New Research: Federal Workers Make 61 Percent More than Private Counterparts

By Robert Ross

06/16/2011

The American Enterprise Institute has released a working paper stating the federal compensation premium compared to private compensation is approximately 61 percent.

TAGS: American Enterprise Institute, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Cato Institute, Chris Edwards, John Berry, Louisiana Sunshine, U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Public Sector Unions Should Not Receive Preferential Treatment

By Jennifer Moreale

04/08/2010

Unionized government workers now outnumber unionized workers in the private sector. What does this mean for taxpayers? Dr. Daniel D’Amico of Loyola University points out, “with collective contracts it is difficult to maintain good incentives for individual job performance.” In other words, better workers get the same wage as lower performing workers. Further, “if a...

TAGS: Cato Institute, Chris Edwards, Labor

Privatizing Federal Assets And Operations

By Jennifer Moreale

03/29/2010

Most people agree that federal organizations such as the US Postal Service and Amtrak are far from being efficient. However, little has been done to improve their operations. On this matter, Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute makes a number of interesting points in Downsizing The Federal Government. Edwards argues for the privatization of several...

TAGS: Amtrak, Cato Institute, Chris Edwards, Downsizing The Federal Government, Free Market, Privatization, US Postal Service

Deficits Provide Opportunity to Weed Out Failing Programs

By Jennifer Moreale

03/23/2010

Despite Gov. Jindal’s spending cut in late December, Jan Moller reports in the Times Picayune on a possible “mid-year budget deficit that could be as high as $400 million.” According to the state Department of Revenue, lower income and sales tax revenues are to blame. In February, the state collected $209 million but paid $230...

TAGS: Bobby Jindal, Cato Institute, Chris Edwards, Deficit, Free Market, Jan Moller, State Spending

Federal Largesse Does Not Benefit States

By Jennifer Moreale

03/13/2010

Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute highlights the level of government intervention by examining the various forms of federal aid to the states. As he writes in Downsizing the Federal Government: “There are more than 800 state and local aid programs, based on my count of programs in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. They...

TAGS: Barack Obama, Cato Institute, Chris Edwards, Downsizing The Federal Government, Federal Budget Deficit, Federalism, FY2011 Budget

A New Record: $1.6 Trillion Deficit for the United States

By Jennifer Moreale

02/01/2010

President Obama has announced his 2011 budget proposal. When FY 2010 ends on September 30 the deficit will total to $1.6 trillion, much higher than the Congressional Budget Office’s forecast. The Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of this year and if Obama extends their term, the federal deficit estimates will be even...

TAGS: Barack Obama, Brian Reidl, Chris Edwards, Congressional Budget Office, Federal Budget Deficit

Antitrust & Enforcement: Letting Markets Work without Empowering Government

In their report “Antitrust & Enforcement: Letting Markets Work without Empowering Government,” Ted Bolema, Ph.D., J.D., Antitrust and Competition Fellow at the Innovators Network Foundation, and Vance Ginn, Ph.D., Chief Economist at the Pelican Institute, write that while the current frustrations with the size of large tech companies and censorship practices may be warranted, giving...

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