Tag Archives: States

Washington just awarded the largest state tax subsidy in U.S. history

Posted on December 2, 2013 by ozidar

From the Washington Post: With the stroke of a pen, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Monday signed into law the largest corporate tax break any state has ever given to a single company. And it took just three days … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the Origin of States: Stationary Bandits and Taxation in Eastern Congo

Posted on November 29, 2013 by ozidar

From Raul Sanchez de la Sierra: The state is among the greatest developments in human history and a precursor of economic growth. Why do states arise, and when do they fail to arise? A dominant view across disciplines is that states … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can Lower Taxes Be Bought? The Role of Business Rent-Seeking

Posted on June 20, 2013 by ozidar

Robert Chirinko and Dan Wilson have a paper in which they estimate the economic value of $1 corporate donation in terms of lower corporate tax liabilities and find it is worth roughly $6.65. Abstract: The standard model of strategic tax competition assumes that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Rise of the States: U.S. Fiscal Decentralization in the Postwar Period

Posted on January 3, 2013 by ozidar

Katherine Baicker, Jeffrey Clemens, and Monica Singhal have an informative paper on the rising importance of states & fiscal decentralization since the 1950s. ABSTRACT: One of the most dramatic changes in the fiscal federalism landscape during the postwar period has been the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When more states look like Florida, will we spend too little on Education?

Posted on December 18, 2012 by ozidar

The combination of raising healthcare costs (mostly via Medicaid at the state level), pension obligations, lower employment to population ratios and thus tax revenues, balanced budget requirements, state tax competition, the reluctance to raise taxes in general and mobility concerns … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Coveting Thy Neighbor’s Manufacturing – Is State Tax Competition A Zero Sum Game?

Posted on December 13, 2012 by ozidar

Many people have been focused on state tax incentives of late. Earlier I posted about some work by Moretti and Greenstone that concludes local subsidies improve residents’ welfare (perhaps partly due to sizable employment spillovers). With that in mind, I wanted … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Problem with Federalism

Posted on November 10, 2012 by ozidar

The job market paper of Steven Rogers entitled “Accountability in a Federal System: How Parties Perform in Office and State Legislative Elections” highlights a reason why accountability may be weak under powerful state political systems. ABSTRACT: Theories of political accountability suggest … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

How much higher would taxes have to be to fund all state and local pension promises? ~1,400 per household per year

Posted on October 29, 2012 by ozidar

Robert Novy-Marx and Josh Rauh have a new NBER working paper out that suggests that filling the pension gap for state and local governments costs roughly ~1,400 per household every year.  We calculate increases in contributions required to achieve full … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Volatility & state tax competition – are states relying too much on income and sales taxes?

Posted on October 21, 2012 by ozidar

Tyler Cowen has a post today about an interesting job market paper by Nathan Seegert of U Michigan. I haven’t had a chance to read it closely but from a superficial glance, it seems that states have been relying more on sales taxes … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Krugman puts the concept of Fiscal Union in Perspective

Posted on June 17, 2012 by ozidar

Great paragraph from Paul Krugman’s oped today. Consider, for example, what would be happening to Florida right now, in the aftermath of its huge housing bubble, if the state had to come up with the money for Social Security and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment