U of I study looks at the pandemic and the economy

Posted on January 28, 2021
Ken Kriz, a professor of public administration, is also director of the Institute for Illinois Public Finance. (Twitter/U of IL Institute of Government & Public Affairs)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Unless you’re, say, in the restaurant business, things might be looking good for you financially in this stage of the pandemic.

The University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs is out with a new study that says the economic effects of coronavirus have not been as bad for Illinois tax revenues as you may guess.

“From an economic perspective,” says study author Ken Kriz, “if you look at it on aggregate, we have already recovered most of what we lost. We are back close to where we were before COVID. The latest credit card spending data shows that we are, like, one percent below where we were at this time last year – so, prior to COVID.

Kriz, a professor of public administration, is also director of the Institute for Illinois Public Finance.

Kriz says one factor tamping down revenue was the shift in last year’s tax deadline.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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