The meme of the 2016 election is becoming clear. For the Democrats, the leftward pull of Elizabeth Warren will exert great influence. For the GOP, the coming two years offer a chance to lay out a pragmatic opposition to the last decade in economic, social and foreign policy.
The U.S. government’s response to the Ebola virus is a case study on some of the central problems of our times.
In recent years, average wages have stagnated. Wages for some workers declined while wages for others rose. Understanding why is important for any policy discussion.
Today’s financial markets offer few good choices for retirement investments, and that is both a symptom and cause of a problem. Stock markets in the United States are hovering at near-record levels. But there is real reason to worry.
Because TIF districts never go away, redevelopment commissions will have many opportunities over the coming centuries to think of multiple uses for their money. To no surprise, this raises many legitimate policy questions.
The cost of luring a firm to town has skyrocketed, while the benefits have plummeted. The United States has created more than 90 million net new jobs over the past 45 years, but fewer “attractable” jobs are available today than in 1969.
Small-government sentiment runs strong in Indiana, and we can be pleased with the resulting low taxes, thoughtful regulatory environment and greater personal freedom. Still, I think much of the small-government movement in Indiana targets the wrong problems.
When the economy is getting much better or much worse, the trend is obvious even if there are occasional mixed signals. When the economy changes little, almost every piece of new data can be confusing.
That academia is a creature of the left is hardly in question. Voting patterns and political contributions of professors are widely studied, and astonishingly leftist. Diversity efforts seek to build a cadre of people who look different but think exactly alike. Still, I wonder how much it really matters.
Among the most misunderstood concepts in public policy is the burden of taxes. One unfortunate result is a good bit of bitterness and calumny over who pays their fair share.
About half of all young people try college, but only half of that group finish a degree. The difference between these groups is almost wholly due to old-fashioned hard work and perseverance.
World War I began a century ago this week, and its legacy continues to have economic, social and political effects.
Almost nothing in economics seems to confuse people as much as monetary inflation. That confusion leaves an intellectual void into which some of the least credible ideas of the modern world crawl.
Nationally, from July through September 2013, growth in state income tax collections slowed appreciably. Only a few states were spared, and here in Indiana they actually shrank slightly, as they did in five other states.
a recen studied of states’ friendliness to small businesses gave Indiana poor grades for ease in finding workers, leveling blame on networking and training programs. This is interesting, but almost certainly not the actual problem.
This past couple of weeks has offered a rare series of court rulings that have implications for both households and businesses.
Every loophole, deduction, exemption, abatement and carve-out is designed to benefit one class of citizens at the expense of others. These are neither fair nor simple. They are rarely effective.
New Government Accounting Standards Board rules require state and municipal governments to report their pensions in ways more like that of private sector pensions.
Without even touching upon the fairness of Indiana taxpayers subsidizing Hollywood studios, film tax credits are of dubious value. The jobs they generate are transient, often low-paying and unlikely to meet the simplest benefit-cost calculus.
Quarter after quarter of booming growth, seen for several decades, might have slowed permanently. The 2000s saw only five rapid-growth quarters, and this decade has had two. It might mean that higher average growth rates are more difficult to achieve due to structural changes in the economy related to technology.
