(This article first ran in the Richmond Times Dispatch on December 3, 2012) Each of the nation’s 366 metropolitan statistical areas saw a year-over-year increase in personal income in 2011 — the first time since 2007. Richmond had the fastest personal income growth of any metro area in the state...
(Gary Baise is a Virginia resident. This article shows the extent to which some will go to use the legal system to harm farmers all in the name of the environment. Our Virginia farmers are a little safer because of this legal case.) A U.S. District Court judge has ruled...
Security Threats to our Critical Infrastructure Are Real On Friday, June 29th 2012, Virginia and most of the mid-Atlantic region received a wake up call regarding our fragile electric power grid… via a wind storm called a derecho! Over 1 million Washington area residents were without power, some for many...
A “fiscal cliff” will befall the federal government on January 1 if Congress and the White House cannot reach agreement on a deficit reduction plan. “Sequestration” will take effect, including defense and domestic spending cuts. Additionally, the expiration of tax rate reductions and other tax provisions, enacted during the administration...
In recent years, when I give talks on the state of the economy I often start out with two charts from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis that clearly show the extent to which the 2007 recession has been different. The first depicts cumulative change in GDP over the four...
With all the talk about the perils of the “fiscal cliff” here in the Washington, DC area, I am slowly coming to the conclusion that maybe this thing called “sequestration,” that everyone fears, may not be so bad after all. I know many of my friendswill think I have gone...
(This column ran in the Richmond Times Dispatch on December 12, 2012) As Congress struggles to avoid the so-called “economic cliff,” it is imperative that our elected leaders don’t panic and do something really destructive to our ability to grow the economy and maintain the retirement promises to our elderly. Public policy...
(This article is reprinted from Surface Transportation Innovations, a monthly newsletter published by the Reason Foundation).This autumn marks the debut of three investor-financed toll projects, with the opening to traffic of the Jordan Bridge in Virginia, the I-495 express lanes on the I-495 Beltway in northern Virginia, and the...
(This article first ran in the Richmond Times Dispatch on November 2, 2012). I recently stopped at a coffee shop in a rural county in Virginia. I knew the county was benefiting from the expansion of a firm that created a couple hundred high-paying jobs. I asked a customer whether...
The Jefferson Journal: Congress Must Not Harm Economy, Retirees
As Congress struggles to avoid the so-called Fiscal Cliff, our elected leaders shouldn’t panic and do something really destructive to our ability to grown the economy and maintain the retirement promises to our elderly. Public policy by panic is usually not a good way of creating a strong economic base...