Articles

Personal income is an important economic measure of a state’s well-being. Higher levels of personal income mean that a state’s residents are able to purchase more goods and services such as homes, cars, education, and health care. Fundamentally, personal income comes from two sources: the private sector and the public sector. The distinction between these two sectors is important because only the private sector creates new income. The public sector can only redistribute income through taxes and spending.

When it comes to government spending in Oklahoma, the 800-pound gorilla in the room that many people ignore is this simple question: Should government grow faster than the private sector’s ability to pay?

Oklahoma’s higher education system employs far too many non-instructional workers relative to the national average. This bloated workforce drives up the cost of higher education, and a significant share of these costs falls on the shoulders of Oklahoma’s taxpayers.

Some Oklahomans are talking about centralizing the education system even further by providing additional financing through an increased sales tax. This is a bad idea for several reasons.

Students across Oklahoma have returned to college campuses, and many are feeling the pinch from higher tuition costs. Higher education officials often blame tuition hikes on reduced state appropriations, but could there be other factors in play?

The bottom line: Most Oklahomans receive lower pay than their counterparts in other states. Few of our occupations are near the top in the 50-state rankings. We simply cannot afford to compensate teachers like, say, Connecticut.

Over the last decade, Oklahoma has been one of the most aggressive states in the country when it comes to reducing the burden of taxes on taxpayers. Since 2002, the top marginal individual income tax rate has fallen significantly—by 22 percent—to 5.25 percent from 6.75 percent.

There is a lot of discussion in the mainstream media about the “college wage premium”—the benefit gained by earning a college diploma in terms of one’s long-term earning potential.

Government welfare programs were originally designed to be temporary to help people get back on their financial feet. Today, that is no longer true.