Policy Research

(August 2026) Do you have an idea for a public forum to examine issues such as fiscal policy, education reform and efficiency in Arkansas government? The Policy Foundation is a 31-year-old non-profit organization that encourages...

(2Q-2026) Walter Morris understood the tactics of market-based ideas reaching a wide audience. After Friedrich A. Hayek won the Nobel in 1974, Morris encouraged him to interact with Darryl Francis, a one-time Arkansas banker who served...

(2Q-2026) Economist Friedrich A. Hayek (1899-1992) taught at the Univ. of Arkansas (1949-50) and was later co-recipient of the 1974 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in Sweden. Walter Morris (1912-1999)...

(July 2026) Per capita income is one area of improvement in the 21st century. (more…)

(July 2026) Arkansas’ economy has undergone profound positive changes in the first quarter of the 21st century (2000-2024). Growth rates in multiple Arkansas jobs sectors exceeded the U.S. average, while income growth boosted the state’s...

(May 2026) Arkansas policymakers reduced the top state individual income tax rate from 3.9% to 3.7% in early May, using an estimated $334.4 million projected fiscal surplus in the current 2025-26 fiscal year. (more…)

(May 2026) One sentence in an annual state report explains how policymakers have achieved a serious fiscal goal: reduction of the top state individual income tax rate under three governors and a succession of Republican...

(March 2026) More than 135,000 Arkansas students attend charter, home or private schools, or are enrolled in a public choice program in the current school year, state Department of Education and other records show. The niche...

(February 2026) Arkansans are heavily dependent on private transportation. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports that 93% of Arkansans reach work by private motor vehicles, while only 0.4% use public transportation.  The 102,622 miles...

(January 2026) Arkansas’ job creation rate is greater than the U.S. average since state policymakers launched a new fiscal policy in 2015 to reduce income tax rates, reversing a trend that saw the state trail...