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Public pension plan portfolios: pursuing higher risk at what cost?
How should a public sector pension plan invest its assets? A trend since the 2007 financial crisis is public pension funds making up for losses by seeking higher returns in riskier portfolios. Michael...
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Does stimulus displace private economic activity?
According to Keynesian economic theory, many recessions have little or nothing to do with underlying (structural) economic problems. Instead, recessions are the result of a crisis in confidence. People...
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Distinguishing between Medicaid Expenditures and Health Outcomes
As the LA Times reports, the Obama administration has vowed not to approve any cuts to Medicaid during budget negotiations: Preserving Medicaid funding became even more crucial to the Obama...
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The battle of the taxes
In my last post, I discussed several exciting tax reforms that are gaining support in a handful of states. In an effort to improve the competitiveness and economic growth of these states, the plans...
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Translating the President and the Republican Response
Economic jargon can be difficult to parse. Political speech—often by design—can be just as impenetrable. So, it stands to reason that when politicians are talking economics, it’s easy to get lost. As...
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When politicians can’t see their own loopholes
According to a 2008 IRS report, the Federal Tax Code “has grown so long that it has become challenging even to figure out how long it is.” A search of the Code conducted in the course of preparing this...
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Why did the ratings agencies mess up so badly?
When companies or countries issue debt, ratings agencies assign grades based on how creditworthy the issuers are believed to be. Low grades can cost the issuers dearly. But during the housing crisis,...
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Pre-K for All?
I’m at US News’s Economic Intelligence blog this week, writing about President Obama’s proposal for universal Pre-K. One problem with his proposal is that we don’t have data demonstrating that state-...
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Government shouldn’t pick winners either
Last week, Steven Mufson of the Washington Post reported: The Energy Department gave $150 million in economic Recovery Act funds to a battery company, LG Chem Michigan, which has yet to manufacture...
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A time when politicians tried to coax ‘the opposition’ to their view
On May 28, 1986, Ronald Reagan delivered an Oval Office speech calling for tax reform: a revenue-neutral plan to reduce marginal tax rates and close scores of loopholes that privileged particular...
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A price tag on congestion
The research organization TRIP finds that traffic congestion comes at a steep price for drivers in the Washington, DC area. They determine that congestion and poor road conditions cost drivers $2,195...
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Assorted Links
China’s Ghost Cities The Purple Line’s uncertain future Maryland’s new gas tax for transportation Is Maryland copying Virginia’s new sales tax? The Micro-Apartment craze
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Implications of an emergency fiscal manager for Detroit
Reuters reports that an emergency financial manager might provide Detroit with a path toward bankruptcy. This week I’m at US News writing on how an emergency financial manager might help the city...
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Why now is a good time to worry about the future
There are many smart people who think that deficits are a problem, but not now. Right now, they say, we need growth. And growth, according to standard Keynesian theory, requires higher deficits today....
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Civil Disobedience and Detroit’s financial manager
Michigan’s Governor Rick Synder may be greeted by protestors when he arrives for a meeting today on Detroit’s financial condition. His recent appointment of Kevyn Orr as the city’s emergency financial...
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Governors’ Priorities in 2013: Medicaid Funding, Pension Reform
As the month of March draws to a close, most governors have, by this point, taken to the podiums of their respective states and outlined their priorities for the next legislative year in their State of...
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Shortfalls in non-profit disaster rebuilding
This post originally appeared at Market Urbanism, a blog about free-market urban development. After receiving years of praise for its work in post-Katrina recovery, Brad Pitt’s home building...
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