Just because they can’t seem to agree on a state budget, don’t assume that New York lawmakers aren’t finding other ways to threaten the state’s economic future. Read More
Commentary
President Obama is expected to unveil his national health-insurance plan in just a couple of months. But when it comes to expanding government-subsidized coverage, broke and recession-battered New York state has already gotten a jump on him. Read More
Those “Empire gold” license plates now cropping up on cars and trucks around New York state aren’t the only retro look coming out of Albany these days. Read More
As New Yorkers rush to meet the April 15 deadline for filing state and federal income tax returns, here is a collection of recent articles about taxes from the Empire Center and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Read More
New York state educators are warning that proposed cuts in state aid to public schools next year could force more than 14,000 teacher layoffs. Read More
“Fantasy in, fantasy out” is the way one leading economist has described the budgetary assumptions behind the new federal health care overhaul, which supposedly will reduce the projected federal deficit over the next 10 years even while creating two new federal entitlement programs. Read More
Assemblyman Sam Hoyt has given local residents a clear-eyed and realistic assessment of the fiscal crunch facing school districts throughout the region and the state Read More
Far from being asked to sacrifice during the "Great Recession" that began in December 2007, the data indicate that state and local government workers thrived amid the economic misery afflicting most taxpayers. Read More
Like a drunk tempted to go on one more binge at a stressful moment, New York state may soon reach for the debt bottle in the face of mounting deficits. If it does, taxpayers will feel the hangover for a generation. Read More
In his State of the State message in January, Gov. Paterson announced that Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch would “take the lead in [developing] a four-year plan for fiscal recovery.” Read More
Which will vanish sooner -- New York state’s incredible shrinking cash reserves, or its incredible shrinking chief executive? It could be a photo finish. Read More
Thirty-five years ago this month, the state Urban Development Corp. defaulted on its short-term debt -- setting off bond-market alarms that culminated in New York City’s 1970s fiscal crisis. Could the Metropolitan Transportation Authority become this era’s UDC? Read More