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- All Subjects: Arizona
- Creators: Rex, Tom R.
- Member of: Morrison Institute for Public Policy Publications Archives
For decades, Arizona was one of the national leaders in aggregate economic growth, as measured by the percent change in measures such as gross product and employment. However, its growth rate always has been highly cyclical. During expansionary periods, Arizona always has been among the top states on the rate of growth. During recessions, the Arizona economy generally slumped at a rate similar to the national average, but would experience a rapid recovery. This pattern continued through the economic expansion of the mid-2000s.
Per capita earnings in Arizona has been lower than the national average for decades. The 2011 differential of 19 percent is the largest on record; the typical differential has been between 10 and 15 percent. Thus, for residents who have spent some or all of their working life in the state, the state’s historically low per capita earnings help to explain the state’s below-average per capita property income.
The transaction privilege tax (TPT), often referred to as the sales tax, is a major source of revenue for state and local governments in Arizona. The TPT is applied to numerous categories, such as contracting and utilities. The analysis in this paper is limited to the retail category, which accounts for half of the TPT collected by state government, and the restaurant and bar category, which contributes one-tenth of the TPT revenue.
This follow-up to the 2001 landmark report, "Five Shoes Waiting to Drop on Arizona's Future," focuses on the projected future of the state if Arizona fails to address its Latino educational attainment gap. The publication is more of an economic impact statement than an education report, with indicators pointing out consequences and contributions, depending on action or inaction in closing the gap of Arizona's future workforce.
Keying off of the “Fiscal Framework for Arizona” panel discussion at Morrison Institute for Public Policy’s recent State of Our State conference, here is an analysis of Arizona’s economic performance since the beginning of the last recession compared to previous economic cycles nationally, primarily based on earnings and employment.
Despite all of the spending reductions, fund transfers, and other techniques used to balance the budget in the preceding few years, Arizona’s general fund faces a massive deficit. This issue of Policy Points poses an important question: Are you content with the historically low expenditures being made from the general fund and satisfied that the current low level of public services will be permanent?
Sampling error is very large for most Arizona counties in the American Community Survey. Read a nontechnical discussion of the accuracy of the ACS.
Sampling error is very large for most Arizona counties in the American Community Survey. Read a nontechnical discussion of the accuracy of the ACS.
Innovation—introducing something new—in the 21st century mostly derives from technological advances. Innovation drives the modern economy, leading to gains in productivity and prosperity. In this edition of Indicator Insight, author Tom Rex discusses innovation in Arizona in terms of human capital, financial capital, and high-technology employment.
The decennial census count for Arizona of 6,392,017 on April 1, 2010 is considerably less than the latest population estimates, which are for July 1, 2009. In this edition of Indicator Insight, author Tom Rex examines the possible reasons for the large census count discrepancy and its implications for Arizona.