Platte Institute for Economic Research

Nebraska's taxpayers and students received an interesting look into how their tax and tuition dollars are being spent as the Chronicle of Higher Education released its 2012 survey of compensation packages of public university presidents. The report shows University of Nebraska President James Milliken ranked 33^rd, with total annual compensation of $651,908. Annual compensation calculations include base pay, bonus pay, deferred pay, deferred compensation, retirement benefits and severance pay.[1] Milliken ranked 100^th in the Chronicle's 2011 survey.[2] More>

A legislative floor debate took an interesting turn last week as a discussion over teacher pension plans turned into a debate on charter schools and educational choice. While debating LB553, Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh noted there are more options for improving schools beyond simply increasing funding, singling out charter schools as an idea whose time has come. More>

Internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales have grown from 2 percent in 2000 to 16.1 percent today, with a value of $4.1 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  This massive revenue source has caught the attention of governments looking to meet budgets because many of these transactions are not subject to state and local sales taxes. More>