Blog

“The most callused aspect of the current education monopoly in Arkansas is that it willingly and deliberately forces children–except those whose parents have wealth–to attend bad schools.” Arkansas Policy Foundation, 1998 (December 2022) Nearly 110,000 Arkansas students attend charter, home or private schools, or are enrolled in a public school choice program in the current […]

(November 2022) The Policy Foundation sponsored a public forum on the issue of dictionaries and literacy on Nov. 4at Lyon College in Batesville. The forum featured a keynote talk by Lyon Assistant Professor of Elementary Education Dr. Karin Brown (1); a Batesville School District literacy specialist and 3rd Grade school teachers; parents; and business community […]

(September 2022) Per capita personal income is higher in Tennessee and Texas counties than in adjacent Arkansasborder areas, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data. Payroll Employment  States without an income tax led the Southeast and Arkansas’ border region in jobs creation in the first two years ofthe national economic expansion that began […]

“Arkansas would benefit from comprehensive, pro-growth reform; Arkansans are not under-taxed; taxes and rates do matter to entrepreneurs; dynamic scoring of tax changes and effects provides benefits.” Arkansas Policy Foundation Mission Statement (August 2022) Arkansas policymakers approved an income tax rate reduction in a special session this month by making it retroactive to Jan. 1, […]

(August 5, 2022) Past Arkansas Policy Foundation research memos have identified cyclical turns in the U.S. economy prior to official announcements from the NBER’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, the leading arbiterwithin the economics profession. Arkansas news media have reported these findings. One example is a Talk Business report (Sept. 10, 2010) on the Foundation’s identification […]

(June 2022) Policymakers have proposed phasing-out the Arkansas income tax, which generates about $4 billion in annual revenues. The Arkansas capital gains tax has generated between $54.7 million and $115.9 million in annual revenues in thepast decade, according to a recent communication from the state Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) and historical data. The […]

(May 2022) Nonfarm payroll employment is the broadest economic indicator at the state level. Utah had a higher jobs creation rate than any state in the last economic expansion, according to a Policy Foundation analysis of employment data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, […]

(2Q-2022) States without an income tax led the Southeast and Arkansas’ border region in jobs creation in the first two years of the national economic expansion that began in April 2020, Bureau of Labor Statistics records show. Florida led the 12-state Southeast region in jobs creation between April 2020 and April 2022, the most recent […]

First in a series of interviews. “What stays in my mind about Arkansas are the wide-open spaces. It was my first long-distance drive west of theMississippi in a car. Some people think this type of drive is boring but to me it was very meaningful. There wassomething very special about the big road and the […]

(2Q-2022) Three years into a national economic expansion, Arkansas trails the national average in jobs creation, according to a review of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics records. Arkansas led 11 other states during the period. A national economic expansion began in April 2020, the National Bureau of Economic Research notes. Between April 2020 and April […]