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Wisconsin recall election matters here, though not all agree

Does the Wisconsin recall election matter outside the Gopher State? Until Walker's win by a large margin Tuesday, organized labor thought so. Now, not so much.  Fiscal conservatives hoping to rein in public employee compensation, particularly high pension and health insurance costs, thought the election mattered all along. Now, they see it as mattering even […]

Research Council's 80th Annual Dinner, featuring top political bloggers Mickey Kaus and Jennifer Rubin

Tuesday, June 5, the Washington Research Council celebrated its 80th year. Our annual dinner, at the Museum of Flight, was a lot of fun, with excellent food, an engaged and informed crowd of long-time WRC supporters and new friends, and stimulating punditry. TVW was there to cover it. The generous introductory remarks are from Gary […]

Celebrating 80 years of the WRC

This evening, the Washington Research Council celebrates its 80th anniversary. The event will feature a lively discussion between Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin and the Daily Caller's Mickey Kaus. The discussion will be moderated by TVW president and CEO Greg Lane. Sure to be a topic of conversation: the recall election in Wisconsin. After Gov. […]

Public Pensions Face a "Painful Reckoning"

Over the weekend, the New York Times ran a good overview of the problem with public pension assumed rates of return on investments. As the article begins, “Few investors are more bullish these days than public pension funds.” The issue is that many public pension funds assume rates of return around 8 percent — much […]

Move ahead with Keystone XL

Last week, AWB president Don Brunell called for swift action by Congress on the Keystone XL pipeline. TransCanada, a Canadian pipeline company, hopes to build the 1,400-plus mile Keystone XL down to Cushing, Okla., connecting it there with a second, southern leg. That 480-mile leg would take the diluted heavy bitumen oil from Alberta’s tar sands […]

Sluggish economy a concern for state revenues?

The Wall Street Journal warns of another springtime stall in the economic recovery. The usual suspects are implicated. Rising layoffs, falling home sales and slowing manufacturing activity are sparking fears that the economic recovery is headed for a springtime stall for the third year in a row. Naturally, there’s an “on the other hand.” But […]

Another study finds not having an income tax is good for a state's business climate

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council is out with its annual business tax climate report. (Press release here and pretty cool interactive map here.) According to SBEC, Washington has the 5th best business tax system. SBEC constructs its index using 18 measures: The 18 measures are: 1) state’s top personal income tax rate, 2) state’s top […]

The inequality debate and its progenitors

The New York Times runs an extended profile piece on Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, the two economists whose work underpins much of the current political assault on “inequality.” Last week, I posted here on the overhyped discussion, including links to recent research indicating that the Piketty-Saez analysis is fundamentally flawed. Simply: they ignore a lot of relevant things. In […]

New Pew Center on the States report evaluates evaluations of tax incentives

In my column today, I comment on a recent report by the Pew Center on the States. The study, Evidence Matters, examines how states evaluate tax incentives. From the column: Pew identifies Washington as one of 13 states “leading the way” in the systematic evaluation of tax incentives. Washington’s review process does a good job […]

Time to shed some light on the overhyped income inequality debate

It’s spring and soon the fair weather protesters will take to the warming streets to denounce income inequality once again. The chants of the 99 percent, however, should fade in the face on an increasing body of economic research that reveals the hollowness of their fundamental premise. The rich have not gotten richer at the […]