Research

The good news is that despite increasing pressure on both revenues and expenses, Standard and Poor’s has affirmed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s “A” rating, with a stable outlook. Read More

Japanese financial-services group Nomura, in its late September purchase of bankrupt Lehman Brothers' European and Asian divisions, is one institution willing to invest new money in the future of high global finance. So how does one key Nomura figure Read More

The chart below depicts the 25-year trend in what I call the "Tax Stability Quotient" -- the share of all New York City tax receipts composed of real property, sales, utility and commercial rent taxes, which tend to be the city's most stable revenue Read More

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon today: "New York tries to tax everything we do around the world. If you have a choice where you put a job, it will not be here. That’s a terrible thing to say." [courtesy ] Read More

One of the most famous episodes of the old Star Trek TV series was in which the crew of the Enterprise found themselves in an alternative universe populated by their nasty lookalikes.  The old DC comic books featured "Bizarro" characters w Read More

The Times has a piece today exploring whether an increase in crime will inevitably follow an economic contraction in New York. The is worth a read, but the best comments are from Ray Kelly, the NYPD's current commissioner, and Bill Bratton, Read More

Ohio sold $240 million worth of long-term municipal bonds yesterday. The bonds carried an annual yield of 5.21 percent, 18 percent higher than last year. Ohio's long-term general-obligation credit is rated two notches above New York State's, which Read More

In an op-ed called "," the Daily News's Errol Louis says that the idea that "federal, state, and local governments all need to cut spending" is a "dangerous myth." Louis quotes economist James Galbraith in saying that state spending cuts, sp Read More

This chart from the state comptroller's newly released answers the question in a nutshell: Read More

New York's deepening fiscal crisis should refocus public attention on the need to reform the city's unsustainably costly package of generous retirement benefits for municipal workers. Read More

Mayor Bloomberg said in 2003 that "if New York City is a business, it isn't Wal-Mart. It isn't trying to be the lowest-priced product in the market. It's a high-end product, maybe even a luxury product." If so, then the don't bode well for consu Read More

Public school finance will be one of the most hotly contested battlegrounds in New York's coming state budget war.  From last June's of the Governor's (aka the Suozzi Commission), here is a reminder of one key factor driving up local school costs: Read More