On May 26, the Census Bureau reported that per pupil public school spending was $10,499 in 2009, ranging from a high of $18,126 in New York to a low of $6,356 in Utah.
On May 24, the Rockefeller Institute reported that state government tax revenues increased 9.1 percent in the first quarter over the first quarter of 2010.
On May 17, the Council on State Taxation published a study on the competiveness of state and local business taxes on new investment. Maine ranks best, New Mexico worst.
A May 12 Marist poll found that 36 percent of New Yorkers under the age of 30 plan to leave the state. (The poll did not report the percentage of those under age 30 living in other states that plan to move to New York.)
On May 4, the Congressional Budget Office issued a study on the underfunding of state and local pension plans.
On April 27, the Census Bureau reported that the assets of state employee pension plans fell $800 billion between 2007 and 2009 due to stock market losses.
On April 12, the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts published a study which found little evidence that taxes play any role in household decisions to migrate from a state. However, once people have left, taxes play a role in where they decide to settle.
An April working paper from Tulane University examined factors affecting state economic growth. Somewhat surprisingly, it finds that more liberal political control is associated with faster growth than conservative control.
I last posted items on this topic on April 27.
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. 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, Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).
