Yes, Jesus warned us of the persistence of poverty, but we can do better here in Rochester. There is renewed energy directed at the issue, both here and in the nation. The Poverty Task Force announced by Governor Cuomo will continue to focus attention and, hopefully, resources on the problem.
Ah, but what to do? Several of my colleagues at CGR recently completed a global scan of anti-poverty programs. And they concluded that there aren’t a lot of new ideas out there, although size and execution of established programs can be improved (e.g. the Earned Income Tax Credit, economists’ favorite). Read more »
The long term projections are of course tenuous and highly susceptible to even subtle changes in assumptions around wage rates, demographics, immigration, GDP growth, inflation and a myriad of other factors. But there is still enough meat here to provoke a lot of thought. Note especially the charts and graphs at the end of this post! Read more »
Our nation’s fiscal house is held together with duct tape and Crazy Glue. The porch roof is teetering—left unrepaired, it may collapse onto our economy at the end of the year. And our home’s foundation has a crack in it. While this structural gap between revenue and spending—largely caused by Baby Boom retirements—won’t be dramatically worse next year, the crack will get larger and larger until we make major repairs.
Taxmaggedon
A wide array of tax cuts are due to expire at the end of 2012. As the Bush White House couldn’t muster the 60 votes required for a permanent tax change, the 2001 tax cuts were passed using the Senate’s arcane “reconciliation” procedure, which forced a 10 year “sunset” provision. (The vote was 50-50 with Vice President Dick Cheney casting the tie-breaker.) Unable to reach consensus on much of anything in 2010, the President & Congress kicked the can down the road another 2 years. In February, the 2 percentage point reduction in the payroll tax rate originally passed in 2010 was extended to the end of the year.
So, what happens if Congress & the President don’t do a deal? Read more »
The financial problems of the nation and many large states—California, Illinois, New Jersey and certainly New York—present a problem that is challenging economically and hazardous politically. Since it’s impossible to separate the economics from the politics, it is truly a Gordian knot – rather than untying the knot, Alexander the Great sliced the Gordian knot in two with a single, bold stroke of his sword.
The Congressional Budget Office forecasts the federal deficit to decline from about $1.5 trillion in 2009 to $608 billion in 2014, then rise to nearly $800 billion in 2020. This is a hefty deficit, particularly when you consider that we had a surplus as recently as 2000. Then consider that the cumulative public debt, which currently stands at $7.5 trillion, is expected to nearly double by 2020 to $14 trillion.
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Yes, Jesus warned us of the persistence of poverty, but we can do better here in Rochester. There is renewed energy directed at the issue, both here and in the nation. The Poverty Task Force announced by Governor Cuomo will continue to focus attention and, hopefully, resources on the problem.
Guest Commentary from Geoff Rosenberger, CGR Trustee