Research

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

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

In today's Times on the reaction of municipal labor unions to possible budget-cutting strategies, UFT President Randi Weingarten argues against any reform of generous pension benefits for municipal employees: “Here we have a s Read More

As a postscript to Nicole’s most recent post, which focused on New York City, it should be noted that New York’s state government doesn't immediately face a California-style cash crunch, either. The state stopped issuing short-term notes Read More

California may have to ask the federal government for a $7 billion loan by the end of the month just to pay for basic services like police and firefighting, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last Thursday. New York City readers may have shuddered, as the r Read More