Articles

Personal income is an important measure of Oklahoma's economic well-being. Fundamentally, personal income comes from two sources: the private sector and the public sector. Only the private sector-the proverbial "goose that lays the golden egg"-creates new income. The public sector can only redistribute income through taxes and spending.

"Supply-side" economics is the simple notion that tax rates affect growth. One of the key observations made by supply-siders is that policy makers should pay close attention to the relationship between tax rates, taxable income, and tax revenue-particularly since higher tax rates can reduce incentives to earn and report taxable income, which therefore means there is not a linear relationship between tax rates and tax revenue.

In PR terms, recent months have been tough for America's trial lawyers. But not as tough as the mayhem inflicted on Oklahoma's economy as we lag behind the rest of the country in lawsuit reform.

A tax credit for donations to scholarship programs geared to autistic children, however, might be close to a free lunch for the reasons described. Though it's no panacea, it is a simple and elegant solution that would help a large number of families.

The conventional wisdom-peddled by tax consumers and amplified by a largely sympathetic news media-says that, because of income-tax cuts signed into law in 2004, 2005, and 2006, Oklahoma's individual income tax revenues are declining.

Another state legislative session has come and gone, and again this year the education establishment was able to squash legislation which would have given parents more school choices.

In the modern world of consumer choice divorced from any moral grounding, family policy can seem hopelessly divisive. Some argue that “alternative family forms” are simply private lifestyle choices, comparable to our choices of curtains, cuisine, or music. The choice to have children inside or outside marriage is just another personal choice for each individual to make privately.

There is now a wealth of evidence showing that higher tax burdens have negative effects on economic growth.

Late in this year’s legislative session, early in a long interview at his state capitol office, state Rep. Ron Peterson (R-Tulsa) responded to this reporter’s jabs with a big grin: “I’m not the devil!”

This is the season of conservative discontent. As the party of Jefferson, now the liberal party, prepares to nominate a presidential candidate whose economic philosophy would be anathema to the sage of Monticello, the party of Lincoln, now the conservative party, is imploding with infighting, internal fatwas, and the politics of recriminations.