Pittsburgh wants to tax tuition paid to universities located in the city.
If I were teaching a public policy class, this would surely be on the final exam. Discuss the distribution of the burden of this tax and discuss any additional implications.
UPDATE: The extortion worked.
If I were teaching a public policy class, this would surely be on the final exam. Discuss the distribution of the burden of this tax and discuss any additional implications.
UPDATE: The extortion worked.
Nice to see you blogging again.
States are all panicking now for revenue in this crisis. Illinois even had their credit score downgraded recently (below Michigan!). States are forced to do some combination of raising taxes and cutting services. This action by state (and local) governments are procyclical, as government employees find themselves out of work. The beneficiaries of government services will no longer benefit, and the increase in taxes will cut private spending when it is badly needed. Cities and states are forced into sticking their blood straw (to borrow a term from Matt Taibi) into anything that smells like money. Privatizing and selling off assets for short term gains at the expense of long term (see the stadium bought for $500,000? Parking meters in Chicago?). This short term thinking will leave states in a worse position than ever to collect revenue in the future. This might be a Republican's dream come true, but most people especially students in this article, stand to loose big.
This semester was an absolutely terrible one for blogging. But that's a topic for another day. I plan to return with renewed vigor.
Don't you think that would be a great public policy final exam question though? I enjoy finding things like that. And yes, there are some really big revenue problems in just about every state right now. I've never seen anything like it. Nor would I have predicted anything like it even 5 years ago. People with memories much longer than mine say they've never seen anything like it. It's bizarre.
Yeah, for sure!
Great blog. I am an economics graduate - now an economics consultant.
i've written many articles on my blog relating to economics too. Please check it out and follow me:
http://windowsillseat.blogspot.com/search/label/Economics