By Caleb Taylor ACRE Scholar and UCA Assistant Professor of Economics Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl participated in a panel discussion entitled “The Arkansas Business Status and Future under the Trump Era” at the annual meeting of the Arkansas College Teachers Of Economics and Business (ACTEB) on September 29th, 2017. Other panelists included Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s […]
“Reason To Be Skeptical” Of Business Subsidies, Bundrick Says
By Caleb Taylor ACRE Policy Analyst Jacob Bundrick discussed state government’s track record in creating jobs with cash subsidies through the Quick Action Closing Fund in an op-ed published on January 20th in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The Quick Action Closing Fund (QACF) allows the state to provide cash grants to select entities in the hopes […]
Tax Reform Task Force Examines Property Taxes
Legislators on the Arkansas Tax Reform and Relief Task Force on December 6th discussed possible changes to property taxes in the Natural State. Randy Bauer of PFM, the consulting group under contract with the state of Arkansas, began the meeting with a broad overview of recent tax reform efforts across the country. Bauer’s commentary was […]
Are Targeted Business Subsidies Good For Economic Growth?
Can Arkansas’s public officials stimulate the economy with targeted business subsidies? ACRE policy analyst Jacob Bundrick and scholar Dr. Thomas Snyder investigate this question in a working paper titled “Do Business Subsidies Lead to Increased Economic Activity? Evidence from Arkansas’s Quick Action Closing Fund.” The study, released by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University […]
Civil Asset Forfeiture Needs More Accountability
By Caleb Taylor Angela Erickson, a former senior research analyst at the Institute for Justice (IJ), visited UCA in September to speak about civil asset forfeiture. Erickson is a co-author of Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture (2nd ed.) in which Arkansas receives a D-. Her work has been cited by the Obama White […]
Shine a Light on Local Governments
By Caleb Taylor In an op-ed published Thursday in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Mavuto Kalulu and ACRE Research Assistant Terra Aquia discuss the need for greater transparency of county government operations in Arkansas. According to Kalulu and Aquia, county governments in general are far less transparent than state government in Arkansas. Kalulu […]
How to Improve Arkansas’s Sales and Use Tax
By Nicole Kaeding and Jeremy Horpedahl [Also posted at the Tax Foundation blog] Arkansas’s Tax Reform and Relief Task Force will continue its job of working to improve Arkansas’s tax system next week. Now that the process of choosing and hearing from the consultant, PFM Group, is done the Task Force is now really getting […]
Occupational Licensing in Arkansas
By Alexandria Tatem A recent policy brief by the Mercatus Center highlighted Arkansas’s excessive occupational licensing policy. When the state government imposes licensing requirements on an occupation, it means a worker must get permission from the state before practicing that profession. The worker typically has to have a minimum level of education and experience, pass exams, […]
Civil Asset Forfeiture in Arkansas
By Maleka Momand Would you believe me if I told you a police officer could pull you over on the highway, take your cash, phone, and other valuables, and keep them without charging you for a crime? To most people, this scenario sounds like highway robbery, but it is a daily occurrence in Arkansas. Civil asset forfeiture is […]