Index of State Economic Momentum

Timing is everything. The personal income data in this update show improvement, while the employment data show stagnation. Why? Because the former capture activity prior to the federal government shutdown in October and the latter capture activity in its wake. 

Is Universal Preschool a Good Deal for States?

In the last few years there has been increased attention to early childhood education policies. At the federal level, one proposal would provide matching grants to states for universal preschool programs, but that money would come with a number of financial and regulatory requirements. Moreover, the broad range of existing state early childhood education programs would make the federal proposal more beneficial and easier to implement for some states than others.