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Manufacturing down, raising recession risk

The Institute for Supply Management today reports a contaction in manufacturing activity. Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in June for the first time since July 2009; however, the overall economy grew for the 37th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business®. The report was issued today by Bradley J. Holcomb, CPSM, […]

Some Thoughts on the Health Care Reform Ruling

As everyone is well aware of by now, the Supreme Court ruled this morning on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Court upheld the law, including the individual mandate–but under the taxing power, not the Commerce Clause. Additionally, the Court decided that states are not required to take part in […]

Merle Hazard's take on the fiscal cliff…

Here’s a much more accessible take on the fiscal cliff, the topic of this post earlier today. h/t Calculated Risk.

Public Pension Accounting Changes

Yesterday the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) approved new standards for public employee pension accounting. The new standards will not directly affect pension liabilities; rather, they make the true nature of those liabilities more clear. As GASB’s chairman said of the changes, The new standards will improve the way state and local governments report their […]

The "fiscal cliff" threatens state budgets

In my column today I look at threats to the September revenue forecast, with a particular focus on the fiscal cliff. As we noted in our earlier post, the forecast council acknowledges a 40 percent probability that state revenues will come in substantially below the baseline projection (that’s the pessimistic forecast). The usual risks are […]

New Brief: Characteristics of a Healthy Business Climate

In a new policy brief, we look at how Washington fares in nine recent business climate rankings. The rankings come from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, the Beacon Hill Institute, Chief Executive magazine, Site Selection magazine, Forbes, CNBC, Thumbtack.com, and Development Counsellors, Inc. Criteria and emphasis differ among the […]

AWB endorses charter school initiative

In a recent column I wrote about the public charter school initiative filed by several education reform groups here. The column focused primarily on the remarkable success of Louisiana’s Recovery School District, a majority-charter district. The RSD has been responsible for the turnaround of New Orleans schools. This week the Association of Washington Business endorsed […]

Washington shows well in U.S. Chamber's 2012 "Enterprising States" report.

The 2012 Enterprising States report from the National Chamber Foundation, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, contains a lot of praise for Washington’s economic performance and outlook. Here’s a snapshot of the state’s rankings on the measures used in the report. Note that on none of the criteria does Washington fall below the […]

Candidates here will have to address Wisconsin recall results, collective bargaining

Both major party candidates in this year’s election have said they don’t expect it to be Wisconsin redux. Collective bargaining for public employee unions and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker didn’t figure at all in yesterday’s debate in Spokane, sponsored by the Association of Washington Business and Greater Spokane, Inc. In my column this morning, I […]

Retirement and Life Expectancy

The Economist Online has an interesting chart today on retirement. It shows life expectancies, official retirement ages, and effective retirement ages in 1970 and 2010, for 22 countries. As the Economist notes, pensionable ages have failed to keep pace with longevity.This comes at an increasing cost to the state. The OECD expects governments' expenditure on […]