City comptroller William Thompson released his regular "" report today. It's not necessary to go into the gory details, since it's past time for everyone simply to stipulate that things are ugly so that we can get on with life. The good news, though, Read More
Supporters of an income tax increase in New York State were, until recently, pushing what they called a "millionaire tax." But now that the number of millionaires is rapidly shrinking, Albany's most vocal tax-hike proponents have lowered their taxa Read More
Investment manager Bernard Madoff has allegedly admitted to what could be the biggest single criminal financial fraud ever, with up to $50 billion in losses. What does it mean for New York? Read More
Today's Citizens Budget Commission panel on "" (the link is to the full report, with good case studies) offered an excellently reasoned and evidenced summary of what the private sector can and cannot do when it comes to public-infrastructure Read More
Economic conditions have obvious implications for the work of this Committee and for the Legislature in general. We are in the midst of a potentially severe and long-lasting global recession. But for New York State, the recession is only part of the problem. Fueled by the super-heated profits of the securities industry, mixed with gains from a now-popped real estate bubble, the surge in state tax revenues over the past five years was as big as anything New York has experienced during any previous five-year stretch in the last 35 years. Read More
With a budget shortfall of $12.5 billion projected for 2009-10, New York's state government faces its most significant fiscal crisis in decades. However, this is not just another cyclical downturn. What's left of Wall Street will be significantly leaner, less profitable, and more heavily regulated than the securities industry whose explosive growth fueled the expansion of state spending for much of the past 25 years. The Empire Center and the Center for Governmental Research explored these issues at a policy forum in Albany. Read More
Also in today's Times is a written to illustrate the foolishness of what my colleague Heather Mac Donald would probably call part of the victimology culture. The author, Linda Hirshman, notes that there will be "almost no women" on Obama's Read More
The Times that New York City's Industrial Development Agency is preparing to issue an additional $341.2 million in tax-exempt financing "on behalf of the Yankees and Mets" to finish building their new ballparks, in addition to the more tha Read More