H/T BallotPedia.org
Robert Wenzel over at EconomicPolicyJournal.com posted two impressive charts which defy the reality of economics and shows the coming student loan debt bubble will be a hard crash when it happens. Biggest reason student debt is skyrocketing is because most student loans are financed by the federal government. Unfortunately the only ideas being floated is more government intervention.
First chart is the mega growth of student loans compared to other loans in the economy
Another chart he posted shows that only 29% of people paying off student debts and the principle is going down.
Story concerning a property tax case that could affect the whole state businesses property taxes slipped through without much notice. An Indianapolis Meijer’s store filed suit against Marion County Indiana over how it’s store was assessed for property taxes. Counties could stand to lose financially if the ruling stands.
Here is more from mLIVE.com –
The Indiana Board of Tax Review ruled last month that the Michigan-based retailer’s store in Indianapolis should have been assessed in 2012 at the equivalent of $30 per square foot, instead of nearly three times the rate as Meijer was charged.
The decision could leave Marion County on the hook for a $2.4 million refund to Meijer and could set the stage for other retailers to make similar challenges to their tax assessments.
The value of retail real estate is based on the current condition of the business, but the case raises questions about what effect, if any, the sales that occur there should have on the value. Big-box chains are pushing to have their buildings compared to others that have been vacated and sold, an approach known as the “dark store theory.”
If the tax board’s ruling stands, Meijer will save more than $400,000 a year on its tax bill.
Back in March TheBlaze.com reported two Senators asked the Social Security Administation how many social security numbers were issued to illegal immigrants under Barack Obama’s 2012 executive amensty plan. It was believed to be around 90,000.
The Social Security administation answered with a shocking number and here is what TheBlaze.com reported:
“By the end of fiscal year 2014, we had issued approximately 541,000 original SSNs to individuals authorized to work under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy since its inception,” she wrote.
The economic ramifications of adding these people to America’s government welfare benefits programs will be staggering and escalate the cost down the road for taxpayers. Here is one example:
Washington Times and Stephen Moore put together a piece showing migration out of high tax states and migration into low tax states.
The least “regressive” tax states had average population growth from 2003 to 2013 that lagged below the national trend. The 10 most highly “regressive” tax states, including nine with no state income tax, had population growth on average 4 percent above the U.S. average. Why was that? Because states without income taxes have twice the job growth of states with high tax rates. Unlike the experts at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, most Americans think that fairness means having a job.
Read the rest here.
With a so called “booming” stock market states pension systems are still getting worse. Decades of shady accounting practices and too many promises have made pensions almost broke.
In Pennsylvania there is talk of pension reform after one startling find recently. Here is more from IndianaGazette.com:
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale warned Friday that the growing collective municipal pension debt in the commonwealth, if allowed to worsen, will become a problem for every Pennsylvanian.
“We found 46 percent of the municipal pension plans in Pennsylvania … are in some level of distress,” DePasquale said. “Certainly the bigger dollar amounts are in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. … Scranton is very bad.”
Researchers at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation did a study on lost productivity in America due to our tax code. Washington Times published an article on it entitled “U.S. economy out $233.8 billion due to ‘lost productivity’ as Americans wrestle with taxes: Study”
An interesting number was in the study concerning the amount of pages Obamacare takes up on the IRS website:
the researchers also found a “staggering” 3,322 pages of legal guidance for the Affordable Care Act at the IRS website. The content includes regulations, Treasury decisions, assorted notices, revenue procedures, and revenue rulings.
As far as the study of our tax code, here are some sad numbers:
The study also notes that the estimated length of the Tax Code itself is about 4 million words. The study grimly recalls that the Form 1040 instructions were once just two pages long. “Today, taxpayers must wade through 209 pages of instructions, quadruple the number in 1985, the year before taxes were simplified,” it states.
Via Steve Hanke, Cato Institute –
Venezuela has the dubious honor of registering the world’s highest inflation rate. According to my estimate, the annual implied inflation rate in Venezuela is 252%.
The only other country in which this rate is in triple digits is Ukraine, where the inflation rate is 111%. The only encouraging thing to say about Ukraine’s shocking figure is that it’s an improvement over my February 24th estimate of 272%
Lauren Cooley over at TurningPointUSA.net found a celebration on social media of people using food stamps i.e. EBT cards. Take a look at the story here. I’m only posting 4 photos but she posted a lot more for the public to see.
Angie’s List Inc.recently announced they put their Indianapolis project on hold due to the new RFRA law signed by Indiana Governor Mike Pence. This company has been bleeding money for quite some time and just went to the state begging for $18.5 million in public assistance. Here is snapshot I took this morning of how bad the stock has dropped in one year:
Overall Angie’s List announcement on this matter is more desperation than practical. Crony capitalist companies like Angie’s List use tactics like this to hedge their bets in order to get more money out lawmakers then standing up for some social issue.
Hoosier Econ 