A pair of boots from L.L. Bean. The latest bestseller from Amazon.com. A diamond engagement ring from Blue Nile. Every day, more and more consumers are buying items like these over the Internet. According to the most recent estimates, nearly 100 million Americans bought something using the Internet in 2003, with about 7 million buying […]
Taxes and Budget Issues
Posted inEconomy, Education
Spending on public higher education
Even before recent budget cuts, Massachusetts was considered a skinflint in the area of public higher education. According to the Center for the Study of Educational Policy, we ranked 48th in per-capita funding of public higher education ($158.32 per state resident) in fiscal year 2002 and 49th in funding as compared with the state’s total […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
The way we tax
With revenue diminishing due to the stock market downturn and rising unemployment rates, the Bay State is experiencing the same fiscal squeeze being felt nationwide. As states across the country struggle with tax levies that no longer seem to be covering the spending obligations they took on during the 1990s boom years, the adequacy, fairness, […]
Posted inEconomy
Household tax burden
How much of a burden are taxes in Massachusetts compared with other states? It all depends on how you make the comparison. In one common measure–total tax burden (state and local tax revenue) per capita–the Bay state ranks near the top 94th in the nation in fiscal year 1999). But that ordering ignores differences in […]