News
GROW NC discusses $791M Helene recovery plan, challenges
Officials described Hurricane Helene as a $60 billion storm, pointing to the necessity of combining public, private, and nonprofit resources.
News
GROW NC panel weighs disaster investment zones
Under current federal rules, states can designate certain low-income census tracts as opportunity zones, allowing investors to receive tax benefits for investing in businesses or real estate projects in those areas.
News
GROW NC subcommittee outlines workforce, housing priorities
The subcommittee plans to continue refining its recommendations in the coming months, with future discussions expected to focus on education, health care, and strategies to attract private investment to the region.
Opinion
Let’s try grownups this time
With only a few days left to cast ballots in the 2022 primaries, most North Carolinians are worried and frustrated. Many are furious. Some 62% of voters responding to a recent High Point University poll said the country had “gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track.” Even higher shares of state voters said something...
Opinion
North Carolina is bouncing back
To say North Carolina is bouncing back is not to say everyone is coming along for the bouncy ride. Still, things could be worse. In most the country, in fact, they are.
Opinion
State reserves may not be enough
Employers are hiring people back, but not as robustly as we need them to. North Carolina’s labor market is still down 326,000 jobs since February.
Opinion
Latest job numbers look promising
As more North Carolinians manage to get and stay employed, our immediate economic future becomes less gloomy. The same could be said for the fiscal outlook of state and local government.
Opinion
Positioning N.C. at the front of the line
Amid ongoing COVID-19 debates, some policymakers are focusing on the post-pandemic world.
Opinion
State’s economic recovery is too slow
Every month we keep parts of our economy sidelined will be another month of frustration, loss, and despair for all too many North Carolinians who simply want to get back to work.
Opinion
Stressed over the pandemic, yet prepared for what comes next
From flattening the curve to trending, tracking, and tracing. From PPE shortages, to months–long lockdowns and millions of unemployment claims. To stretching our constitutional rights to go along with months of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. Through all this one thing is certain: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tremendous amount of stress, falling upon our...
Opinion
Reopen N.C.: Four proposals for lifting tax burdens on workers and business
North Carolina’s economy has been devastated by the decisions of Gov. Roy Cooper and state and local officials in their attempt to ameliorate the effects of COVID-19. To enforce social distancing rules, politicians outlawed a number of occupations and businesses. Included in these restrictions are restaurants and restaurant workers, beauty salons and barbershops, specialty stores,...
Opinion
A tale of two recoveries
The following editorial appeared in the February 2017 print edition of Carolina Journal: Timing matters, in both stand-up comedy and interpreting statistical trends. Left-leaning groups are likely to seize on findings by N.C. State University economist Mike Walden, in his monthly Carolina Journal column (reprinted here), to deflate the notion that a Carolina Comeback ever...
