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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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Mortgages are getting cheap

Mortgage rates are falling. This week, rates on 30-year mortgages slipped below 6 percent for the first time
in more than two years.

Are the cheaper rates putting you in a mood to refinance or step up to that house youâ??ve…

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Will oil really hit $200?

Bloomberg carried a story today saying some of the hottest oil investments are options on the New York Mercantile
Exchange to buy oil for $200 a barrel. Presumably at least some investors think oil prices are going to
double.

Weâ??ve already…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Those fearing China’s economic prowess miss the point

Fear of China is a staple of protectionist rhetoric. Concern about China’s emergent power comes from the formerly thoughtful broadcasters from CNN, the presidential primary trail, the Pentagon and, of course, the blogosphere. What really is China’s economic role, and what do we have to fear? China’s billion souls, strategic location, emergent market economy and long history of tyranny make it an interesting, and now quite dynamic, area of study. China’s economy looks to be a powerful engine of growth,…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Change economy to raise incomes

My holiday gift was the latest quarterly data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Santa put them in my e-mail box and I played with them when not attending to ritual family matters. Yes, personalincome numbers for all the states right up to the third quarter of 2007. Oh, joy; oh, ecstasy-feeding my lascivious quantitative desires. And what did I find? Over the past year, the third quarter of 2006 to the same quarter of 2007, Indiana has ranked…

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Commentary: Good luck to Mayor Ballard

Mayor Greg Ballard has less than a week under his belt of taking on a city that is both on a roll and full of challenges. It’s an exciting time to be mayor. An unknown commodity, Ballard has some big shoes to fill with little experience in government to help him out. (Note to self: That’s not necessarily a bad thing.) Indianapolis has been blessed with strong leadership for the last 40 years, beginning in 1968 with Republican Richard Lugar,…

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VIEWPOINT: The trouble with public schools: Too public

The problem with public education is that it has become too “public.” Back in the days when boards of education possessed all power over construction of school facilities, a few boards around the state were far too eager to build elaborate educational and athletic palaces when functionally and technically efficient classrooms were all that were really needed. The outrage from a handful of property taxpayers finally reached the Statehouse. (The outcry over a proposed football facility in the Carmel-Clay School…

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INVESTING: Weak sectors could have broader effect on economy

We all know that the hip bone is connected to, well, you know how it goes. But a lot of people seem to be missing the point that the same principles controlling that biology are an active force in the markets and economy. All the brilliant economists out there are telling us what we already plainly know-finance and consumer-related sectors are weak. There isn’t enough talk about the next connection, though, or how a cancer spreads from one body part…

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THE TRAVELING LIFE: Genghis Khan slept-and was admired-here

Before we landed at the Genghis Khan Airport, checked into the Genghis Khan Hotel, and drank Genghis Khan beer, everything we had heard about the most famous Mongol of all time was negative. But that changed when we visited Mongolia in September. You might wonder what nice things could be said about a guy who conquered more territory in 25 years than the Romans did in 400? Well, the people we encountered perceived him as a combination of George Washington,…

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