Center for Economic & Fiscal Policy

The Center's mission is critically important to Delaware because state policies continue to be an unfortunate catalyst for the clear decline of Delaware’s economy for far too long. For instance…

Over the past 20 years, Delaware’s per capita income has gone from the highest in the nation to below the national average.

According to the Delaware Department of Labor, employment is projected to grow at only 0.5% over the next decade, thereby trailing most of the nation.

Since 2009, Delaware has had five recessions compared to one in the rest of the country.

Including the variable Gross Receipts Tax, small business owners in Delaware often pay the highest personal income tax rates in America.

In partnership with other like-minded Delaware organizations, the primary goals of this Center are to develop bi-partisan strategies and alternative policy options that will bring transparency, regulatory reform, and improved effectiveness to the tens of billions of dollars spent by the State every year.

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Delaware's $7.5 billion "Shadow Budget" Dominates Total Spending in the First State | 4/14/2021

Delaware will spend around $12.5 billion over the next year despite a widely-reported "General Fund Budget" of around $5 billion. The $7.5 billion "Shadow Budget" is 1.5X larger than the "General Fund" and has almost no legislative oversight or citizen input. The Gene...

House Bill 91 - Expanded Powers for AG is "Offensive to Public Policy" | 3/2/2021

(House Bill 91 would add the words “unfair practice,” loosely defined as “offensive to public policy,” to the state’s existing Consumer Fraud Act. This unnecessary change greatly expands the Attorney General's pow...

Will Governor Carney's 2021 Budget finally bring an end to Delaware's failing economy? | 1/21/2021

A growing economy matters for myriad reasons and, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, Delaware's GDP has not grown for a decade. During this same period, Delaware's worker productivity has seen a 6% decline. Thanks to better public schools, lower personal and busi...

Don't wager on Delaware's Economy | 11/23/2020

Don't wager on Delaware's economy By Dr. John Stapleford Center for Economic Policy and Analysis The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles data on employment, wages, and establishments by industry for each state. The wage data for Delaware tells a d...

Delaware Piles on the Regulations | 11/23/2020

Delaware Piles on the Regulations By Dr. John Stapleford Center for Economic Policy and Analysis ...

Alternative high frequency data | 9/30/2020

Economic data for states and metropolitan areas are released by the Federal government with a lag of one month to two quarters. So, business economists are always hunting for more high frequency, reliable cutting edge indicators. Below are three sou...