Joseph Coletti

Senior Fellow
Joe Coletti is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation focused on fiscal policy issues. He previously headed the North Carolina Government Efficiency and Reform initiative within the Office of State Budget and Management, which led to changes automotive fleet management, natural and cultural resources, and state contracting. He has spent his career improving operations and strategies at for-profit, nonprofit, and government entities. He has degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Posts by Joseph Coletti (page 1)

  • Alberto Alesina, in memory

    Surprisingly, for as much as Alberto Alesina’s work has meant to my own understanding of markets and governments, a Google search indicates I’ve only mentioned him by name once before. Amity Shlaes has a wonderful tribute to Alesina, who passed away this weekend, as a person and an…
    Joseph Coletti, May 26, 2020

  • North Carolina needs flexibility, not more federal money

    North Carolina’s budget bill to begin distributing money from the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. How they went about allocating the money and what they did with it provides plenty of evidence on the value of flexibility, which 29 state think tanks have requested from Congress. The General Assembly…
    Joseph Coletti, May 13, 2020

  • Richer people really do give more

    A new working paper finds that people with more income and more wealth really do give more money away. A summary of the paper in the Economist notes The researchers found that wealthier people donate less to causes affiliated with religion and more to arts and educational ones. The…
    Joseph Coletti, May 11, 2020
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  • How N.C. DOT spent $742 million more than its budget

    Poor cash management resulted in massive overspending, which left the agency in dire financial straits in 2019. These challenges are again critical as the legislature plans to use $300 million in CARES Act funds to offset the collapse in gas tax revenues. State Auditor Beth Wood’s report on…
    Joseph Coletti, May 5, 2020
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  • General Assembly pegs first $1.6 billion of $3.5 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund

    The General Assembly was in session Wednesday through Saturday to begin appropriating money from the CARES Act. They’ll be back May 18 to possibly distribute more of the $3.5 billion slated for state government from the Coronavirus Relief Fund. Another $500 million will go directly to Wake County, Mecklenburg County and…
    Joseph Coletti, May 4, 2020

  • Quick comparison of Conference Report with House and Senate

    House and Senate negotiators ended up with a bill that appropriates $1.6 billion of the $3.5 billion the state will receive from the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. The attached spreadsheet provides a side-by-side comparison of the conference bill with previous versions and the John Locke Foundation’s “reverse logrolling” tool,…
    Joseph Coletti, May 2, 2020

  • Federal Coronavirus Relief: spend less now to have some available later

    Money from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund CARES Act is best held in reserve until we have a clear understanding of how much tax revenue falls, what needs are still left unaddressed by other sources of federal funds, how Gov. Cooper will cut unessential spending, and the flexibility North Carolina…
    Joseph Coletti, April 29, 2020
    COVID-19 superimposed onto cut outs of yellow paper over a pile of money

  • Irresponsible Pandemic Budgeting

    I hoped, when Gov. Cooper declared a public health emergency March 14, that he was also planning ways to reduce spending to offset some of the lost sales and income tax revenue. I kept hoping as scores of progressive groups called for higher taxes and the depletion of the state’s…
    Joseph Coletti, April 27, 2020
    Shovel with money