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Morton Marcus

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EYE ON THE PIE: Tale of 2 bridges has deeper meaning

Two bridges at opposite ends of the state are of concern to neighboring citizens and all Hoosiers. Both are historic steel-truss bridges. One spans the Wabash River connecting New Harmony (Posey County) with White County, Ill. The second spans the Gibson rail yard in Hammond (Lake County) and carries the traffic of busy Indianapolis Boulevard. Both bridges are in poor condition. The Indiana Department of Transportation has recommendations for both bridges. Local officials are opposed to the INDOT plans. Whose…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Too many studies spoil the broth

Want to build a stadium? Maybe you have a highway in mind? Maybe your highway has a different route from that of another group of enthusiasts? Is your concern a new zoo or an existing art museum? How about that boysenberry festival? The venerable college in town? That remodeled convention facility? That autoassembly plant? That new wing on the hospital? That new housing development? Or are you looking at something unquestionably noble? A church, a school, a senior center, a…

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EYE ON THE PIE: What if we moved the elderly out of state?

“Don’t write about this,” Sid Simpleton told me. He is the state’s social policy director. “People who have recently experienced the loss of a loved one do not like death discussed without appropriate gravity.” “I’ll warn them not to read the column if they have recently had such a loss,” I said. Sipping gin and tonics on a warm spring afternoon does make the troubles of the world seem less serious. “OK, if you think it’s safe,” Sid said. “This…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Want a larger slice? Get a bigger pie

How much should an executive be paid? More or less than a professional athlete? How much medical care is a person entitled to receive? Does that depend on his or her age or the genetic code that she or he carries? We love to agonize over these questions. To the pure of spirit, all people are worth the same. To the pure of thought, all are worth the value they contribute to satisfy the wants of others. Since few of…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Let’s tax phone, Internet, TV usage

Felicity Futenmouth and I went to graduate school together. Her career in economics focused on consumer services provided by such first-class firms as MegaMedia, MegaMarkets and MegaMercenaries. We became reacquainted lately at our class’s 35th reunion. Over a nightcap of hot chocolate and biscuits, she enticed me with a coy question: “How do you feel about local taxes?” “I am all for them,” I responded. “If you don’t have local taxes, you don’t have a strong claim on the responsibility…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Beware cost increases you can’t see

There I was at the grocery store engaged in economic research. I found a plasticwrapped pack of 24 half-liter bottles of “spring water” from a famous soft drink company was $4.99, or $1.57 per gallon. The store brand for “spring water,” packaged in the same fashion, was $3.88, or $1.22 per gallon. A 24-pack of regular or diet 12-ounce soft drinks from the same famous company was selling for $6.49, or $2.97 per gallon. That’s just about the price of…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Writers require clarity or risk calamity

Last night, I had a dream. I was standing on the ledge of a tall building. People down below were shouting, “Jump!” They were angry because they thought I misrepresented the various and diverse meal-delivery programs in Indiana in my column last week. One woman was yelling, “You’re trying to take away my job!” “No,” I tried to explain. I was just saying that such programs should be coordinated better and that no oversight agency exists to monitor not-for-profit agencies….

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EYE ON THE PIE: Sometimes competition is a bad thing

You are getting older, living alone. You want to continue living where you are. You don’t want to move in with your children and you think they might not want you. You don’t want to move to some assisted-living place and give up so much of what you have known for so long. You are disabled or otherwise unable to cook for yourself. Where do you turn? Your first thought is Meals on Wheels. You (or a member of your…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Mysteries abound in Indiana

There is so much I do not understand about Indiana. After living here for 35 years, after visiting every county and traveling almost every mile of state highway, after making friends with thousands of Hoosiers, I am in the dark on so many issues. Here are three examples: Example 1: What do Mitch Daniels, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, and Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana have in common? They are all governors who have massive approval deficits. According to Survey USA (and…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Let’s open the doors wide to opportunity

Recently, the U.S. Census Bureau released 2004 data showing that Indiana had 264,936 persons of Hispanic origin among its 6,058,930 population. That would mean 4.37 percent of Hoosiers, themselves or their ancestors, came from Mexico, Cuba, Columbia, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama, Chile and other Spanish-speaking nations. Don’t you just love that precision? 264,936 and 6,058,930 are merely estimates, not census counts. Anyone who has worked with numbers should be embarrassed to be more specific than 265,000 and 6,060,000. The…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Values, economics go hand in hand

