Edmund J. McMahon is director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a project of the Manhattan Institute. He also is senior fellow for Tax and Budgetary Studies at the Institute's Center for Civic Innovation.

McMahon focuses on state, city and local issues, recommending policy changes and reforms to increase economic growth. His recent work has included studies focused on public pension reform, competitive contracting of public services, and the fiscal record of the Pataki administration. His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron's, the Public Interest, the New York Post, the New York Daily News, Newsday and the New York Sun, among other publications.

McMahon's professional background includes more than 25 years as an Albany-based policy analyst and close observer of New York State government, working in both the private and public sectors.

He has served as Deputy Commissioner for Tax Policy Analysis and Counselor to the Commissioner in the state Department of Taxation and Finance; Director of Minority Staff for the state Assembly Ways and Means Committee; Vice Chancellor for External Relations at the State University of New York; and Director of Research for the Public Policy Institute, research arm of The Business Council of New York State. Earlier in his career, he was a staff writer and columnist for newspapers including the Albany Times Union and The Knickerbocker News. McMahon is a graduate of Villanova University.

New York Fiscal Watch Memos

Select Media

• Fox Business with Stuart Varney, Fox Business Network, 6-8-09
• John Gambling Show, WOR, 5-21-09
• Capital News Today, 5-14-09
• Live From the State Capital with Fred Dicker, Talk 1300, 5-6-09
• Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN, 4-2-09
• CUNY Forum, CUNY TV, 4-1-09

