Richard S. Davis

Union membership continues to fall across the nation

The Bureau of Labor Statistics yesterday reported another year of decline in union membership. In 2012, the union membership rate—the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of a union—was 11.3 percent, down from 11.8 percent in 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of wage and salary workers […]

Louisiana and Kansas consider scrapping income taxes to improve business climate

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback have both voiced support for pro-growth tax reform based on eliminating personal income taxes. From NRO: “Eliminating personal income taxes will put more money back into the pockets of Louisiana families,” Jindal said in a statement earlier this month, “and will change a complex tax code […]

"Big Sort" author Bill Bishop to speak at WRC's annual dinner June 4

Bill Bishop, author of the Big Sort, will be the featured speaker at the WRC annual meeting June 4. Bishop’s book, published in 2008, authoritatively documented America’s shifting demographics. Going far beyond the simplistic red state/blue state divide, journalist Bill Bishop (in collaboration with sociologist and statistician Robert Cushing) marshals original data and incisive reporting to show […]

Gov. Gregoire proposes new taxes in final budget release

Gov. Chris Gregoire offered her final biennial budget proposal this morning. In addition to required “current revenues” proposal – one that doesn’t rely on new taxes – she presents a plan to make the billion-dollar downpayment on the increased public school funding required by the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision. From the governor’s press release: […]

Talent shortage a bigger threat to software industry than the fiscal cliff?

Here in Microsoft’s backyard, we’ve heard this story for a while. Today Investors Business Daily leads with the tale of the tech talent shortage. The big challenge facing the U.S. software industry might not be the economy, looming fiscal cliff or growing competition. First things first — the companies are begging for qualified job candidates. […]

Tax incentives get additional attention after NYT series

Last week we wrote about the NYT series looking at tax incentives. Since then, I’ve come across a number of reports that shed additional light on the issue. Economist Tim Bartik, quoted in the Times stories, points out that the paper flubs the figures on Michigan’s tax breaks. …most public finance economists would argue that […]

Washington slips to 11th place in Forbes business climate rankings

Last week Forbes released its annual list of the best states for business. Washington fell out of the top 10, coming in at No. 11 for 2012. We’ve been sliding since ranking No. 2 in 2009. As we’ve written before, it’s a mistake to assign too much weight to any of these things. There’s always […]

Making tax incentives work for economic efficiency

My column this morning cites a recent New York Times series on tax incentives and their effects on state and local government revenues. The three part NYT report is here, here, and here. Without question, there have been some major boondoggles in the subsidy game routinely played as corporations and government officials attempt to land […]

Washington: Tops in new economy, tops in start-up ecosystems

New Economy: Washington does well. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation again finds Washington among the best states in its 2012 State New Economy Index. We come in No. 3, behind Massachusetts and Delaware. Washington state, in third place, scores high due not only to its strength in software aviation, but also because of the entrepreneurial hotbed of […]

Coming to grips with the costs of the Affordable Care Act

Costly Calorie Counting. In his column today, AWB president Don Brunell lays out some of the lesser-known but not inconsequential costs associated with the ACA. For example, tucked away in the 2,000-plus pages of the legislation is a requirement that restaurants and “similar” food retailers display calorie counts on their menus. Sounds reasonable in this health-conscious […]