The New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) closed its most recent fiscal year with a return of just 5.96 percent — well below the 7.5 percent target rate used to discount its long-term liabilities. Read More
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The New York Times has agreed to print a correction of this article about the minimum wage issue, which includes inaccurate information implicitly attributed to Empire Center senior fellow Russell Sykes. Read More
A big wheel at Deutsche Bank, chief risk officer and board member Hugo Bänziger, has some portentous thoughts about banking (and therefore, about New York City and State finances) in today's FT. Read More
For years now, the Senate GOP’s approach to economic growth has been to cook up big pot of targeted tax relief, and then fling the whole one-house package onto the agenda for passage so incumbents can campaign on it. Job creation? We’ve got it covered! Read More
A big wheel at Deutsche Bank, chief risk officer and board member Hugo Bänziger, has some portentous thoughts about banking (and therefore, about New York City and State finances) in today’s FT... Read More
A bill pending in the state Senate would weaken a key underpinning of welfare reform -- the Work Experience Program, or WEP. This is a one-house measure for now, and it's sponsored by a member of the democratic minority, to boot. But many of Albany's worst ideas have been born as one-house minority bills, so this one bears watching. Read More
Another sign of the permanent structural change in New York’s state and city tax base: today’s warning by Fitch Ratings that the world’s largest banks (including NY-based Goldman and Chase) will need to raise $566 billion to satisfy new capital requirements to protect against capital shocks. Read More
A forthcoming academic study will provide further evidence that a proposed increase in New York State's minimum wage will destroy job opportunities for young people. Read More