Recently in state/regional economics Category

I spoke two nights ago at a meeting of the Timp Valley (Utah County) chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). In preparing for the presentation, I gathered some information on the Utah economy. I was surprised to see how well Utah is doing relative to the rest of the country.

Two great games on Sunday have resulted in a Cardinals-Steelers Superbowl.  Can this tell us anything about economics?  I'm not sure, but lets compare the cities who boast the two best teams to the city who has claim on the worst team (ever).

Phoenix, the home of the Cardinals, has been one of the fastest growing cities in the US.  Much of this growth is from high-tech industry, like semi-conductor manufacturers.  And its proximity to the regulatory nightmare that is California has certainly helped that growth. 

Pittsburgh, although in the "Rust Belt", has truly blossomed in the last few years.  It has experienced decent population growth and increased the number of jobs in high paying industries like medical services.  

The December 2008 Journal of Economic Literature published the 105th annual list of doctoral dissertations in economics published between July 2007 and July 2008. This is really just a shameless plug by Rick and Jason for our two of favorite entries in this year's JEL list. The first is entitled, Three Essays on Openness, International Pricing, and Optimal Monetary Policy, and the second is entitled, Essays on Dynamic Political Economy.

I commented earlier in the week on the financial problems facing the Federal Government.  Well the states have problems too.  Its particularly interesting to think about the states that have hamstrung themselves by not having a state personal income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, New Hampshire, and Tennessee (the last two do tax dividends and capital gains income).

These states without personal income taxes rely more heavily on sales taxes and property taxes.  Well guess what's happened to property values in some of these states: