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  Summary: U.S. payroll employment or industrial production growth for one quarter will suggest the recession is ending. (June 5, 2009) The most frequent question we hear is: ‘When will the recession end?’1 Last May 2 we announced the U.S. economy entered recession in January 2008. Our forecast missed by one month. The National Bureau of Economic Research […]

  “An emphasis on prevention in health care has the potential to create a broader population of healthy Arkansans. It can also serve as the catalyst for the conservation of scarce tax dollars.” (Policy Foundation report, Road Map for Arkansas Prosperity, December 2008) (June 11, 2009) Dr. Thomas A. Bruce, former dean of the College of […]

  “The General Assembly should enact legislation which restructures … Arkansas’ existing 311 school districts into not more than 134 “administrative units” where an administrative unit is defined as “one superintendent and an associated superintendent’s staff.” (Murphy Commission, “Streamlining and Cost-Saving Opportunities in Arkansas’ K-12 Public Education System,” September 1998) (May 2009) The Turrell School […]

  (April 2009) Ex-St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President William Poole criticized federal bank bailouts and forecast long-term inflation during three April 16 forums in Conway co-sponsored by Hendrix College and the Policy Foundation. Morning Session: Apply ‘Market Discipline’ to Banks Dr. Poole told undergraduate Hendrix students in a morning session that “market discipline” should […]

Excerpts from PA 222 of 1999 Title A Pilot Program Of Performance-Based Program Budgeting And Strategic Planning By The Legislative Council; And For Other Purposes Subtitle Performance-Based Program Budgeting And Strategic Planning Pilot Program Section 1. Definitions. (a) “Performance-based program budget” means a budget that incorporates approved programs and performance measures. (b) “Performance-based program appropriation” […]

Government, in order to be lean and effective, needs to be infused with market forces; less of a monopoly provider of services; and measured for accountability and performance. The most effective government concentrates its resources in achieving a core mission aimed at carrying out essential functions. (Murphy Commission, 1998) (January 2009) The economy has entered […]

Summary: Rolling deflation surprises Arkansas government. (March 2009) The Consumer Price Index, an inflation measure, was zero in 2008, the lowest reading since 1955 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis). Declining asset classes have left unprepared Americans exposed to the economic phenomenon of deflation. “Thinking about deflation,” the Policy Foundation warned […]

The term uninsured, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons notes in a 2006 White Paper on Medical Financing is so widely used it is impossible to avoid. The national organization contends the term “self-paying” or “self-insured” is more accurate: “Many persons have deliberately chosen to risk assets or future earnings rather than buy medical insurance; only a […]

  Free market economists have opposed the taxation of food for more than two centuries. (Policy Foundation, 2002) “The sales tax on groceries should be phased-out over a multi-year period using excess state revenues. The surplus means the grocery tax can be reduced by two cents in 2007. A gradualist approach is preferable to raising […]

Rural Arkansas suffers from a shortage of physicians. One way to address the problem is by exploring alternative systems of delivering medical care. Two alternative systems are advanced nurse practitioners and midwives. Advanced nurse practitioners are “registered nurses who are prepared, through advanced education and clinical training, to provide a wide range of preventive and acute […]