Articles/Op-Eds

• Freeze Wages Now, New York Post, 11-02-09
• California, Here We Come, New York Post, 09-28-09
• The High-Tax Trap, New York Post, 08-03-09
• N.Y. Labor Unions Are Biting The Hand That Fattens Them, New York Daily News, 07-23-09
• Sledgehammer Hit To Crumbling Empire State, New York Post, 07-16-09
• To Fix Pension Peril, New York Post, 07-13-09
• Defuse The Pension Bomb, New York Post, 07-09-09
• Gov. Paterson Turned His Back on Property Tax Cap, Newsday, 06-04-09
• NY's Pension Peril, New York Post, 06-01-09
• Leaving Homeowners In The Lurch, New York Post, 05-15-09
• How New York Stokes Dependency, New York Post, 04-30-09
• New York's Budget Targets the Golden Eggs, Wall Street Journal, 04-03-09
• Dave's Layoff Delay, New York Post, 03-27-09
• Spendaholics, New York Post, 03-12-09
• NY Without Wall Street, New York Post, 02-11-09
• "Millionaire Tax" is a Bad Idea, The Post-Journal, 02-10-09
• Soaking rich would hurt NY, Times Union, 02-09-09
• The concept of 'shared sacrifice' eludes local school districts, The Journal News, 01-30-09
• A Sock In the Face: 'Stimulus' Slaps NY Taxpayers, New York Post, 01-27-09
• Dems have a taxing plan: The millionaire myth will keep N.Y. in the poorhouse, New York Daily News, 01-23-09
• MTA's Fatal Dodge, New York Post, 01-11-09
• A Just Plain Terrible Tax Proposal, New York Post, 12-05-08
• Gov's Brave Talk, New York Post, 11-13-08
• Income-Tax Idiocy, New York Post, 10-20-08
• Gold-Plated Pensions, New York Post, 10-08-08
• Cross Country: New York Bet Its Budget on Wall Street, Wall Street Journal, 10-04-08
• If You're Voting With Your Pocketbook, Proceed With Caution, New York Daily News, 09-16-08
• Running On Empty, New York Post, 09-16-08
• Teachers Go Nuclear, New York Post, 08-15-08
• It's the Spending, New York Post, 07-31-08
• Rocky's Wreckage, New York Post, 07-08-08
• Cap Those Taxes, New York Post, 06-04-08
• Union Health Ripoff, New York Post, 05-12-08
• Albany's Pork Spending Should Be Ended, Not Mended, The Post-Standard, 05-12-08
• Keep Capital in New York, The New York Sun, 04-16-08
• Budget Blues, New York Post, 04-07-08
• Welfare Rip-Off, New York Post, 03-29-08
• Start Blazing, The New York Sun, 03-18-08
• After the Spitzer Storm, Wall Street Journal, 03-15-08
• Paterson's Challenges: Economic Woes, New York Post, 03-13-08
• To The Moon, Eliot Spitzer Keeps Spending, New York Post, 01-24-08
• Eliot's Excellent Idea, New York Post, 01-10-08
• Spitzer's Next Challenges: Closing The Spigot, New York Post, 12-26-07
• Big Apple's Bite, New York Post, 11-19-07
• Crunch Time For The TWU, New York Post, 11-08-07
• Rangel's Knifing of New York, New York Post, 10-29-07
• N.Y.'s Falling Incomes, New York Post, 09-21-07
• The Downturn & N.Y., New York Post, 08-17-07
• Rudy's Real Tax Record, New York Daily News, 08-06-07
• Property Tax Rebates: No Lasting Relief in Fiscal Pain Killer, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, 07-22-07
• Pensions & Plunder, New York Post, 07-19-07
• NY's Legal Plague, New York Post, 07-05-07
• Eliot's Big Test, New York Post, 06-25-07
• Accounting, Texas-Style, Wall Street Journal, 05-29-07
• Babying Unions, New York Post, 05-15-07
• Tax-Code Chaos, New York Post, 04-16-07
• What the Gov Got, New York Post, 04-02-07
• Googling NY's Books, New York Post, 03-14-07
• A Noose for Big Firms, The New York Sun, 02-28-07
• Med Alert for Gov to Rein in Health $$, New York Post, 02-22-07
• Eliot's Spending Surge, New York Post, 02-01-07
• Awaiting Spitzer's Budget, The New York Sun, 01-29-07
• Mike's Pension Misfire, New York Post, 01-22-07
• Eliot's Mixed Bag, New York Post, 01-04-07
• Welfare Wonder, New York Post, 12-10-06
• School Sanity, New York Post, 11-21-06
• Spitzer Catches a Break on Medicaid, The New York Sun, 11-16-06
• Eliot Spitzer, Beware the Budget Process, The Post-Standard, 11-14-06
• Eliot's Tough Talk, New York Post, 11-08-06
• NY Budget Blues, New York Post, 11-01-06
• Fiscal Accountability a Must for Lawmakers, Times Union, 10-29-06
• Two Years Later, Much is Undone, The Post-Standard, 10-17-06
• Public Jobs Remain Plentiful, The Post-Standard, 09-05-06
• Public Pension Price Tag, Wall Street Journal, 08-21-06
• Fiscal Time Bomb, The New York Sun, 08-10-06
• Ponderous Government is Crushing Opportunity, The Post-Standard, 08-01-06
• Drunken Sailors, New York Post, 07-05-06
• Tax Breaks Won't Aid New York's Economy, The Post-Standard, 06-27-06
• The Star Delusion, New York Post, 06-13-06
• New York's Pension Peril, New York Post, 06-08-06
• Spending Isn't Answer For All Problems, The Post-Standard, 05-23-06
• Pigs-in-a-Blanket Veto, The New York Times, 04-24-06
• Lame Duck Quacking: Pataki Turns Out to Still Have Power, New York Post, 04-19-06
• Legislators Should Tell Where Pork Money Goes, The Post-Standard, 04-18-06
• Confused Courts, New York Post, 03-27-06
• New Yorkers Skedaddle As Tax Climate Worsens, Wall Street Journal, 03-15-06
• Welfare Reform Requires Adjusting, The Post-Standard, 03-14-06
• Proposed Cigarette Tax Benefits Butt-Leggers, The Post-Standard, 02-07-06
• NYC Strike Will Affect Taxpayers in Upstate, The Post-Standard, 12-27-05
• Lessons of the Strike: Pension Pickle, New York Post, 12-23-05
• Blame Albany, New York Post, 12-22-05
• Reforming The 'Budget Reform' Proposition, The Post-Standard, 12-19-05
• Pension Madness, New York Post, 12-19-05
• All Taxes Great and Small, The New York Sun, 12-07-05
• Measure Isn't the Reform it Poses As, The Post-Standard, 11-01-05
• Voters Have Say on Future Spending, The Post-Standard, 10-04-05
