I was greeted by just shy of two dozen email and texts this morning asking about Trump’s victory and how it will impact the stock market and the economy. Here are my initial thoughts. A deeper dive into the individual issues will come in later posts. I was greeted by...
I’ve seen plenty of smart things when it comes to economic matters, but I’ve also seen plenty of dumb things... I’ve seen plenty of smart things when it comes to economic matters, but I’ve also seen plenty of dumb things. Some occur at the State Capitol, some within...
"Arizona’s policymakers are still depending on technocrats to help shape decisions aimed at influencing the economy. Nowhere is this truer than in tax policy, where a debate is raging over whether a series of tax cuts enacted a few years ago is spurring economic...
The question of the week is: “How will the stock market respond if Clinton vs. Trump wins?” The question of the week is: “How will the stock market respond if Clinton vs. Trump wins?” I believe people are overthinking the issue. The traditional approach would be to...
Hugs are plentiful when a deal closes. However, walking away from a bad economic development deal should also receive praise. I have a number of friends that work in economic development, either for an individual community or a broader based organization. They work...
There is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed. Discussing the minimum wage is one of those so called “third rails” in economics since, regardless of position, about half of the readers will disagree with the conclusions. I will try to approach the discussion...
Last week I did some venting on how economic “rankings reports” very often miss the mark, or completely mislead the reader. Some people asked how we compare our economy to others if these reports are so flawed. The answer is: it depends… Last week I did some venting...
Governing Magazine published an article that ranks the Arizona economy 41st worst in the nation. They took the time to examine six data points that were easily collected from federal government websites. This wasn’t a discussion of school funding, or tax cuts, or...
The lack of storytelling is the Achilles’ Heel of many local decision-makers; even those with good intentions. Economists have the luxury of being able to offer opinions on a number of topics, from smaller issues in personal finance, to major public policy reform. In...
Community planning can be based on a number of different lifestyles. We can indeed strive for amenities that are similar to what we would find in some of the greatest cities. But, it's ok if we also have yards and cars and wider streets. It’s also ok to not apologize...