John Locke Updates: Spending & Taxes

As part of the US-Mexico trade deal that was announced last week, the Trump administration argued for and won a $16 per hour minimum wage for auto and auto…

While the federal government’s deficit and debt grow, it seems families and state governments have become better savers during the current recovery. North Carolina’s budget picture is improving, with revenues…

Recently, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo accidentally self-reported a serious federal violation. He could face a $100,000 fine. See if you can spot it here: “One of the highlight…

Would North Carolina be a better place without an income tax? A recent Bankrate.com article compared the nine states that forgo broad-based personal income taxes with the rest of…

If we listen to most commentators on both the left and the right talk about socialism, its moral superiority to capitalism is rarely, if ever, challenged. Typically, the conservative critics…

Time Magazine’s Aug. 6 special issue focuses on the American South. One of the articles is about Georgia’s film production incentives, entitled “How Georgia Became the Hollywood of the…

New research from Kennesaw State University economist John Charles Bradbury finds “little evidence” that movie production incentives help state economies. Bradbury’s research finds that film incentives help film production…

Sometimes things happen slowly and then all at once, like love or bankruptcy. Sometimes they just happen suddenly, like a car accident or hitting the jackpot on a…

There is a puzzling term regularly being used by members of the Trump administration that, they argue, is the ultimate goal of their protectionist trade policies. The phrase is “reciprocal…

One reason teachers and state employees may not have seen the raises they wanted in recent years is that the government’s cost for pensions and retiree health benefits has climbed…