by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff A month from now the Bureau of Economic Analysis releases 2018 consumer-spending data for the states. In two parts, this Report will give an update on the recent history of consumer spending and personal income in Wyoming, compared to other states. This the first part examines personal income. Main finding: Persistent...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff With reference to the recent job losses in Wyoming coal mines, this Report presents a review of employment trends in the private sector since 1990. Main findings: 1) Job growth today is low by historic comparison. 2) In terms of employment, our economy is more diversified now than it was three decades ago. News storie...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Government spending in Wyoming is under scrutiny, in part because of proposals to raise taxes as an alternative to spending cuts. This Report examines three spending areas with reference to government charges, calculating the net spending by those areas. Main finding: Because of the net balance between spending on the...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff It is sometimes suggested that Wyoming needs more government spending per capita because we are a rural state. As recently as on July 21, the Casper Star Tribune suggested as much: According to a 2018 analysis by USA Today, state and local government spending per capita in Wyoming is the second-highest in the nation, ...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff The last Weekly Economic Report explained that there had been no visible effect on government spending in Colorado since the introduction of TABOR. This Report looks at the revenue side of the budget. Main finding: The introduction of TABOR has had a limited but statistically visible effect on state revenue in line wi...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Some citizens who have corresponded the Revenue Committee in opposition to tax hikes have been asked for input on where the state can make budget cuts. This is a welcome question, one that legislators have asked before. Before I respond to this request, I would like to point out that there is not exactly a vacuum wher...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Whenever politicians write bills about taxes and government spending they do so based on a an idea of how government relates to the private sector. This idea is rarely spelled out, and most of the time the politicians themselves are not even aware of how it affects their work. More often than we might want to admit, l...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff We hear a lot about the gender pay gap in our state. This non-issue keeps coming back, as we noted back in February, despite the fact that it is mostly a matter of statistical mythology. Last year I debunked the Department of Workforce Studies report on the issue, explaining that the DWS appeared to have created the p...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff On May 10 Wyoming News Now reported: According to Verizon, Cheyenne has been voted one of the best places nationwide to start a new business. Ranking in at #6, it is the only state capital to break the top 10. Sounds good, doesn't it? We all want Cheyenne to be a good place to start a business – in fact, we all want W...

by Wyoming Liberty Group Staff Adjusted for inflation, the Wyoming economy was ten percent smaller in 2018 than it was in 2008, right when the Great Recession started. For every $100 of income, production and sales in our state in 2008, there is only $90 left now. Last year's minimal growth of 0.29 percent, which came on the heals of 0.48 percent i...