“The RI Cheat Sheet”—Start Your Monday with the Latest Numbers, Data, and Factoids - March 25, 2019
GoLocalProv Business Team
“The RI Cheat Sheet”—Start Your Monday with the Latest Numbers, Data, and Factoids - March 25, 2019
The weekly feature focuses on important and interesting numbers, data, and high-value factoids that impact Rhode Island and the economy.
1) Taxes — Everyone wants to tax the rich (a certain way)
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTElizabeth Warren may not be leading in the polls of Democratic presidential primary, but she has proposed an idea that people seem to like.
Warren has proposed a wealth tax of two percent on those holding more than $50 million in wealth and three percent for those holding more than $1 billion.
Who likes the Warren plan — Democrats and Independents overwhelmingly and 50 percent of Republicans support the structure and remaining Republican are either undecided or don't know enough or opposed.
Warren says, "That includes an Ultra-Millionaire Tax on America’s 75,000 richest families to produce trillions that can be used to build an economy that works for everyone, including universal childcare, student loan debt relief, and down payments on a Green New Deal and Medicare for All. And we can make a historic investment in housing that would bring down rents by 10% across America and create 1.5 million new jobs."
Does Rhode Island get its fair share of federal funds? Or, are too many Rhode Islanders on the dole?
Overall, Rhode Island ranks that 30th in the country in receiving federal funding per capita. Rhode Island ranks especially poorly for receiving federal contract dollars -- 47th in the country.
"One big point of difference among state economies is the tax burden of the average citizen. This number varies greatly. But what are the reasons behind why some states tax their residents more or less? If a state can afford not to tax its residents at high rates, there are multiple explanations. One is that their economic policies are sound and the state economy is doing well. But another is that the state gets disproportionately more funding from the federal government than states with harsher tax codes," says WalletHub in its recent study.
Americans have looked at federal assistance programs with growing scrutiny. According to a 2018 Rasmussen report, 61% of American adults think there are too many people receiving government financial aid. On the other hand, only 9% think not enough people are receiving funds. Regardless of overall trends, though, it is true that some states receive a far higher return on their federal income-tax contributions than others.
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Kara Swisher, editor at large for the technology news website Recode's column in the New York Times, wrote this weekend that it is over for the automobile.
"I don’t say that because I am particularly old or sick, but because I am at the front end of one of the next major secular trends in tech. Owning a car will soon be like owning a horse — a quaint hobby, an interesting rarity and a cool thing to take out for a spin on the weekend."
Auto sales in the U.S. had four record or near-record years but now the tide has changed.
Sales are declining and Lyft and Uber are about to go IPO.
Analysts say that auto sales may never again reach those heights.
"Worldwide, residents are migrating to megacities—expected to be home to two-thirds of the global population by midcentury—where an automobile can be an expensive inconvenience. Young people continue to turn away from cars, with only 26 percent of U.S. 16-year-olds earning a driver’s license in 2017, a rite of passage that almost half that cohort would have obtained just 36 years ago, according to Sivak Applied," according to a report in Bloomberg.
In Rhode Island, RI Department of Transporation is now testing an autonomous vehicle, and across Providence, you can see scooters from companies like Bird being ridden across the city.