded liability nationally, has already received a great deal of attention, so here are just some brief highlights for…
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Whistle-Blower Protection
Good morning. I’m Katrina Currie, a Research Fellow for the Commonwealth Foundation. I am joined by my colleague Elizabeth Bryan. The…
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Rendell Lured to Stimulus Like a Moth to a Flame
The lure of federal stimulus funds is encouraging Pennsylvania to spend more of state taxpayers’ money as well. Here are three examples: The Commonwealth was awarded $35 million through the…
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PA Lawmakers Use Per Diems to Buy Houses
I have often remarked that the exorbitant costs of Pennsylvania legislators’ per diems (see Tribune Review and ABC 27 stories) – that they receive to pay for food…
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Lower Legislative Pay = Better Government
A new study of state legislative pay and party competition in the American Political Science Review, finds that, in addition to greater party competition, modest pay for legislators leads…
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