• Gas Pains, New York Post, 09-06-05
• Property Tax Plan Has Hidden Hefty Bite, The Post-Standard, 08-23-05
• The City's Governor, The New York Times, 08-07-05
• Tax-and-Spend Legacy, New York Post, 07-28-05
• Bill's Cost Could Be Impossible To Count, The Post-Standard, 07-26-05
• State Policies Driving Up Insurance Cost, The Post-Standard, 05-24-05
• Two Faces of Mike, New York Post, 05-06-05
• Sticker Shock, National Review Online, 04-19-05
• Albany Has Plenty Left To Repair, The Post-Standard, 04-19-05
• Budget Hoax, New York Post, 03-30-05
• Tax Cit Requires New Laws, The Post-Standard, 03-22-05
• NY's Road to Ruin, New York Post, 03-16-05
• Like There's No Tomorrow, The New York Sun, 03-08-05
• Pension Plan Needs Adjusting, The Post-Standard, 02-22-05
• NY's Prisons Emptying Out, New York Post, 02-08-05
• Time To End Misuse of Authorities, The Post-Standard, 01-18-05
• Start the Revolution, New York Daily News, 01-09-05
• Same Man, Same Problem, New York Post, 01-06-05
• Budget Reform is Budget De-form, The Post-Standard, 12-14-04
• Fiscal Fantasy, New York Post, 12-01-04
• Eroding Liberty, New York Post, 11-21-04
• Ferry Foolish, New York Post, 11-08-04
• Why the Long Face?, The New York Sun, 11-04-04
• Jobs Scandal, New York Post, 10-27-04
• W's NY Centric Tax Cuts, New York Post, 08-26-04
• Saving NY's Schools, New York Post, 07-14-04
• N.Y. Tax Follies, New York Post, 06-24-04
• Albany’s ‘Debt’-End, New York Post, 05-19-04
• Miller, Not Mike, Is Voice Of Sanity, New York Daily News, 05-13-04
• NYC's Sea Of Red, New York Post, 04-27-04
• San Diego Needs Fundamental Pension Reform, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 04-23-04
• A Half-Baked Effort at Budget Reform, Times Union, 04-02-04
• The Price of Better Schools: But Who Pays The Piper?, New York Post, 03-30-04
• Better Late Than Larger, New York Post, 03-08-04
• Question Authorities, New York Post, 02-26-04
• A City Savings Spree, New York Post, 02-16-04
• Return To Dependency?, New York Post, 01-27-04
• State Pension System Needs Broad Overhaul, Newsday, 01-13-04
• Tale of Two Speeches, New York Post, 01-09-04
• Defusing the Pension Bomb, New York Post, 12-19-03
• Bringing Competition to Albany, The New York Sun, 12-11-03
• NY's Woes Remain, New York Post, 10-31-03
• To Keep People In New York City, Cut Costs, Gotham Gazette, 09-29-03
• To Save N.Y.C., New York Post, 09-19-03
• The Biggest Bonding Boondoggle, The New York Sun, 07-28-03
• Mike's Mixed Bag, New York Post, 07-23-03
• A Looming Storm, New York Post, 07-17-03
• The Hidden Tax Increase, The New York Sun, 06-11-03
• Why “Soaking the Rich” Is Poor Policy, Barron's, 05-19-03
• Gouging the Metro Area, New York Post, 05-16-03
• With Pals Like These, Who Needs Enemies?, Newsday, 05-12-03
• Taxing the Grandkids, New York Post, 05-07-03
• Taxing 'Til We Drop, New York Post, 05-03-03
• Erasing Giuliani's Tax Progress, The New York Sun, 04-22-03
• Doomsday for Real, New York Post, 04-16-03
• Don't Hike Taxes, Cut State Spending, New York Daily News, 04-07-03
• Silver's Risky Budget Game, New York Post, 03-19-03
• Add To City's Medicaid Rolls? Mayor Must Cut Costs & Reform Aid, New York Daily News, 02-13-03
• Relying on the Rich, The New York Sun, 02-11-03
• Tale of Two Budgets, New York Post, 02-03-03
• The Return of George I, National Review Online, 01-28-03
• A Win for N.Y., New York Post, 01-13-03
• Rotten 'Reform', New York Post, 11-14-02
• Now, The Hard Part, New York Post, 11-06-02
• The Rift on City Taxes Is a Split With Suburbs’, Newsday, 10-31-02
• Pataki's 'Progress', New York Post, 10-08-02
• Botched Cleanup: New York City's & state's post-9/11 fiscal failure, New York Post, 08-22-02
• Gotham Corp: Sell, New York Post, 07-04-02
• Next Year's Tax Hike, New York Post, 05-06-02
• Small Change, New York Post, 04-19-02
• A Killer Of A Living Wage, New York Post, 03-20-02
• It's Still 'Borrow and Spend' in New York, Newsday, 02-28-02
• Bloomberg's (Misplaced) Compassionate Side, Gotham Gazette, 02-20-02
• Mike's Dangerous Budget Temptation, New York Post, 02-11-02
• Pataki's Smaller Gov't, New York Post, 02-05-02
• City Won't Bleed From Bloomberg's Ax, Newsday, 01-04-02
• It's The Spending, New York Post, 01-01-02
• Wrong Time For A Commuter Tax, New York Post, 12-17-01
• Mike Must Bite Bullet On Income Tax Hike, New York Daily News, 11-29-01
• Bush's Tax Cut: The Best Boost For N.Y., New York Post, 11-19-01
• City Power: Don't Gamble on State Budget Fixes, Newsday, 11-13-01
• They Don't Get It, New York Post, 10-25-01
• A Blast To N.Y.'S Budget, New York Post, 10-04-01
• Pataki Power Play | Gov Should Call Lawmakers' Budget Bluff, New York Post, 07-31-01
• Turning the Page, New York Post, 07-09-01
• Worse City Budget News Ahead, New York Post, 05-01-01
• Rudy's Tax Cuts Don't Go Far Enough, New York Post, 04-25-01
• A Risky Precedent, New York Post, 04-13-01
• A Risky Debt ‘Reform’, New York Post, 02-11-01
• The Blunders of ‘66, New York Post, 01-03-01
• A ‘Ladder’ To Sky-High Schools Taxes, New York Post, 12-26-00
• What Bush Should Have Said About Tax Cuts, Wall Street Journal, 10-19-00
• Rick, Hill & Tax Cuts For N.Y., New York Post, 10-18-00
• Al's Middle-Class Tax Targets--In The Metro N.Y. Region, Gore's Plan Treats Middle Incomes As 'Rich', New York Post, 10-11-00
• Bizarre Tax-Cut Presentations Don't Add Up, New York Post, 09-05-00
• N.Y.C. Jobs In Jeopardy--If Tax Cuts Are Called Off, Workers Will Pay The Price, New York Post, 07-24-00
• Taxpayer: Last Again, New York Post, 06-28-00

