Category Archives: Maine Economy

Amazon Wades In to Maine Politics – Mobilized Blogger Army to Follow?

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Emily Shaw

What happens when the 800 lb gorilla of online retailing doesn’t like your state law? In response to Maine’s implementation of a requirement that online sellers collect Maine sales tax, Amazon is shutting down its Maine Associates program. The Associate program … Continue reading →

Posted in Maine Economy, National Economy | Leave a comment

Two Maines

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Emily Shaw

Thanks to the Maine.gov feed of Maine-specific BLS unemployment data, it was easy to construct a chart of unemployment figures over time. It can be hard to see this as clearly with all sixteen counties, so I’m just showing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Maine Economy, Municipal Finance, Two Maines | Leave a comment

Real costs to towns

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Emily Shaw

I’m so glad that Mike Shepard and Matt Byrne at the Sentinel/Press Herald are doing good work on exploring the budget. This is a more complex issue than a lot of the “yes/no” questions that voters get asked to consider, … Continue reading →

Posted in Maine Economy, Municipal Finance | Leave a comment

Who Pays?

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Emily Shaw

Hooray! We have a budget. There are new, temporary taxes in place to replace some of the gap created by the 2011 income tax revenue reductions. As I mentioned earlier, this is an excellent natural experiment to determine whether this … Continue reading →

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About those Accommodations and Meals Taxes

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Emily Shaw

Apparently, our eloquent governor is going to veto our budget and send our state into a shutdown because he swore no new taxes, dammit. But where will those taxes be coming from? Here, courtesy of the US Census American FactFinder, … Continue reading →

Posted in Maine Economy, Maine Legislature, Municipal Finance, Two Maines, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Unwell

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Emily Shaw

I’m disappointed. I’d hoped that the many, many reasons to accept the free federal money to cover Maine citizens would add up to legislators’ passing LD 1066. I also failed to look carefully at the original House vote and hadn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Governor LePage, Health Care, Maine Economy, Maine Legislature, Veto | Leave a comment

The Governor’s Proposal

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Emily Shaw

As we await Gov. LePage’s promised veto of the state budget, it’s useful to revisit what it was that the governor himself proposed. For although the governor claims that he opposes new taxes, there is no way that the impact … Continue reading →

Posted in Governor LePage, Maine Economy, Maine Legislature, Municipal Finance | 1 Comment

Good Times, Bad Times

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Emily Shaw

Presently stewing over an articulation of some thoughts about local sales tax, but nothing complete yet. Meanwhile, here are two takes on my post title. That’s the percentage of households earning over $200,000 annually as against the percent of unemployed … Continue reading →

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A natural experiment

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Emily Shaw

Watching policy-making in the shadow of Paul LePage can be like trying to figure out which neutral shade you want to paint your living room when someone has replaced your regular lightbulb with a disco strobe and a smoke machine … Continue reading →

Posted in Maine Economy, Maine Legislature | 1 Comment