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Utah Thrives Podcast | Interview with Becky Edwards

Written by: Staff

The Utah Foundation has invited each of the Republican primary candidates for Utah’s 2nd congressional district special election to speak with Thomas Young. In these interviews, Thomas asks six questions relating to how these candidates would address the issues most important to Utah voters. For instance, what could Congress do about housing prices? And what about healthcare costs and accessibility? In this edition of Utah Thrives, Thomas Young speaks with Becky Edwards who served as … Continued

Utah Thrives Podcast | Utah Voter Priorities

Written by: Staff

In this edition of Utah Thrives, Thomas Young interviews Utah Foundation President Shawn Teigen about the results of the 2020 Priorities Project. They discuss past priorities and theorize about how voters’ priorities might change in the upcoming 2024 election season.

Op-ed: Ways we can make Utah safer for bicycles

Written by: Shawn Teigen

Bikes are the best. They are good for our physical and mental health, as well as for economic, environmental and practical reasons. OK, not everyone feels that way. Many drivers would prefer not to share the road with bicycles, or pedestrians, for that matter. Further, many who would like to bicycle are reluctant for one reason or another. A top reason for this reluctance is danger. That makes sense, particularly given a recent spike in … Continued

The Revenue Report: Utah’s Consensus Projections Approach

Written by: Christopher Collard

Utah estimates the state’s future tax revenues using a consensus approach. It is undertaken by the Utah’s Revenue Assumptions Working Group – a collection of economists and experts from the Governor’s and Legislature’s staff, the State Tax Commission, and state academic institutions and departments.1 This approach is not the way all states estimate revenue. In other states, such as New Jersey, the Governor’s staff creates one revenue estimate and the legislature’s staff creates a differing … Continued

Op-ed: Is our inflation too high? The math, explained

Written by: Shawn Teigen

Seeing inflation at nearly 5% for April was not great. But had it been 2%, that could have been even worse for some Utahns. It is all about the math. Speaking of math, if you dine out, you have probably felt the increase in restaurant prices. This is in part because overall food prices are up by 20% since the pandemic began. I have certainly felt it. My family went out for a congratulatory lunch … Continued

Significant Statistics | Utahns’ “Misery” Increases, but is Still Below the Nation

Written by: Staff

While our Misery Index report of last December offered estimates for 2022 that were not encouraging due to ongoing inflation and rising interest rates, it seems that final data has confirmed Utah’s resilience.* Preliminary estimates suggested that Utah’s Index would approach that of the country as a whole in 2022. Instead, Utah’s Index has remained two points below the U.S. average due to relatively low levels of unemployment and a relatively high GDP provided by … Continued

Significant Statistics | Utah College Enrollment Trails Nation Due to Gender Differences

Written by: Shawn Teigen

Utah is just behind the U.S. for the proportion of young people in college. Utahns ages 18 to 24 are just over one percent less likely to be enrolled. Further, enrollment seems to be decreasing. Why? There may be a lot of explanations, including a robust economy and a feeling that the costs of college may not ultimately be worth the rewards. While enrollment levels look similar between Utah and the U.S., when examining the … Continued

Op-ed: Utah in good position to weather the next recession

Written by: Shawn Teigen

Let’s talk recessions. Very generally, recessions are periods of economic decline. Americans saw a decline in gross domestic product during the first half of 2022, but that turned around by the second half of the year. Nonetheless, many people are still talking about a recession. This is due in part to the efforts of the Federal Reserve to slow – or even reverse – growth to rein in still-elevated inflation figures. Further, some suggest that … Continued

Significant Statistics | The Price of Prosperity – Rents and Construction

Written by: Staff

Growth and prosperity are likely to be serious issues facing Utahns over the coming decade. We can see this in the drivers of recent rent increases along the Wasatch Front. Further, there is a good chance that current financial market conditions will sharply push up rents again in the future. Rents on the Increase Rapid rent increases are neither entirely recent nor purely COVID-related – as illustrated by the rent increases seen between 2010 and … Continued

The Revenue Report: Utah’s Projections Process

Written by: Christopher Collard

The Utah Constitution requires that the state balance its budget.1 That is as simple as aligning revenues with the annual budget expenses. Both the Governor and Utah State Legislature produce budgets. The Governor releases budget recommendations in November for the Legislature to consider. The Legislature produces the state’s final budget in late February or early March. But how do they know what Utah’s revenues will look like over the next year in order to ensure … Continued