Publications
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The Financial Turmoil of 2007-XX: Sinners and Their Sins
Publication -Policy Briefs -The financial crisis that started in the summer of 2007 in the subprime mortgage market in the U.S. -
Keeping a Good Thing Going
Publication -Policy Briefs -The numbers speak for themselves. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated Louisiana in 2005, more than $15 billion in private-sector insurance money flowed in to rebuild the state and its neighbors. -
Research & Commentary: Homeowners’ Defense Act
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Concerned about making homeowners' insurance affordable in coastal areas, Congress currently is considering proposals to expand its role in catastrophe insurance. -
Research & Commentary: Subsidizing Sports Stadiums
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Since the 1990s, the building of new sports stadiums has increasingly relied on taxpayer funds, with subsidies growing from just a few million dollars in tax exemptions to unabashed corporate welfare in the hundreds of millions of dollars. -
Research & Commentary: Universal Access and Service Funds Are Outdated, Costly
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Federal and state universal access and service funds (UASFs) have become an ineffective and outdated use of taxpayer money. -
Research & Commentary: Credit Union Member Business Lending
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Access to credit is an essential component of a market system, and the tightening of credit markets in the course of the economic downturn has businesses and entrepreneurs struggling to sustain themselves and grow. Small businesses have suffered the most. -
Research & Commentary: Gross Receipts Taxes New Mexico Update
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Having begun to move away from gross receipts taxes (GRT) in 2005, New Mexico lawmakers are considering reinstating the tax on groceries in an effort to close the state's budget shortfall. -
Research & Commentary: Governor’s Support for Tobacco Tax Makes No Fiscal Sense
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Gov. Mark Parkinson's recommendation to use a cigarette tax increase to help cover Kansas's $300 million budget deficit should be worrisome not only to smokers, but also to nonsmokers and legislators who want to be fiscally responsible. -
Research & Commentary: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s Blank Check
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In 2008 the Bush administration’s Treasury Department seized control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that stand behind a majority of the nation’s $12 trillion mortgage market. -
Research & Commentary: What Effect Would a Tobacco Tax Hike Have on Utah?
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Tobacco tax hikes like the one being discussed in Utah should be recognized for what they are: unstable and regressive tax increases targeting a minority of citizens, fueling unsustainable government spending, all wrapped in one fiscally irresponsible -
Research & Commentary: Transaction Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In recent weeks the idea of a "transaction tax" that would impose an apparently small fee on all stock, future, swap, credit default swap, and option transactions has gained significant support among some members of Congress and left-of-center advocacy -
Michigan’s FAIR Legislation Is Fundamentally Flawed
Publication -Policy Briefs -A legislative initiative called Fair, Affordable Insurance Rates (FAIR) is poised to begin gathering signatures throughout Michigan. -
Research & Commentary: SunRail Will Produce Few Benefits and Cost Millions
Publication -Research and Commentaries -As Florida policymakers take up the SunRail passenger rail proposal, the performance of existing passenger rail systems across the country should be part of their deliberations. -
Research & Commentary: Property Mitigation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The term “property mitigation” can refer to almost any effort or incentive to make a given building or area of land safer against the forces of nature. -
Research & Commentary: Why the U.S. Should Cut its Corporate Tax Rate
Publication -Research and Commentaries -What the U.S. economy needs more than another pork-filled stimulus plan or massive new spending proposal is a cut in the corporate tax rate. -
Research & Commentary: Illinois’ Alcohol Tax Is Helping Neighbor States
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Illinois' alcohol tax increases, which the legislature pushed through to fund a $31 billion capital works plan, are beginning to have their troubling consequences. -
Research & Commentary: First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Federal legislators and many industry groups are calling for not only an extension, but a fourfold expansion, of the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit program, at an estimated annual cost of $50 to $100 billion. -
10 Principles of P&C Insurance Reform
Publication -Legislative Principles -We wrote this guide for three reasons: because insurance is an important economic activity; because it is regulated almost entirely at the state level and is thus of particular concern to state legislators; and because we hope a look at the principles -
Research & Commentary: President Barack Obama’s Cap-and-Trade Plan
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Obama administration, with support from the majority party in Congress, is promoting a carbon emissions cap-and-trade plan that could spell disaster for the nation—especially given the current delicate state of the U.S. economy. -
Research & Commentary: Illinois’ Pension Problem and How to Fix it
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The Chicago Sun-Times recently reported some very alarming facts about Illinois’ public pension system, among them:* Nearly 4,000 state retirees are receiving more than $100,000 per year in pension payouts; and* 14,280 retirees are making more than they -
Research & Commentary: Top Ten Reasons Not to Raise Tobacco Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Smokers have become a favorite target of many legislators across the country. Some policymakers seem to think taxing smokers is a win-win way to curb smoking and raise revenue, without hurting the economy. -
Research & Commentary: Reforming Texas’s Unemployment Fund
Publication -Research and Commentaries -As the economy remains in the doldrums, the unemployment compensation fund in Texas has become insolvent. The state's unemployment rate stood at 8 percent as of June. -
Research & Commentary: The Damaging Effects of Tourism Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Tourism taxes have become an increasingly trendy pick for elected officials hoping to raise additional revenue to cover increases in government spending. -
Research & Commentary: Texas Windstorm Insurance
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Texas is a model of fiscal stability compared to most other states--with one glaring exception. Texas is one hurricane away from bankrupting its state-run wind insurance pool.