A WalletHub study found low-income Illinoisans pay 14% of their annual salary to sales, property and incomes taxes – more than anywhere else in the nation. The state’s middle- and high-income earners weren’t much better off.
This episode of The Policy Shop is by Director of Policy Research Joseph Tabor. During the social turmoil of the 1960s, a happy, dancing pop group emerged to emphasize unity and harmony: Up With People. “If more people were for people, All people ev’rywhere, There’d be a lot less people to worry about, And a...
Illinois will celebrate this Valentine’s Day knowing it broke up with 364,443 people since 2020. While they moved out for now, lower taxes could win them back.
2023 data on Illinois’ labor market gives cause for both concern and hope as state emerges from pandemic job losses.
Editor’s note: There is a lot of information coming at you every day, but not a lot of context. The Illinois Policy Institute is launching "Our Perspective" to give you our take on topics of the day so you can better shape your take on them.
Illinois ranked 40th overall and the worst in the Midwest for social mobility, a new report found.
“Alcohol licensing was easy at the federal level. I am an importer and wholesale distributor, but then you have to get it at the state level because prohibition and bootlegging made it a state-by-state decision on how to sell alcohol.”
Chicago’s tight rental market is raising rents and eating larger chunks of residents’ income. But the city can fix that by following Minneapolis’ lead.
Seven of 13 Illinois metro areas added jobs from November to December 2023, led by the St. Louis area. Five metros still reported fewer jobs than prior to the pandemic.
Illinois’ unemployment rate tied for third-worst in the U.S. in December 2023, despite job gains across most industries since last year. Illinois continues to lag the nation and nearly all its neighbors in job growth.
“The vision and faith kept me going throughout this journey. I had a very clear vision of the functionality of GoGoVie and I had the faith to see it through.”
This edition of The Policy Shop is by Director of Fiscal and Economic Research Bryce Hill. Illinois leaders question whether Illinois was a loser in 2020, but it certainly is a loser now. Population deniers in Springfield, cheered on by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, claimed from the start Illinois did not lose population in the decade...
Illinois’ base population total is larger than previously predicted after the U.S. Census discovered it had missed people in group quarters. But the change shouldn’t lull politicians into thinking taxes and other policies didn’t drive 364,443 people away.
“I wanted to go into a space I was interested in, and with my retail experience, I wanted to make a product that would be perfect for fathers, a symbol to celebrate fathers and father figures. I like backpacks, so I got together with my team and we started researching.” “After looking at countless backpacks,...