On August 23, the Tax Foundation published a review of state tax changes in 2010.
On August 19, the Tax Foundation released two new reports on state and local taxation. The first details state general use sale tax rates; the second examines sales tax rates in major metropolitan areas.
An August 17 working paper from the Mercatus Center examined the growth of state and local government spending since World War II. It finds that it has risen 34 percent faster than the private sector and 37 percent faster than federal spending.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office study released on August 13 found that state and local government finances are not just in poor shape in the short-term, but the long-term as well. The main problem, as is also the case at the federal level, is rising health costs.
On August 12, the Center for Michigan reported that Michigan voters have overwhelmingly supported ballot initiatives to raise or extend taxes to maintain public services.
On August 10, the Joint Economic Committee of Congress released a staff study on layoffs at the state and local government level.
An August 5 study from the Pioneer Institute examined the pension system for state workers in Massachusetts. It finds considerable variation in benefits for different classes of workers.
In a July 27 working paper, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago economists Nathan Marwell and Leslie McGranahan examined the impact of sales tax holidays, which many states have enacted in recent years for back-to-school items. They find that the impact is large but limited to children’s apparel and that those with high incomes are most likely to take advantage of the opportunity.
I last posted on this topic on August 3.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He
blogs daily
and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Read his most recent column
here
. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).