By Aahna Combs The Arkansas Center for Research in Economics (ACRE) welcomes Heidi Saliba and Elise Ormonde as two new, dynamic team members. These gifted people offer a multitude of expertise, a variety of skill sets, and a common enthusiasm for improving not only Arkansas’s economic climate but the lives of all individuals who reside […]
ACRE Review
2023 Colloquium Fosters Conversations on Racial Classification
By Terra Aquia, Educational Programs Manager The ACRE Colloquium brings together students and faculty from universities across the state of Arkansas. Attendees spend a weekend reading and discussing economic topics from collections of primary & secondary sources. The 2023 Colloquium program was organized by Dr. Wendy Lucas, History Chair and Professor at the University of […]
Fall Speaker Series Welcomed Emily Hamilton
By Elise Ormonde, ACRE Research & Program Coordinator The Arkansas Center for Research in Economics continued its Fall 2023 Distinguished Speaker Series with a presentation from Dr. Emily Hamilton on October 26. Dr. Hamilton is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Her research […]
UCA Students Participate in Reading Group Summit
By Elise Ormonde, ACRE Research & Program Coordinator UCA students participating in the ACRE Fall 2023 Economics Reading group had the exciting opportunity to travel to Dallas, Texas for a weekend summit hosted by the Southern Methodist University (SMU). This event was a collaboration between UCA, SMU, and Western Michigan University, featuring student reading discussions […]
Professor David E. Bernstein Kicks-off Fall Speaker Series
By Elise Ormonde, ACRE Research & Program Coordinator The Arkansas Center for Research in Economics kicked off its Fall 2023 Distinguished Speaker Series with a lecture from Professor David E. Bernstein. Professor Bernstein holds a University Professorship chair at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. During his public lecture, he shared work and […]
New ACRE and Tax Foundation Book: Next Steps for Tax Reform in Arkansas
By Jeremy Horpedahl, ACRE Director and UCA Associate Professor of Economics Arkansans have seen multiple reductions to their taxes, especially income taxes, in recent years. Starting from a top income tax rate of 7 percent a decade ago, income tax rates have gradually been reduced. The top individual income tax rate has already been lowered […]
Arkansas’s 2023 Special Session Is Over
As I mentioned in the newsletter we sent out at the beginning of this week, the Extraordinary Session of the Arkansas General Assembly would likely happen very quickly. It did move quickly, though it lasted about one day longer than most legislators expected. And that’s where it got interesting. The newsletter from Monday also talked […]
FOIA Exemptions: Finding a Balance Between Executive Security and Public Trust
By Joyce O. Ajayi and Joseph Johns Since our last blog post titled “Enhancing Arkansas FOIA for Accountability and Transparency” on Tuesday morning, September 12, there have been significant developments. By Tuesday night, lawmakers had introduced a new set of Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (AFOIA) bills. Notably, Senate Bill 10 and House Bill 1012 […]
Enhancing Arkansas FOIA for Accountability and Transparency
By Joyce O. Ajayi and Joseph Johns On Friday, September 8, 2023, Governor Sarah Sanders announced that a special session would begin at the Arkansas Capitol on Monday, September 11. In her announcement of the special session, the Governor hinted at potential amendments to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (AFOIA). She specifically mentioned a […]
More Tax Relief Could be On the Way in Arkansas’s Special Session
By Jeremy Horpedahl, ACRE Director and UCA Associate Professor of Economics The first “Extraordinary Session,” or special session, of the 2023 Arkansas General Assembly will once again take up the important issue of tax reform. The proposed bill HB1007 (and the companion bill SB8) makes three changes to Arkansas tax law. First, the top personal income tax rate […]