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Arizona’s doctor shortage harms health care, economy
The Arizona Legislature is considering Senate Bill 1354 to alleviate the state’s health care workforce shortage. The bill provides support for five programs — Graduate Medical Education, the University of Arizona Medical School, primary care provider loan repayment, medical student loan repayments, and nurse training. All of these programs will move the needle on the shortage.
Cost implications of foregoing immunizations high
I’m very concerned with the increase in the number children attending Arizona schools who are not vaccinated. But, beyond posing a threat to the community-based protection many people need, as an economist I recognize the cost implications that accompany the decision to avoid vaccines.
Ducey takes on budget risk to fund teacher pay hike
As Arizona clawed its way out of the Great Recession, Gov. Doug Ducey sought to ease the state’s reliance on borrowing and gimmicks to balance the budget.
Walmart offers roadmap to shore up U.S. manufacturing
Walmart, the world’s largest retail company and Arizona’s second biggest private employer, says key changes in state and federal policy, particularly surrounding regulation and taxation, would result in a boom in domestic production and the creation of millions of American jobs.
Business leaders say Arizona should engage in crafting NAFTA 2.0
At a forum in Phoenix this morning, business leaders emphasized how NAFTA has benefited the state’s economy, noting that more than 100,000 Arizona jobs depend on trade with its southern neighbor and roughly $17 billion in trade flows between Arizona and Mexico.
Lower tax rates + biased researchers = ‘hatchet job’
If the success of supply side economics is so obvious, why doesn’t the research show it? We know the bias of the university research community – over 80 percent of their campaign contributions go to Democrats. The expression of this bias in the pages of research journals has been non-stop.
Jan Brewer: Corporate tax cuts she signed were a little ‘too aggressive’
What’s not mentioned is that the state might have had more money to spend had there not been a series of corporate tax cuts approved by lawmakers half a decade ago which are still kicking in. For just this coming budget year, those changes will reduce state revenues by another $107.2 million.
Properly analyzing tax policy – where to start the debate
The next few weeks will include much debate about President Trump’s economic plans with a primary focus on tax cuts. The typical question will be: “So, is this good?” The typical answer by policymakers and economists will be either “yes” or “no.” That’s it. Interview over. This doesn’t come close to the bare minimum discussion that is required. Here is my offering of where to sta[...]
Bumpy ride: Turmoil in housing industry translates into a tepid state economy
Despite efforts by policymakers to diversify the state’s economy, Arizona still rides on the boom and bust of the housing industry. And when this sector is inactive, its silence – and all the troubles that entails – reverberate throughout the state.
Some panel members say Arizona’s income tax system is fine after all
Members of a panel tasked with studying Arizona’s personal income tax system said that while flattening or doing away with the income tax may be a popular talking point, the state’s current system is reasonably fair and may not need a major overhaul.
Doing no harm: Tax overhaul effort stalls over vague goals, concerns about middle class
After four weeks and three meetings of a task force with intentions to reform, tweak, or overhaul Arizona’s personal income tax system, the members of the group don’t seem closer to deciding what, exactly, they want to accomplish.
AZ lawmakers face uphill climb to reform income tax system
Arizona lawmakers, business leaders and economists face a daunting task as they try to make any changes to the state’s income tax rates and tax system.
