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Connecticut hires international marketing help
Connecticut economic development officials will pay nearly $300,000 over the next year to promote Connecticut abroad with a particular focus on four foreign countries: Brazil, China, Germany and Israel. The Department of Economic and Community Development hired the...
Connecticut Welfare Benefits Equal the Salary of An Entry Level Teacher
Common sense seems to indicate that, given equal pay for working and not working, an individual will tend to choose the latter. Of course, who is going to pay someone to do nothing? A recent Hartford Courant Op-Ed by Michael Tanner provides an answer to this question:...
Malloy’s no-layoff agreement shrinks savings at UConn
The University of Connecticut is missing out on millions in savings because of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s agreement to forego layoffs during his first term in office. A recent study by prominent consulting firm McKinsey & Co. said the university could save at...
Retirement benefits cost Conn. more than half of payroll
The cost of providing retirement benefits to state employees will rise to more than half the cost of salary and wages this year, according to estimates by Comptroller Kevin Lembo. The cost of these benefits, including pensions and health insurance for life, rose about...
The meaning of Connecticut’s low business taxes
An annual study out last week showed Connecticut businesses pay low taxes. True. As it was last year. If Connecticut only taxed businesses – and not people – it would have one of the lowest tax burdens in the country. However, Connecticut taxes everything people buy,...
A Full-Time Legislature Would Mean Full-Time Trouble for Connecticut
By most accounts, this past session of Connecticut’s General Assembly was an abysmal, opaque legislative failure. Bills were rushed through the Chamber, public input and government transparency were trampled or ignored, and convoluted legislation has raised questions...
Larson: Affordable Care Act key to economic recovery
U.S. Rep. John Larson said Tuesday that the Affordable Care Act is the “law of the land,” and holds the key to both lowering national debt and economic recovery. The Democratic congressman said the solution to safe and secure health care lies “right within our...
McDonald’s Billboard Points to the Cold Truth About Living in Connecticut
Of the thousands of billboard advertisements in Connecticut, those placed along I-84 in Hartford must be some of the most viewed. The reason is not simply the number of commuters who travel that highway on a daily basis, but also the fact that those commuters are very...
Legislator makes six figures at state-funded nonprofit
A Connecticut legislator works for a nonprofit organization that is largely funded by the state, receiving more than $540,000 in the last three years. Rep. Terry Backer, D-Stratford, runs Long Island Soundkeeper, an organization he helped start two decades ago. The...
Connecticut’s Business Plan Doesn’t Stack Up
Recently I had the privilege of traveling to the great state of Utah to attend a conference hosted by the Koch Institute and the Liberty Fund. The topic was liberty and spontaneous order in society, an examination of what it takes for economies and societies to...