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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: The right time for climate change may finally be here

While the world’s political climate is heating up, its economic climate is cooling down. Meanwhile, the real climate is finally getting the attention it really deserves, as the “tipping point” has been reached. Green is everywhere these days. New York Times For homes that no longer grow in value. If the personal consumption rates in China rose to the levels of the United States, annual oil consumption in the world would go up more than 100 percent! Oil consumption in…

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Seeking your take on the markets

You IBJ readers are a wealthy lot. Our latest survey, taken in September of last year, shows that you had
a $170,700 median household income and the median value of your investments came to $679,700.

Three of four had corporate stocks…

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Retiring baby boomers create openings for new grads

Students donning caps and gowns this May will find jobs aplenty, college career officers and others say. Some industries–like
health care, accounting, engineering, computer science and sales–are more flush with jobs than others. But students receiving
liberal arts degrees also are in high demand because of their well-rounded education.

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Technology park could boost area’s biomedical efforts: First phase of Purdue project, featuring accelerator building for up to 25 startups, should be finished this year

The park is expected to be a major amenity for the area’s growing biomedical economic development efforts. Purdue Research Foundation paid $2.5 million in June to purchase a half-interest in 78 acres at AmeriPlex industrial park. The university ultimately anticipates filling it with as many as 75 businesses and 1,500 jobs. AmeriPlex owner Holladay Properties, a South Bend developer of industrial parks, owns the other half of the site. Dubbed Purdue Accelerator Park at AmeriPlex-Indianapolis, the project is intended to…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: From economic perspective, immigration bill misguided

Few issues garner as much vitriol as the debate over illegal immigration. The dimensions of the debate are wide-ranging, but as with most aspects of public policy, they are heavily influenced by economic issues. Indiana has embarked on an immigration debate, so a bit of economics might be helpful. First, according to the most reliable recent data, Indiana is underrepresented by illegal immigrants compared with neighboring states. I have seen estimates of immigrants in Indiana of between 45,000 to more…

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Adding to the life science corridor

For years, dreamers have envisioned a life sciences crescent stretching from West Lafayette down Interstate
65 to Indianapolis, then along State Road 37 to Bloomington.

The thinking was, this corridor would take advantage of Indiana and Purdue universities and IUPUI as…

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Are these incentives a good deal?

Gov. Mitch Daniels dished out $6.3 million in incentives as part of Defender Directâ??s expansion announcement
yesterday. But was the carrot a good deal for us taxpayers?

Defender Direct, which sells home security and satellite dish systems, plans to add 1,100…

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EYE ON THE PIE: New jobs: Will dreams come true?

A skeptic would say, “Small potatoes when compared to the nearly 3 million jobs Indiana currently has.” Let’s put 22,600 jobs in perspective. That number exceeds the number of jobs added in Indiana in 2007 when job growth (December-to-December) was 5,800. It also exceeds job growth in 2006, which was 13,400. The reader proficient in arithmetic will immediately recognize that 22,600 jobs are more than those gained by Indiana in 2006 and 2007 combined. IEDC added that, since January 2005…

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VIEWPOINT: Legislation could make Indiana unwelcoming

Anxieties about immigration legislation introduced this session are growing. If the bill passes, businesses that “knowingly” hire undocumented workers will face harsh penalties: threeyear probation for companies found to have hired undocumented immigrants; for a second offense, loss of the firm’s license to do business in Indiana. And it would be a misdemeanor to transport, conceal or harbor an unauthorized immigrant; a second offense would be a felony. The law would require the Indiana attorney general to investigate complaints against…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why subprime ‘crisis’ is not as severe as it seems

Over the next few years, quite a few doctoral dissertations are going to be written about the subprime loan market, and its effects on the overall U.S. economy. And whatever the effects turn out to be, it is certain that this financial mess has all the twists and turns of a spy novel. Here is part of the plot: Over the past decade and half, home prices skyrocketed. The causes included rapid growth in the U.S. economy, aging baby-boomer purchases…

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Blame Daniels for the economy?

At this point four years ago, now-Gov. Mitch Daniels had started outlining a platform based on revitalizing
the economy.

The economy had been headed south since the â??70s and had taken another beating early in the decade. Voters
were only too…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Hoosier excess contrary to our nature

People think of Indiana as a place of moderation. We’re not known for extremes. We are followers, not leaders. Certainly, we are not risk-takers. How then can we explain some inexplicable behaviors? Indiana’s secretary of state and others were in Washington, D.C., before the U.S. Supreme Court recently to defend the nation’s most extreme voter ID law. No one was prepared to say we suffered from an avalanche of voter fraud. There was not even evidence of a snowflake of…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Lobbyists lob lots of bad ideas into tax debate

I am a huge fan of the Discovery Channel TV show “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe.” I don’t get to watch if often. “SpongeBob SquarePants” dominates the Hicks household. But when I do, I revel in the host’s exploits in some of the nastiest jobs imaginable. But I think there’s one job I am more afraid of than anything I’ve seen on his show. There’s no amount of money that could make me a state legislator during a fiscal crisis….

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BEHIND THE NEWS: For trio of high-profile firms, turnarounds remain elusive

It’s like a recurring nightmare. Quarter after quarter, three of Indianapolis’ most prominent companies report weak results, and their stocks slide lower and lower. How can Emmis Communications Corp., The Finish Line Inc. and The Steak n Shake Co. reverse their downward swoon? It’s a question of great urgency, given that the stocks of all three have slid deep into the cellar. Emmis now fetches $2.79 a share, 96 percent below its 1999 high. Finish Line goes for $1.66, 93…

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Has housing hit bottom?

F.C. Tucker Co. put out a release today saying the Indianapolis-area housing market stabilized last year.

Somehow, a 9.9-percent decline in sales and 2.1-percent drop in selling price doesnâ??t sound so stable.

Tucker President Jim Litten points out that the region still…

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Bud Wolf Chevrolet a goner

The Wolf family has thrown in the towel on its Chevrolet dealership at 5350 N. Keystone Ave.

One of the owners, Andy Wolf, says the closing was forced because property tax increases shocked customers
into pulling back from spending. Another reason…

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Home team vs. the Internet

Itâ??s been a tough couple of years in Bloomington for Roberts Distributors, the well-known Indianapolis supply
house for cameras and other photography equipment. So tough that the Bloomington store is closing.

Bruce Pallman, the second generation running Roberts, said the location…

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Does loss damage Colts brand?

Yesterdayâ??s frustrating loss by the Indianapolis Colts to San Diego was hard to take for fans whoâ??d pulled
for the team through an otherwise remarkable season.

Now Tony Dungy might finally follow through on years of ruminations about putting a bookend…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Indiana being stamped with wrong image

Blessed be our friends at the U.S. Postal Service. They do a great job of collecting and distributing the mail. They face strong competition from private carriers and from the Internet, but they continue to serve the public well. Then, too, USPS always looks for new ways to honor America and Americans through the issuance of new stamps. If a particular series catches on, they can make a pretty penny by selling stamps that are never used. That’s why USPS…

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Few stocks avoid effect of housing, banking woes: Wall Street pessimism spreading across industries

Nineteen central Indiana companies have seen their stock prices fall more than one-quarter from the 52-week highs-a plunge that largely reflects pessimism over the strength of the economy. The pullback has hammered some of the top-performing Hoosier companies in recent years, including shopping mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. (off $46 a share, or 38 percent) and school operator ITT Educational Services Inc. (off $52, or 39 percent). Former highfliers often take the biggest tumble when investor sentiment turns bearish….

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