Category: Blog

As part of the February stimulus package, Washington offered new inducement for municipalities to issue taxable bonds. The program may have the effect of pushing up tax rates for the wealthy. Read More

That mindlessly right-wing rag, The New York Times, has that makes a simple and salient point about New York City pensions. If Albany won't cooperate on real pension reform, one good way for the mayor to keep pension costs down is to contro Read More

The .  And out of left field, there's this: Ms. Feinstein has threatened to vote against Mr. Obama’s health care bill if it draws funds from high-cost areas like California to low-cost areas of the country. Ms. Feinstein noted that Ca Read More

In April, the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority won Albany's approval for a new, $1.5 billion annual tax on downstate payrolls. Now, the authority, with fresh finance-committee approval this morning, is moving to float a $600 millio Read More

While it began under bizarre circumstances, the current (apparent, informal) 31-31 deadlock over who should control the New York State Senate is not unprecedented.  Elsewhere around the country, there have been 38 other instances since 1966--includi Read More

That's the message of the Federal Reserve's monthly , released today. For those in search of a silver lining, there's this: Future indexes were generally positive and continued to rise, conveying an expectation that conditions should imp Read More