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Journal Article
Will new business tax dull Texas' competitive edge?
In today's global economy, high corporate tax rates are more harmful than ever because it has become easier for mobile productive resources to cross borders in search of more favorable business climates. ; Nations seem quite aware of this. The European Union's corporate tax rates have fallen by a third over the past decade, with five member states making cuts in 2006 alone. Asian nations, too, have responded to global competition by reducing the tax bite on business. In fact, all members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development impose lower corporate tax rates than they ...
Journal Article
Poor state finances deepen recessionary hole
States are in the midst of perhaps the most challenging fiscal environment of the postwar era. Spending and revenue patterns broke away from trend in the years leading up to the recession, leaving states relatively poorly positioned to overcome the slowdown. And while they have made adjustments to deal with $100 billion-plus gaps in each of the past two years, further action will be needed in 2011 and 2012. Some states that have skirted the edges of shortfall, thus far, may still face significant fiscal pressure.
Journal Article
Welfare reform revisited
Working Paper
Has income inequality or media fragmentation increased political polarization?
The increasing polarization of Congressional voting patterns has been attributed to factors including generational shifts, economic conditions, increased media fragmentation, and greater income inequality. The first of these factors is difficult to test with time series data owing to the low frequency of generational shifts, while the tendency of business cycles to reverse suggests that economic cycles are unable to account for long-term shifts in polarization. This leaves two main possible long-run drivers: the increasingly fragmented state of American media as stressed by Prior (2005, 2007) ...
Journal Article
Texas Property Taxes Soar as Homeowners Confront Rising Values
A precipitous rise in the amount of property taxes Texans pay has accompanied an uncharacteristically large increase in property tax valuations. Because a variety of local jurisdictions provide services that elsewhere are state responsibilities?particularly public education?there are limited ways to rein in rising property taxes across Texas.
Journal Article
Determining creditworthiness and Texas' case for a top rating
To the ratings agencies, the AAA-rated states share one important trait: fiscal capacity, a superior ability to raise revenue within their borders to cover fiscal obligations.
Journal Article
Texas Taxes: Who Bears the Burden?
Texas? reliance on sales and property taxes makes its revenue-raising methods more regressive than those in most other states. Texas lawmakers, facing increasing demands for services, confront a desire to maintain the state?s attractiveness to business even as inequities continue in how the taxpaying burden is shared.
Journal Article
Noteworthy: New Texans, Mexican population, higher education
Encouraging signs are present in manufacturing and services, with a marked pickup in temp employment and initial signs that direct hiring is on the upswing.
Journal Article
On the record: Texas in better fiscal shape than most other states: a conversation with Jason Saving
The hardships of recession aren't confined to the private sector. Dallas Fed regional economist Jason Saving takes a look at how state budgets are faring in the long, deep slump--starting with Texas.
Journal Article
Improving public school financing in Texas