Spending & Taxes

Everybody wants a piece of North Carolina’s statutory debt limit. For the third consecutive year, the Debt Affordability Study recommends increasing the debt limit to 4.5 percent of General Fund…

February is the true start of spring. Punxsutawney Phil “predicts” the longevity of winter. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Cherry trees blossom.  And in the North Carolina General Assembly,…

Nathan Glazer died last week at the age of 95. He was one of the original neo-conservatives, when the term still meant “a liberal who has been mugged by reality.”…

Among many in the Democratic Party, attacking the rich is back in style. Some popular Democrats contend that large concentrations of wealth are, at best, unseemly and, at worst, absolutely…

North Carolina needs to reform its approach to taxing capital gains. As I have noted in a previous analysis for the John Locke Foundation, the current system ignores the…

This is the 33rd and final research newsletter of 2018.  What a year it has been! Publishing a hardcore policy newsletter every week would not be possible without a team…

Question: When is it acceptable for a Republican president to openly brag about liking taxes? Answer: When the taxes are directed toward American consumers and are called tariffs. Last week,…

When are special interest subsidies not just special interest subsidies? When the special interests receiving the subsidies hire a consultant to do an economic impact study. And how often does…

Senate Bill 820, which skyrockets tax incentives for “big boys with deep pockets,” rampaged through the North Carolina General Assembly last week like a General Patton simile.

State budget writers have more challenges than normal as they prepare for the next biennium. First, there are economic headwinds from tariff and trade wars and a broader concern about…