“Why,” I asked myself, “do I write so much about politics when my interests are in economics?” “That’s easy,” I answered myself. “As an economist, I am interested in the decisions that determine who gets what. Many of those decisions are made by politicians. They decide which roads are repaired, whose children get a good education, who gets good medical attention, and who gets mediocre services. They decide who pays how much in taxes, thereby deciding how much we have…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Election is critical to Gary’s future

Let’s sell Fort Wayne and its surrounding counties to Ohio or Michigan. Or in the spirit of the day, at least we could lease out part of northeast Indiana. If we got rid of Fort Wayne (Allen County) and two counties to the north (Steuben and DeKalb) plus one county to the south (Adams) and one to the west (Huntington), we could decrease our state’s population by 491,500. Why would we want to do that? There’s no good reason to…

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EYE ON THE PIE: School projects create winners and losers

Strange it is that Indiana newspapers are atwitter with concern about changing the clocks. One would think this is some terrorist threat. All Indiana counties will go to daylightsaving time, which will be a novelty for the majority of us. Some counties now on Eastern time will switch to Central time and not have to change their clocks until October (Central Daylight Time being the same as Eastern Standard Time). The time switch is a non-event. It is an unnecessary…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Legislature wastes another session

The 150 men and women who make up the Indiana General Assembly have finished their annual freak show, folded their tents, and departed from Indianapolis. In their wake, they left some truly terrible legislation and another record of neglect for the interests of Indiana’s too-long-suffering population. What was wrong with this session of the General Assembly? Your local editor will not grant me the space to be either sufficiently complete or detailed. Let’s start with the governor’s Major Moves program….

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EYE ON THE PIE: Waiter shines light on education

I spent most of a recent weekend in the hospital, but no one seems to want to hear that story. It wasn’t much of a story, as it turns out, but the bill, which will fall on you, will be enormous. My part of the bill will be small because I am covered by Medicare and private health insurance. This means you will see my use of the health care system reflected in your future taxes and in your future…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Here’s a recipe for business success

Clovis Crowder did not become a leading Hoosier executive by default. He did not inherit his position. He earned it. A man of rugged countenance, imposing stature and brilliant intellect, he is often mentioned as a candidate for high elected office, but humbly declines all such invitations. Also, he has no ambition to be a university president or a basketball coach. Recently, he and I had the following conversation: MM: “Tell me, Mr. Crowder, what has been the essential feature…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Major Moves elicits childish behavior

There are issues in Indiana other than the toll-road lease and building Interstate 69. Yet some people in the Legislature refuse to relinquish their roles as reactionaries. Example: Out of their minds with xenophobia (the fear of foreigners) the House insisted that toll booths display American flags. Why not require that all BP (British Petroleum) gas stations fly the American flag? How about giving a loyalty test to Mittal Steel, which owns a big chunk of assets in northwestern Indiana?…

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EYE ON THE PIE: David meets Goliath in Hendricks County

The people of Hendricks County are no more stupid, greedy or ignorant than folks most places. Now they have a chance to prove they are more intelligent, far-sighted and wise than most Hoosiers. Let’s set the scene. Hendricks County lies directly west of Marion County. You can take U.S. 36 straight west from Indianapolis to Avon and Danville. Or you can go out Interstate 70, past the Indianapolis airport, to Plainfield. Alternatively, Interstate 74 will take you to Brownsburg, Pittsboro…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Coffee, doughnuts and liberty

There is nothing like the aroma of strong, fresh coffee. So it was as I woke one recent day. My executive officer had left for work, but graciously left the coffee and its aroma for me to enjoy. Down the stairs I tottered with my dog (who pretends to be too feeble to manage the stairs by himself). I let him out, let him back in, gathered a cup of the brew, and entered my office. “Hi,” she said in…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Good ideas merit communication

Finally, the Daniels administration is getting around to explaining the tollroad-leasing proposal. On Feb. 3, it released Volume 1, Issue 1, of “Major Moves Help Desk,” a newsletter to tell its side of the complicated toll-roadleasing story. Perhaps a newsletter is pretentious, but it is a move in the right direction. The idea of leasing the toll road is an attractive one, but I have felt in the dark about why this lease and its many details are best for…

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