The Florida Legislature's aversion to taxes and spending could prolong the state's economic recovery, a University of Central Florida economist said Tuesday.
In an essay introducing his June economic forecast for the state, Sean Snaith, director of UCF's Institute for Economic Competitiveness, says the state could hurt itself by short-changing key services like education.
''Is government too big? Are taxes too high? By comparison to the other 49 states in the union, the objective answer is no,'' Snaith wrote. ``Every decision to cut or raise taxes should be a cost-benefit analysis and ask the question, `What do we gain/lose with the change in taxes?'
``If you do not weigh benefits against costs, it is very easy to pursue harmful policies, and starving our state's educational system is, in my mind, one example of doing just that.''
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