Publications
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Why Regulate? New Applications of the ‘Johnston Test’
Publication -Policy Briefs -The following text is complete except for the omission of footnotes and two tables. -
Research & Commentary: VAT Will Increase Both Debt and Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A value-added tax (VAT) is a sales tax applied at each stage of production for a good or service, instead of only at the point of final sale. -
Research & Commentary: A Different Way to Budget
Publication -Research and Commentaries -States are beginning to turn away from baseline budgeting, a method that has proven ineffective in keeping the size of government to a responsible level. -
Research & Commentary: Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-MA) sweeping Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate, is both ambitious and controversial. -
Research & Commentary: Extending the Bush Tax Cuts
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Without Congressional action the Bush tax cuts will sunset on January 1, 2011 and raise U.S. residents’ tax bills by a whopping $3.1 trillion over the next 10 years. -
School Vouchers, Prosperity, and Job Creation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -States and localities are struggling with the need to slow the growth of spending for public K-12 education, while government employee unions and some legislators continue calling for ever-more money. -
Research & Commentary: Interchange Fee Update
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In an effort to force a reduction of what consumer advocates call "swipe fees" and depository institutions call "interchange fees," many in Congress are proposing heavy regulation of these fees, which are charged for processing transactions through debit -
Research & Commentary: Wisconsin Auto Insurance Mandates and Minimum Rate Hikes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In his 2009 budget, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle introduced a series of regulatory changes to Wisconsin’s auto insurance market. -
Credit Scoring in Washington State
Publication -Policy Briefs -Across the country, credit scores play an important role in many insurance companies’ ratemaking. -
Research & Commentary: South Carolina Cigarette Tax Ignores Real Budget Problems
Publication -Research and Commentaries -South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto of a 50-cents-per-pack cigarette tax hike shows he understands such tax hikes are bad for the state’s economy and bad for all of the state’s taxpayers, not just those who smoke. -
Research & Commentary: New Hampshire’s Vanishing Tax Advantage
Publication -Research and Commentaries -New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has proposed his fifth cigarette tax increase in five years. The 20 cents-per-pack increase would bring New Hampshire’s cigarette tax to $1.98 per pack, well above the national average. -
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. -
No. 126 The State Public Pension Crisis: A 50-State Report Card
Publication -Policy Studies -Taxpayers in almost every U.S. state owe large and possibly unpayable retirement pensions to the men and women who work for the government. -
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
