UPDATE: My WOR radio interview on this topic with John Gambling is . A labor arbitration panel is prepared to award raises of nearly 12 percent over the next three years to Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) employees represented by Loca Read More
Generations of young (mostly male) Americans have schooled themselves in basic auto mechanics, saving thousands of dollars in the bargain, by teasing years of service out of high-mileage cars given up for dead by their previous owners. For that guy Read More
"New York recently paid almost $50 million to private stock managers to actively invest part of the state's massive public pension fund, and they lost more than $1 billion, a worse performance than stocks that were essen Read More
exemplifies the federal stimulus bill at its worst. It's basically a helicopter drop of cash justified on the grounds that, after all, these folks need the money and will spend it--which, when you come right down to it, is justification enough for Read More
Today's Times about how the nation's governors are worried that Congress will expand Medicaid without giving states more resources to pay their part. This part requires further inquiry: "Connie Baugh received a letter ... from [Washington Read More
Earlier this week, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the first big proposal of his try for a third term: a "." Over at City Journal, . Read More
Earlier today, bond analysts at S&P downgraded to junk status $33 million worth of mortgage debt issued nine years ago by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY). DASNY had raised the debt to complete hospital construction projec Read More
"Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has warned his employees to avoid making big-ticket, high-profile purchases as the gold-plated Wall Street firm hunkers down amid a firestorm of public and political anger over outsize bonus payments," today's N Read More
Last week, the Arizona Republic that the Grand Canyon State, faced with a 30 percent budget deficit, is looking to raise $735 million by selling its state properties, including the House and Senate buildings, to private investors. The state Read More
Richard Ravitch, New York's putative lieutenant governor, "is looking into using pension funds to help insure municipal bonds," according to an "insider" quoted in . But more than a few pension fund managers and investors believe that using pension Read More
My in today's New York Post is about the fiscal folly (economics aside) of trying to balance the state budget with higher taxes on a relatively small number of affluent New Yorkers whose incomes and portfolios have dropped sharply in the re Read More
Almost all of can be traced to falling tax receipts. But rising spending will represent a growing share of the problem over the next three years. In fact, more than one-third of the projected growth in next year's gap, and over half the Read More