Testimony

• Testimony of Edmund J. McMahon before the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committees, February 3, 2009
• Testimony of Edmund J. McMahon before the New York City Council, December 12, 2005
• Testimony of E.J. McMahon before the Joint Fiscal Committees of the New York State Legislature, February 16, 2005
• Testimony of Edmund J. McMahon before the Senate Commission on Corporations, Commissions and Authorities, December 8, 2004
• Testimony of E.J. Mcmahon before the New York City Council Committee on Waterfronts, March 4, 2004
• Testimony of Edmund J. McMahon before the Senate Labor Committee, October 15, 2003
• Testimony of Edmund J. McMahon before the Senate Democratic Task Force on legislative and Budgetary Reform, June 9, 2003
• Testimony of Edmund J. McMahon before the New York City Council Subcommittee on Forecasting and Revenue, April 2002

Papers/Research

• Government Workers in New York: The Empire State's Favored Class? September 2006
• Defusing New York's Publis Pension Bomb: A Fair Approach for Workers and Taxpayers June 2006
• Taxing and Spending in the Empire State: Overview of the 2006-07 Executive Budget February 2006
• Taxes and Consequences: The Gotham STAMP 2006 Computable General Equilibrium Model December 2005
• Breaking the Budget in New York October 2005
• Pricing the "Luxury Product": New York City Taxes Under Mayor Bloomberg Civic Report 47 | November 2004
• The $36 Billion Bonus: New York’s Gains from Federal Tax Cuts Civic Report 43 | August 2004
• Private Competition for Public Services: Unfinished Agenda in New York State
  [By E. J. McMahon, Adrian Moore, & Geoffrey F. Segal] Civic Report 41 | December 2003
• Defusing the Pension Bomb: How to Curb Public Retirement Costs in New York State
  [By E. J. McMahon & Peter Ferrara] Civic Report 40 | November 2003
• Competitive Contracting of Bus Service: A Better Deal for Riders and Taxpayers
  [By E. S. Savas & E. J. McMahon] Civic Report 30 | November 2002
• Deja Vu All Over Again: The Right Way to Cure New York’s Looming Budget Gap
  Civic Report 29 | October 2002
• Tax-and-Spend, Boom-and-Bust: Lessons for Mayor Bloomberg
  Civic Report 23 | December 2001
• The Cost of Their Intentions: An Analysis of the Mayoral Candidates’ Spending Proposals
  Civic Report 21 | October 2001
• What New York Has Gained From Tax Cuts
  Civic Report 20 | September 2001
• New York’s Savings from the New Tax Law: A Good Start, But Loose Ends Remain
  Civic Report 18 | July 2001
• Campaign 2000 Tax Proposals: What They Mean for New Yorkers
  Civic Report 15 | October 2000

City Journal articles

• An Outsourcing Opportunity, 6 October 2009
• Tax High, People Fly, 6 October 2009
• Defusing the Pension Bomb, 28 September 2009
• The Budget New York Needs, 9 July 2009
• New York State’s Fiscal Reckoning, Autumn 2008
• Rating Mayor Mike, Summer 2005
• New York Crime Hits a Tipping Point, Winter 2005
• One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, Summer 2004
• The Return of Dependency?, Winter 2004
• City Journal’s Quality-of-Life Index, Summer 2003
• City Journal’s Quality-of-Life Index, Summer 2002
• W.’s Gift to New York, Spring 2001