Today, the Show-Me Institute launched a new online tool that enables users to research economic aggregates, fiscal policy measures, and demographics across states and time. It’s called IDEAS: Interactive Database for Economic Analysis and Synthesis, and it incorporates the work of Laffer Associates.

Using the web tool, users can create their own charts and tables, and have access to a large comprehensive dataset. The data, formatted in a user-friendly way, includes:

• Individual state tax burden profiles
• A tool that allows the comparison of specific tax rates on items ranging from property to income to the glass of wine you may buy after hours.
• A 50-state ranking tool that allows you to customize your comparison, based on the category being taxed or year (starting from 1977). In other words, compare taxes based on location, type, or time.

I encourage our readers to play with the site, and I hope that they find this information as valuable as I do.