Dr. Rufolo is an Emeritus Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, where he specializes in State and Local Finance, Transportation, Urban Economics, and Regional Economic Development. He has a B.S. in Economics from M.I.T. and a Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA. Prior to joining the faculty at Portland State in 1980, he spent six years as an Economist and Senior Economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. In addition to research and teaching, he has been active in government budgeting and forecasting, and served on numerous councils and commissions. These include the Advisory Council to the Task Force on State and Local Revenue Restructuring, Oregon Department of Transportation’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Cost Allocation, the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors, the City of Beaverton Budget Committee, the Advisory Committee on the Budget for Tri-Met, and the Investment Advisory Committee for the city of Portland.
Many tax exemptions, exclusions, deductions, credits, or other preferential treatment are classified as “tax expenditures” by public finance specialists. The term was coined by a Treasury official in the 1960’s to bring attention to the close parallel between many tax preferences and direct expenditures by government. The difference is that tax preferences make the size [...]
