Budget & Tax
Brandon Dutcher | August 12, 2009
Frogs! Locusts! Rivers of blood!
Brandon Dutcher
A news story in yesterday's Tulsa World informed us that "Revenue shortfalls of near-catastrophic proportions forced state officials into across-the-board budget cuts Tuesday ..."
Straight news story. Presumably approved by, like, editors and stuff.
Suffice it to say that "near-catastrophic" is, shall we say, a value judgment. In a forthcoming analysis, OCPA economists Scott Moody and Wendy Warcholik will provide some much-needed context on government spending in Oklahoma. For now, here's their chart demonstrating that state and local government spending in the state has been growing at disturbing -- some might say near-catastrophic -- levels when compared with other benchmarks.
Brandon Dutcher
Senior Vice President
Brandon Dutcher is OCPA’s senior vice president. Originally an OCPA board member, he joined the staff in 1995. Dutcher received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Oklahoma. He received a master’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in public policy from Regent University. Dutcher is listed in the Heritage Foundation Guide to Public Policy Experts, and is editor of the book Oklahoma Policy Blueprint, which was praised by Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman as “thorough, well-informed, and highly sophisticated.” His award-winning articles have appeared in Investor’s Business Daily, WORLD magazine, Forbes.com, Mises.org, The Oklahoman, the Tulsa World, and 200 newspapers throughout Oklahoma and the U.S. He and his wife, Susie, have six children and live in Edmond.