Though polarization is a pervasive and powerful force in our politics, housing policy is one area where cross-ideological coalitions have become increasingly common. For example, there are both progressive and conservative champions of zoning reforms and other deregulatory efforts to allow more construction of new houses and apartments, including denser forms of development. Opponents of...
Imagine Ted wants to start his own company to, say, build and sell televisions. Ted rents the land and factory, hires workers, and acquires the capital goods and other inputs as necessary. Months later, he starts putting his televisions up for sale. To make a profit, of course, Ted needs to sell the sets at...
Should you ever be taxed on “income” that is not, in any meaningful sense, yours? This is the fundamental question facing Congress in deciding whether to eliminate the deductibility of state income and local property taxes from federal taxable income, a policy change proposed by President Trump. Unfortunately, this question is unlikely to become part of the...
Corporate taxes don’t just reduce after-tax dividends and capital gains to shareholders. They also reduce worker pay.
RALEIGH — The General Assembly's Joint Finance Committee on Tax Reform has focused almost exclusively on reforming North Carolina's sales tax. Primarily this has meant extending the current sales tax, which applies only to goods, to services including haircuts and lawn and automotive care.
Fairness and economic efficiency should outweigh potential revenue gains as lawmakers tinker with the tax system.
Exempting certain kinds of income, sales, or property from a tax base before applying the tax rate is not necessarily evidence of bias or favoritism.
Duke Energy's controversial program highlights problems common to all energy-efficiency mandates.
Waste today is on the cutting block. Businesses and consumers alike are being told to reduce waste, and for several reasons. One is the slowdown in the economy. With income and job prospects dimmer, at least in the near future, companies are trying to tighten their belts and eliminate “unnecessary” spending so profit margins can be maintained. Household budgets are feeling the same pressure, so many are cutting back on luxury and nonessential expenditures.
Welfare or budget restrictions? There are good arguments for both sides in the ongoing debate over helping the poor.
A free-market approach to water consumption works better than heavy-handed imposition of government restrictions.
