Neighborhood Effects

Yesterday’s court ruling that the US Army Corps of Engineers is at least partially to blame for the flooding in St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina is being hailed as a landmark ruling. Th...

Eileen Norcross has an op-ed in the Asbury Park Press arguing that Governor-elect Christie must deal with New Jersey’s education system before it will be possible to deal with the budget deficit, property taxes, income taxes, and outmigration: School funding is a mess not because of decisions by t...

Last week, Surprise, Arizona was in the news for questionable accounting practices. This week, accountants in Ohio are expressing concerns about the state’s long run fiscal prospects. ...

You’ve seen the news. Arizona’s 15th Congressional district created 30 stimulus jobs. But there is no 15th district in Arizona. Arizona only has eight Congressional districts. What happened? Ac...

Tim Halbur at Planetizen asks,“Is Starchitecture Over?” A new modern art museum in the UK, The Nottingham Contemporary, opened this week. First impressions may not do it justice. Scalloped cement slabs rising from the sidewalk: Eastern-bloc homage? Bu...

The LA Times reports that in spite of 40,000 job cuts and billions in cost-saving measures, the U.S. Postal Service lost $3.8 billion in FY 2009, which is $1 billion more than they lost in FY 2008. The USPS’ financial health is “sobering” to quote Postmaster General John Potter. Decr...

Hard Times can lead to acts of desperation. During the Great Depression rural areas saw increased petty property crimes – illegal fishing and crop picking, as well as a violent crime wave by notorious and newly-minted public enemies. ...

GMU economist Don Boudreaux’s assessment of California’s decision (effective November 1) to increase the amount it withholds from employees’ paychecks by 10 percent can be summed up in one word: Theft. Dr. Boud...

After his presentation at Mercatus on Wednesday, Bob Nelson recorded a podcast summarizing his research findings. At under 20 minutes, the podcast is a concise summary of the past, present, and future of sublocal governance in the United States...

Along with many municipal governments, Surprise, Arizona is facing budget problems this year. In addition to decreased revenues, some of the city’s problems are coming from its history of poor budgeting practices. ...

Robert Nelson’s talk on the rise of sublocal governance at the Mercatus Center will be showing here from 12:30 to 2 PM today. After the talk, a recording will be available here. A recording of the talk is available here.

Eileen Norcross has an op-ed in today’s New York Post in which she argues that only substantive reform can fix New Jersey’s budget problem. [Governor-elect Chris] Christie inherits a state that’s in arguably the worst financial condition in its 233- year history. Last...

New Jersey residents are taking their property tax bills to City Hall. In Essex County, property tax appeals doubled to 6,487 and in Ocean County appeals have tripled to 14,129. “I’ve been in the industry 35 years, and it’s a record,” claims Ocean County’s tax administrator. Accordin...

On Wednesday, November 11, Robert Nelson will be speaking at Mercatus about the rise of sublocal governance. His talk is from 12:30 to 2 in room 121 of George Mason University’s Hazel Hall, 3301 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington and yes, lunch will be provided. ...