Was Missouri Always Like This? A Comparison of Missouri’s Growth with that of the United States

Business Climate |
By Joseph Haslag and Michael Austin | Read Time 1 min

The year 1997 marks a grim turning point for Missouri. In the 10 years before 1997, Missouri’s economic growth had kept pace with that of the nation as a whole. Since 1997, Missouri has been one of the slowest-growing states in the nation. What happened–and why? This essay explores those questions, analyzing the decline in Missouri’s fortunes by looking specifically at taxation and state spending for clues. To read more, click on the link.

About the Author

Joseph Haslag is a professor and the Kenneth Lay Chair in economics at the University of Missouri Columbia. Until the end of 2018, Professor Haslag was the Institute's chief economist. An expert in monetary policy, Haslag has done research at the Federal Reserve Banks of Saint Louis, Dallas, and Atlanta. He serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas Citys Economic Roundtable and the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis Business Economic Regional Group. He has taught at Southern Methodist University, Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and Michigan State University. Haslag has published his research in the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, and the International Economic Review. His research has been cited in more than 100 academic papers. In his role as director of EPARC, Haslag is a standing member of the Consensus Revenue Forecasting Group that forecasts state revenues for state legislators and the governor.

About the Author

Michael Austin was a Policy Analyst at the Show-Me Institute specializing in state and local budgets, taxes, and economic growth. Michael graduated with a BBA in business management and economics from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, and he holds an MA with honors in economics from the University of Kansas.  Before joining the Show-Me Institute, Michael served concurrently as a financial economist at the Kansas Department of Revenue and as an economic adviser to the Governor of the State of Kansas, Sam Brownback. Michael's key research contributions include Kansas unemployment insurance reform, state tax policy reform and maintenance, occupational license reform, and other aspects of state economic policy.  

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