Sales tax elimination: intriguing idea but bogus economics
The RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity, whose funding sources I look into here, has a so-called “prosperity agenda” that calls for elimination of the sales tax. At first glance this would appear to be a reasonable direction to move our State. It is no secret the sales tax is one of the most regressive [...]
Ban the Box activists march to State House today
Surely there are some convicted criminals who may not be ready to rejoin the work-a-day world. But just as surely there are many who are. The Ban the Box bill would make it harder for potential employers to confuse the two by doing away with generic questions about criminal records on job applications. Watch this [...]
More fake reasons for fighting affordable housing
Jim Hummel, an independent journalist who lives in Barrington, took a very different tack than me on the issue of affordable housing in Rhode Island’s favorite suburban utopia. Last fall, he reported Barrington actually has a lot of housing that meets the state’s definition of affordable housing, but that not much of it fits what [...]
Why Barrington doesn’t want affordable housing
When it comes to community, Barrington is by many measures Rhode Island’s standard for success. It boasts the best schools and the highest household median income. Crime is low, taxes are reasonable, real estate is valuable and amenities abound. Then how is it that this upper middle class suburban utopia epitomizes the state’s biggest economic [...]
RI should be like Paradox Studios, not 38 Studios
You’ve probably never heard of Fredrik Wester or the studio he’s CEO of, Paradox Interactive. It operates mainly out of Sweden, a country slowly starting to exert more and more influence in pop culture. And, as Wester points out in this 26 minute talk entitled Using an Axe to Carve a Niche, Paradox Interactive makes [...]
If Superman goes housing, make it mixed income
With the fate of the Superman building unknown, downtown Providence could look very different in a few years. I’m relatively new to Rhode Island, but don’t want the state’s most well-known building to be housing only for the uppercrust. Such redevelopment could not only gentrify downtown and push low income residents further out of Downcity [...]
Downcity gentrification vs. big picture masterplan
The Superman building is certainly one of – if not the – most iconic architectural structures in the Ocean State. We don’t want to lose that. But what’s happening with the inside the building is a pretty iconic example of the current economy. We do want to lose that. 111 Westminster began its existence as [...]
Senator Reed supports Rhody Fresh, local farmers
Perhaps the shrewdest business decision made in 21st Century Rhode Island didn’t occur in a board room, but rather a dairy barn. In 2004, five local dairy farmers – led by Portsmouth icon Louie Escobar, who runs Highland Dairy Farm not far from East Main Road – decided to cut out the corporate middle man [...]
Businesses behaving badly
In past posts, I have explained actions that businesses–usually large corporations–have taken that are decidedly contrary to the interests of the general public. For this, commentors have claimed that I’m anti-business, that I’m using scare tactics, I’m just a socialist, or some combination thereof. However, in the news over the past month or so we [...]
What RI should know about hedge funds, part 2
The truly remarkable thing about the hedge fund industry is that once you strip away the confusion about how shares are valued and what exactly the returns are, you find returns that are far from extraordinary. In fact, the average returns over the past 20 years for the industry — the returns actually experienced by [...]
What Rhode Island should know about hedge funds, part 1
What’s the purpose of investing in a hedge fund? Because “hedge fund manager” is almost synonymous with “fabulously wealthy” in the popular press, lots of people think hedge funds are all about high risk and high returns. Originally, though, hedge funds were thought to provide high returns simply by being consistent, if dull. The idea [...]
Remember Seth Luther
UPDATE April 29, 2013: Today is the 150th anniversary of Seth Luther’s death. Since last year’s post, records have been found locating Luther possible final resting place in Brattleboro, Vermont. A WIKI page is in formation, and other plans to follow. Here is a great link to a 1974 essay by on Luther by Carl [...]
A closer look at the Center for Freedom and Prosperity
The debate continues here in Rhode Island. How do we repair our sluggish economy and begin the process of putting our citizens back to work? How do we collectively regain the vibrant economy which at one time was the pride of New England? There is no shortage of ideas, strategies and recommendations coming from elected [...]
CoC leader: ‘Discrimination is bad for business’
The Rhode Island business community has overwhelmingly endorsed marriage equality, and largely stands opposed to the religious exemptions in the Ciccone bill. John Duffy, president of the PR firm Duffy & Shapley and chairman of the Greater providence Chamber of Commerce was quite clear, “Discrimination is expensive and bad for business,” he said on a [...]
RI needs to back its word on 38 studios debt
Ever since 38 Studios went bankrupt some folks in the state have suggested that a “Moral” Obligation bond means you don’t REALLY have to pay the creditors, unlike a General Obligation bond. Nonsense. Both mean that the state will stand behind its word. If RI does’t, why would anyone ever believe what the state says [...]
On moral obligations
Don’t make the mistake of confusing the what the bond market calls a moral obligation with the more widely-held definition of the term. One may suspect that a moral obligation as it applies to repaying the 38 Studios loan implies that our shared concept of right and wrong compels us to make good on our [...]
Minimum wage hike good for economy, taxpayers
If corporate America was still run by businessmen like Henry Ford, we probably wouldn’t need to have a minimum wage law. Ford, said Congressman Jim Langevin recently, “wanted his workers to earn a wage that was sufficient for them to buy an automobile that he produced. He recognized with a strong middle class, with a [...]
For MetLife and Rhode Island, size matters
In the brouhaha about MetLife leaving, I did see and hear people try to blame this on the too-high RI taxes. Of course; it’s always about the taxes, isn’t it? I would like to make one point about that. For 2012, MetLife reported $1.4 Bn of operating earnings. In comparison, the $80-90 Mn of tax [...]
Jack Reed takes it to the banks and their regulators
There’s been a surprising dearth of coverage in the local press of Jack Reed’s exemplary work last week, as he stuck it to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) alongside Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren. Here’s a full transcript. Here’s the rub, from Dave Dayen at Salon: The vast majority of borrowers – [...]
David Cicilline and the anti-poverty agenda
I seem to remember a time when people actually cared about poverty, when poverty was something that society actually wanted to alleviate, when poverty was the social ill and not poor people. That unfortunately was a long time ago. Almost 15% of Rhode Islanders live in poverty, close to 155,000 of our mothers and fathers, [...]
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