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New York's public pension funds have a pronounced taste for risk, typically plunging 70 percent of their assets into equities ranging from traditional corporate stocks to more exotic "alternatives." Fund managers say it's the best way to hold down... Read More

New York City's Independent Budget Office just released its take on Mayor Bloomberg's budget. One data tidbit: the IBO's analysts say that though the city's recession job losses were less severe relative to losses in the rest of the country, Gotham's... Read More

School officials around New York angrily denied Gov. Cuomo's assertion yesterday that they should be able to make due with less state aid than they received last year. In other news: the sun rose at dawn, people wearing green marched in parades, and... Read More

Jo Johnson, a member of Britain’s Parliament, has penned a piece in the FT explaining why Britain’s policy of punishing bankers through higher taxation is harmful to Britain’s economy. Read More

Public schools in New York are awfully expensive, and their costs continue to rise at a pace that taxpayers can't afford. So how can schools cope with a needed reduction in state aid? Governor Andrew Cuomo has a simple and blunt prescription: "less... Read More

New York's state and local governments offer the nation's second highest "pension replacement rate" -- the percentage of preretirement income covered by an employee's pension -- according to a new study cited in today's New York Times. Read More

"NYC Government Workers Paid Less Than Private Sector Peers," is the headline on today's press release from Comptroller John Liu's office. But the truth is actually much more complex and "difficult to generalize," as the study in question acknowledges... Read More

New York motorists afflicted with fuel pump sticker shock might take some consolation from this handy Empire Center Data Bank chart, indicating that the $3.70 average price of regular gasoline in the Empire State is only fifth highest in the country. Read More

Should New York's temporary personal income tax hike on high-income households be extended beyond its scheduled expiration at the end of this year? Former state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and I took opposite sides on this question in a segment on... Read More

That's the argument in this provocative City Journal essay by D.J. Jaffe, who says the "skewed priorities" of the state Office of Mental Health are actually preventing the delivery of adequate care to the most seriously mentally ill. Jaffe warns that... Read More

Governor Cuomo proposed a cap on Superintendent salaries earlier this week, but as it relates to bringing school district spending down, it’s the equivalent of trying to chop down a tree with nail clippers. Read More

Although his proposed property tax cap will put pressure on counties, municipalities and schools to reduce their costs, Gov. Cuomo has punted the related issue of mandate relief to a "redesign team" comprised of stakeholders including representatives... Read More