Comrades, welcome to the new world order! Please, get in line so we can process your papers. Remember, in the new world, there is no pain. Your benevolent leaders have outlawed all problems. In 1984, I read ”1984,”George Orwell’s novel. I was a little young to grasp the full flavor of the book, but the theme hit a chord with me. I turned to Orwell’s “Animal Farm” a few years later, though, and that work was as clear to me…
What we don’t know does hurt us. Many builders constructed houses assuming there was a continuing strong market of qualified home buyers. Some mortgage brokers and some bankers gleefully ignored or misrepresented the abilities of home buyers to sustain homeownership. Too many home buyers did not bother to learn what their obligations as homeowners would be. They didn’t know about paying property taxes or how adjustable mortgage rates could escalate beyond their capabilities to meet their monthly payments. The companies…
Where is the stock market headed next? It may help to look where it has been. My clients may have grown tired of hearing how the bull market of the 1990s mirrored the Roaring Twenties-maybe because they knew what came after the Roaring Twenties? You remember the history books and your parents talking about the Great Depression. The more articles you read concerning the recent market turmoil, the more this phrase appears: “Worst (fill in blank) since the Great Depression.”…
Itâ??s a rare person who enjoys the asset bubbles and boom-and-bust cycles that afflict the U.S. economy, most
recently the subprime mortgage crisis and implosions on Wall Street.
But Purdue University economist David Hummels contends that the United States deals with…
If the Employee Free Choice Act sounds unfamiliar, you arenâ??t alone. The proposed legislation is getting little
coverage this election cycle.
But the measure could emerge as a flashpoint in the next Congress as business and labor groups battle for
power.
Business…
Paul Shoopman could have sat on the sidelines savoring the fact that he sold his homebuilding firm in 2004, just months before the market began a calamitous slide. But that’s not Shoopman, who’d been building houses since 1971, the year he graduated from high school. His dad loaned him the money for his first lot, and co-signed for the construction loan. Shoopman built Dura Builders Inc. into Indianapolis’ fifth-largest homebuilder before selling it to Los Angeles-based KB Home. A little…
Moving coordinating company Relocation Strategies Inc. is used to dealing with companies in transition. Now the firm is undergoing one of its own-albeit of a different sort. Relocation Strategies founder David Bayse is relinquishing ownership to partner Melissa Lamb Brown in a purchase agreement set to be completed within the next four years. She already owns a majority of the business and will acquire the rest in stages. In the meantime, Bayse, 57, will continue to guide Brown, 39, who…
It seemed like a good, simple idea at the time to focus this column on how Indiana taxes compare with those of other states. But that turns out to be more of a job than you might think. For example, which year do we use? The most recent year available from the U.S. Bureau of the Census is 2005-06. But that year won’t work because 12 percent of Indiana’s revenue came from its state highways in 2005-06. Remember, we leased…
Waiting for fallout of Wall Street rout More regulation in our future? At IBJ deadline, Wall Street was suffering through one of the most tumultuous weeks in its history, and there was no end in sight to the worry consuming investors. The $85 billion Federal Reserve bailout of American International Group Inc. on Sept. 16 did little to shore up markets that had plunged the day before, after Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and Bank of America rescued Merrill Lynch. The…
Goodbye elevated guideway. Goodbye buses zooming down paved-over rail beds. For that matter, forget about commuter trains running down the median of Binford Boulevard and I-69. Or along Allisonville Road or Keystone Avenue. These northeast corridor rapid-transit options, cheered and jeered by residents in the debate over rapid transit, officially get thrown from the train on Sept. 26. That’s if a regional government group votes to accept the recommendation of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization for running diesel light rail…
Here’s a well-worn saying about businesses that engage in risky behavior: “You only find out who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out.” If so, we are nearing low tide and the biggest nude beach on the planet is on display in lower Manhattan. These recent events are historic. Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old firm that survived the Depression and world wars, was forced into bankruptcy due to leveraged bets on subprime securities and risky loans made over the…
Help me, John. I’m falling off the wagon. I like you. I read your autobiography, “Faith of My Fathers.” You are a maverick, like they say, and a patriot. My old boss, Mitch Daniels, made you his early choice. I agree with most of your pronouncements on taxes and the economy, and applaud your willingness to face up to the energy crisis and our dependence on foreign oil. I tentatively decided to cast my vote for you in November. But…
The American Civil Liberties Union has taken up the case of a Plainfield man who says a city zoning ordinance
tramples his First Amendment right to free speech.
Plainfield officials told the man, Nick Crews, to take down a…
Bloomington keeps racking up the accolades.
Over the weekend, a Wall Street Journal article focused on the city as a vibrant, low-cost alternative to
Sun Belt locations for retirees. Congestion is low, there are two hospitals, and plenty of natural…
Green construction projects in Indiana are becoming more the norm than the exception. More office buildings, schools and universities and even residences are being designed and constructed to improve environmental efficiency. And now, new and renovated state buildings will be a whole lot greener, too. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed an executive order this summer establishing the Energy Efficient State Building Initiative, mandating that all new state buildings be designed, constructed and operated for maximum energy efficiency. This is significant for…
Arts, parks need city investment Amenities keep talent flowing here Young, well-educated, married people seem to like Indianapolis. That’s one of the pieces of good news that came out of a new IUPUI study that was the subject of a frontpage story in last week’s IBJ. When it comes to young, well-educated singles, we still have a way to go. Indianapolis lags the national average 17 percent. Cities are chasing such young people to keep their communities and economies strong….
I enjoy the propaganda of government agencies pleading the causes of special interests. This is the opening sentence of our state profile prepared by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy: “Small businesses are the heart of Indiana’s economy.” Frequently, we hear that farming is the beating heart of our economy. Others claim the thumping sound we hear is that of manufacturing. Teachers tell us the economy is only as steady as its educational footing. Steel has a claim…
It is hard to know what to think about the U.S. Treasury’s takeover of mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Other than the imminent demise of such charming company nicknames, what will this mean to workers, investors, creditors, mortgage holders and taxpayers? If you are trying to obtain a new mortgage, the bailout (if that’s the right word) should result in modestly lower borrowing costs. If you are an investor (and that mostly means larger banks and a…
The portfolios of local architectural firms are beginning to boast more ecofriendly projects. But it hasn’t been that way for long. The trend to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is a recent phenomenon that appeals not only to the tree-hugging crowd but corporations and government entities, too. “We’re definitely getting to the point where clients are asking us about the LEED process,” said Eric Anderson, a project architect at Axis Architecture + Interiors. “Whereas before, even [as…
Whoa. Those figures, based on national averages from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., don’t paint a pretty picture. People without bank accounts tend to keep cash at home or in their pockets, which increases the likelihood of crime. They create a market in which predatory lenders can thrive. They fail to reach their full potential, and so do the cities where they live. We have a problem. Now what can we do about it? We could take a cue from…
