Policy Research

Taxes were raised in 1983 and, again, in 2004 with the following result: Arkansas ranked 47th, 48th or 49th nationally in per capita personal income, with a level 75 to 78 percent of the U.S. thru 2006....

“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. And it does so with financial resources taken...

“Reduce the state's income tax…repeal the state's capital gains tax.” Arkansas Policy Foundation, Murphy Commission project, 1998   (November 2012) The policy climate has shifted dramatically in Arkansas, with Republicans winning control of the state...

(October 2012) Former President Bill Clinton noted Arkansas and Michigan are sister states1 during a March 1997 speech to the Michigan legislature.  Arkansas and Michigan share another distinction: the number of female legislators has increased significantly since...

The Orange County treasurer managed the pools, which totaled approximately $7.6 billion.  The treasurer used reverse repurchase agreements, a type of derivative. The deposits were leveraged to more than $20 billion.  Orange County declared bankruptcy in December...

  “Governor Beebe has repeatedly said that the current rate of Medicaid growth is unsustainable.” The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society, November 2011   (September 2012) Long-term Arkansas Medicaid spending exceeded the U.S. average...

“The long-term liabilities of the ARKids First program should be identified." Policy Foundation memos, 2006 (August 2012) The unfunded liabilities of the state’s ‘ARKids First program,’ a major component of Arkansas Medicaid are conservatively estimated at $3.5 billion, according to enrollment, federal...

(July 2012) The 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the 1976 Nobel Economics laureate will be commemorated at a July 31 forum hosted by the Policy Foundation in Conway.   The forum...

(June 2012) Dr. Milton Friedman, the 1976 Nobel Economics Laureate advanced the idea of a negative income tax.  He argued "outright cash grants" were more efficient than welfare bureaucracies.    Summary   President Richard Nixon proposed...

(June 11, 2012) A Policy Foundation proposal to increase government transparency is one of four runners-up in the 21st annual Better Government Competition (BGC) sponsored by the Pioneer Institute, a think tank in Boston, Massachusetts.   The...