Taxation & Economy
Tariffs are the political albatross of 2026
North Carolina voters overwhelmingly believe tariffs raise consumer prices, with more than 80 percent saying businesses pass tariff costs along through higher prices Tariffs are unpopular both nationally and in North…
Tracking the impact of Trump’s tariffs
The Tax Foundation is out with a new report summarizing the key economic impacts from Pres. Donald Trump’s tariff regime, kicked off by his “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, 2025. In short, the Tax Foundation analysts…
Government housing for teachers and public employees is not the solution to Wake County’s housing problem
Wake County leaders want to build affordable housing for teachers and public school employees. The idea was presented earlier this week to a joint meeting of the Wake County School Board and Wake County Board of…
The $3 billion in hidden spending in the budget proposal
The widely reported state budget spending total is not truly representative of the actual spending total Budget writers play a shell game that obscures the actual total: Set aside money into reserve funds, and then pay for…
Pay raises, tax cuts, earmarks, and much more in state budget proposal
Teachers would receive a pay raise of 8 percent on average, while most state employees would receive raises of 3 percent The Opportunity Scholarship program generates tens of millions in savings for public education The…
Five priorities for this year’s budget plan
House and Senate leaders recently announced a “framework” for a budget deal There’s been no comprehensive budget bill passed since 2023 This brief includes five priorities budget writers should focus on Just over two weeks…
How North Carolina’s property tax levy limit needs to be designed
House Bill 1089 has quickly intensified North Carolina’s growing debate over property tax reform. After months of discussion within the House Select Committee on Property Tax Reduction and Reform, the proposed constitutional…
Digging beneath the surface of the April jobs report
Nearly 1.3 million fewer people are employed today than this time last year. Beyond the headlines reporting on the recently-released April jobs report that told us 115,000 jobs were added that month is the report reflecting…
NC’s “tax the rich” scheme is a bad idea
North Carolina legislators have introduced a bill to impose a high income tax rate on millionaires Such “tax the rich” schemes have failed elsewhere because wealthy people can easily move What would happen once the tax base…
North Carolina should build its own budget simulator
Balancing a state budget is an exercise in tradeoffs. Every dollar allocated to one priority is a dollar unavailable for another. Yet those tradeoffs are often difficult to see, buried in lengthy documents, complex fiscal…
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