February 7, 2011. An op ed by James Parrott, New York Times. Part of “Room for Debate” – Will City Pensions Be Cut?

February 1, 2011. The budget proposed today by the Governor places relies excessively on spending cuts, which increase unemployment and intensify hardships for those bearing the brunt of the recession. Meanwhile, a privileged group has profited tremendously from New York’s economic growth over the past two decades, and from Wall Street’s recent resurgence; the richest one percent of New Yorkers now receive 35 percent of all income in the state, while they pay a lower state and local tax burden… (read more)

January 22, 2011. Newsday’s Michael Amon blogs about some telling comments from Frank Mauro with respect to one estimate of the growth in state spending. Spin Cycle: Fiscal analyst calls NY deficit exaggerated.

January 19, 2011. An op ed by James Parrott, The Indypendent.

January 14, 2011. An op ed by James Parrott, The Chief-Leader.

January 3, 2011. An op ed by James Parrott, The Clarion. A balanced approach to balancing the state budget includes identifying additional revenues – not just cutting critical services – particularly at a time when need has been elevated by the lingering recession. Government spending is inextricably tied to prospects for economic recovery. Steep cuts will worsen unemployment.

December 20, 2010. In the wake of the historic agreement between the President and the Republican Congressional leadership to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest, the New York City Council’s Progressive Caucus has developed an interesting proposal. The proposal calls for the state of New York to impose a temporary income tax surcharge to recapture for New York the “windfall” high income New York filers will be receiving. Related: an op-ed by Brad Lander, co-chair… (read more)

December 7, 2010. Over $8 billion a year goes to “back door” spending in the name of job creation. This new report from FPI identifies $5.4 billion a year in state government “back door” spending in the name of economic development and job creation. An additional $2.8 billion a year is being drained from New York’s local government budgets because of a variety of tax expenditures in state law. In these tough budget times, these billions of dollars in… (read more)

December 6, 2010. Testimony presented by James Parrott before the New York City Council Committee on Finance.

October 8, 2010. FPI presented its Frances Perkins Working People’s award to Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz at an event in Manhattan on October 7. In his acceptance remarks, Stiglitz made a strong case for additional economic stimulus to put the country firmly on the road to recovery. A good summary of Stiglitz’s remarks by Kathy Brady of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition is available in the October 8 edition of NYCETC’s newsletter, the NYC Workforce Weekly. (read more)