Policy Blog NH

Declining Prices: Good News for State Policy?

In a recession the demand for goods and services drops, putting downward pressure on prices.   One measure of how severe this recession has been is that the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) may actually decline in 2009.  The last time this measure of consumer inflation dropped was in 1956.  This sounds like good news to the average consumer, but there are important state policy questions raised by a declining CPI.  Many policy decisions (including state education funding) are linked to consumer price changes. 

The I-93 Project: An Incomplete Solution to Traffic

In 2008, the state of New Hampshire dished out over $600 million to expand and redesign 18 miles of the I-93 highway that stretches from Manchester to the Massachusetts border. With this addition of two lanes going either way, many expect the congestion problem that plagues the highway to disappear. There has even been talk of using one of the new lanes to accommodate only bus transit. Will the expansion of I-93 relieve traffic congestion problems? 

Economic Recession -> Lower CO2 emissions -> Lower RGGI funds.

New Hampshire will have fewer resources to reduce greenhouse gases.

The state had expected about $18 million per year would replenish the fund, coming from the quarterly auctions on emissions credits, the cost of which will ultimately be borne by electric ratepayers throughout the Northeast.  At current auction prices the state is likely to take in only $4 million per quarter, or about $16 million for this year.  The recession is lowering the demand for electric power, and as a result the demand for carbon emissions credits.

Positive out of a Negative: Business Vacancies in New Hampshire and Economic Recovery

Researchers and policy-makers must rely on a number of proxy sources to better understand the status of local and regional economies.  Monitoring vacant and abandoned properties is also one way of assessing how recovery might or might not occur in the next one to two years.  A high vacancy rate could be a positive sign for recovery, to the extent that a high vacancy rate means lower rental or lease prices.  Is that the case in New Hampshire?