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October 17, 2017
Economic Development and Maximizing Profit
One of the better economic development professionals in the Greater Phoenix area made a good point a couple of weeks back. After I was complaining about Amazon’s tactics of aggressively soliciti...
Read moreSeptember 18, 2017
A Personal View of DACA
The below article, written by my senior economist Luis Cordova, allowed for some solid economic and policy discussion within our office and amongst friends. I thought you’d be interested i...
Read moreSeptember 05, 2017
Tax Reform Sounds Good, but Economic Reform Sounds Better
The discussion has shifted from healthcare to tax reform. We can do better with our definition though. I believe in small government and low tax rates. But, I also understand that the government is sp...
Read moreAugust 08, 2017
Good Luck with Stock Market Timing
I have been asked almost daily for an economist's perspective on the stock market. Here are my general thoughts. 1) It is indeed overvalued when compared to the economic data. 2) Being overvalued do...
Read moreJuly 20, 2017
How to Identify the First Signs of Economic Trouble
Analyzing the U.S. economy gets messy. But, I find it helpful to focus on some very basic things. Catching the turning points can make or break a business or government budget. While I indeed look at ...
Read moreJune 26, 2017
Part 1: How Can Cities Avoid Getting Sued for Incentive Use?
I’m asked this question at least a couple of times every month. My initial answer is usually: don’t do illegal stuff. Then, I elaborate. Each economic development project is different. H...
Read moreJune 05, 2017
More Fine-Tuning Needed in the Local Economy
The “story” related to economic growth is better understood now than at any time I can remember. People know that many things impact an area’s ability to not just grow, but to grow w...
Read moreMay 09, 2017
Properly Analyzing Tax Policy - Where to Start the Debate
The next few weeks will include much debate about President Trump’s economic plans with a primary focus on tax cuts. The typical question will be: “So, is this good?” The typical ans...
Read moreApril 11, 2017
First Quarter Economic and Policy Thoughts - Two Steps Forward for AZ
I was asked during an interview what I thought about the performance of our state policymakers and the legislative session this year. It wasn’t the focal point of the discussion but I thought it...
Read moreMarch 27, 2017
Economic Gunslingers - When Research No Longer Matters
It’s easy to take the generic, non-committal, lack of detail approach in economics and public policy. I especially enjoy the many people shooting from the hip and paying tribute to what makes th...
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