Fiscal Policy
Yesterday, Marc and Monique noted that the “stimulus” sticker is being slapped on boxes of the Democrats favorite things. It may be the giddy air of Washington, these days, that brought forth from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the comment: “Would we have ever thought we would see the day when we’d be using that terminology…
Rhode Island’s General Treasurer is also the chair of the state’s investment commission, which as part of its duties determines the asset allocation of the state pension fund. (Professional fund managers then decide specifically which funds to put the money in). Breaking news: You may have heard that that markets did not do so well…
During Anchor Rising’s interview of Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank Caprio, Treasurer Caprio presented the results of several case studies illustrating how the pension reforms implemented in 2005 have helped bring the cost of Rhode Island’s pension system in line relative to the other New England states. One set of analyses compared benefits owed to…
Valley Breeze publisher Tom Ward offers a proposal for modifying cost-of-living pension increases that’s softer than a total freeze… What is the better way to handle COLAs and save money? Follow the lead of our surrounding states, that’s how. In Massachusetts, all state employees get a 3 percent raise on the first $12,000 of their…
For those interested in full detail, the complete text of the Governor’s budget proposal is already available from the Rhode Island Legislature’s website. I recommend the PDF version over the HTML in this case, since it’s a little easier to tell what’s being added and what’s being removed in the PDF scheme. Let me add…
Governor Carcieri’s proposal has two major ongoing items relating to non-disability pensions…Elimination of cost-of-living adjustments for state and municipal employees who retire after April 1, 2009.Establishment of a minimum retirement age of 59 for state and municipal employees, including teachers, to be eligible for retirement.Also, the Governor’s plan calls for only 25% of the state…
Here’s an index of the major items in Governor Donald Carcieri’s supplemental budget reconciliation plan. “Major” in this context is defined as any item saving $10 million or more for FY2009; the 10 items below account for $305 million of the $357 million deficit (85% of the total). Eliminate General Revenue Sharing to Cities and…
Greg Mankiw: Congratulations, Senator Obama. You ran a good campaign, and you racked up an historic victory. As you get ready for your new responsibilities, let me suggest four ways for you to become a reliable steward of the economy: Listen to your economists. During the campaign you assembled an impressive team of economic advisers…
UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 8 & 9 Incentives drive human behavior but, especially in government where there are no market forces, rarely does anybody pay attention to the impact of the incentives created by laws, regulations or government actions. Which is why government actions will always create “unintended” consequences and less than efficient solutions. There is…
Robert Walsh‘s controversial proposal to permanently dedicate a portion of Rhode Island’s gambling system to the state pension fund makes the lede of the Katherine Gregg/Paul Grimaldi article in today’s Projo even more eye-catching than it would normally be…The owners of Twin River are offering the state upward of $500 million up front in return…
