HICKS: Without real cuts, cost of borrowing will rise
What is abundantly clear is that federal spending is much higher than is currently sustainable.
Economic Analysis
Articles
HICKS: Founding document holds lessons for today
The Declaration of Independence has some key tenets that bear mentioning in these times.
HICKS: Jobless compensation and the incentive to work
In essence, the body of research tells us that longish periods of unemployment compensation tend to cause longish periods of unemployment.
HICKS: Absence of fathers has dire economic impact
Poverty in America is overwhelmingly caused by two things: failing to graduate from high school and single parenting.
HICKS: Recession took its toll on under-educated
The hard truth is that all the jobs lost in the economy that will return already have. So what will become of those who lost jobs to the recession for which none await them now? The prognosis is none too optimistic.
HICKS: Remembering those who fought, and why
Three times as many Hoosiers perished in the Civil War than the nation as a whole has lost to battle since Vietnam.
HICKS: Slow recovery doesn’t favor intervention
Most disagreement over economic policy is not based on theory; rather it is based on the discordant views about the ability of government to quickly and efficiently spend a stimulus or target a tax cut.
HICKS: Gas prices explained by simple economics
Oil prices are affected by the demand for petroleum products, the available supply of oil, the value of the currency in which it is denominated, and uncertainty about future supply or demand.
HICKS: Motherhood changes, but not in importance
The best estimates tell us that about 26 percent of all Americans are mothers, and that the past few decades have seen a big increase in the range of ages of motherhood.
Hicks: Raising taxes won’t increase federal revenue
Hauser’s Law, which is really an empirical observation, notes that U.S. income tax revenue has hovered within a percentage point of 19 percent of our total economy for more than 50 years.
HICKS: Corporate profits don’t deserve condescension
Profits are much maligned, and the profit motive is oft depicted as synonymous with greed. This is disheartening. Disdain drawn from ignorance is intellectually lazy.
HICKS: Economic activity stalls when taxes rise
We know from long experience that, if you raise taxes, you get less economic activity, even if higher tax rates make some people work harder.
HICKS: General Assembly puts foolishness on display
We need the remaining month of this Legislature to look a lot less like the last month.
HICKS: Debt a bigger problem than who bought it
purchasing our debt and being our banker are different matters altogether.
HICKS: Education reform deserves bipartisan support
The goal of the legislation is to give public schools more incentives to improve.
HICKS: Unfortunately, veteran tuition benefits must be cut
It’s a wide entitlement program that will literally explode in the coming decades, since a third of all combat veterans will meet the disability requirements. It is not sustainable, and the Senate just tightened the requirements.
HICKS: Telecom reform in Indiana worked
Deregulation of monopolies tends to almost always make consumers better off. Indiana’s broad and effective telecommunications reform of 2006 is a classic example of this.
HICKS: Uncertainty always leads to oil-price fluctuations
Being a commodity, changes to oil prices are frequent and instantaneous. Changes to supply or demand of petroleum in the Middle East affect the price at the pump in the Midwest within hours.
HICKS: Productivity gains make for jobless recovery
It is an old story, but a nevertheless disheartening one. It is also a tale rich in its implications for young workers.
HICKS: Trimming government fat tough, but necessary
Recognizing inefficiency in government is far more difficult than rhetoric suggests. The private sector has the blessing of the profits to guide decisions.