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
Advocates of the misnamed “millionaire’s tax” enacted in New York State last year claimed that it would restore “fairness” to a tax code that favored the rich. 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
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
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
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
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
“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