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BULLS & BEARS: Past pandemics didn’t deflate stock market

The fear du jour is the Avian Flu and the potential for the mother of all global pandemics. In November 2004, the World Health Organization said an influenza pandemic was “inevitable,” and in May of this year scientists predicted it could strike as much as 20 percent of the world’s population! Recently, news media have shown pictures from Asia of crates of dead birds and reported new predictions, ranging from 5 million to 150 million human deaths. Hundreds of millions…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Employers should prepare for Medicare D compliance

With less than three months until Medicare D takes effect, there is plenty for an employer to do to get ready. If you have done nothing yet, follow these steps. If you are well on your way to compliance, use these to check your progress. Step 1: Learn it Medicare D is the new prescription drug benefit available to Medicare-eligible individuals, effective Jan. 1, 2006. With few exceptions, your retirees and active employees who are Medicare-eligible may enroll in Medicare…

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VIEWPOINT: Unleash your employees’ service potential

As anyone in the field of emergency management will tell you, the regrettably sluggish governmental response to the Hurricane Katrina natural and manmade disaster boils down to the argument over jurisdictions (a perennial challenge in the world of emergency management) and a gross lack of execution. As a result of the governmental infighting and dearth of critical decision-making in the early stages of this catastrophe, American citizens were victimized. People suffered, people died. In the analysis of the Hurricane Katrina…

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In a race for robotics: Crash doesn’t quell Jones’ hope of building new industry

One day in the not-so-distant future, robot drones will drive the military’s supply vehicles through dangerous war zones. They’ll pilot tractors across farm fields and steer plows as they scrape snowy highways. Automatic cars will even whisk you to and from work. High-tech entrepreneur Scott Jones, 44, believes with a zealot’s fervor this all will happen. More than a gee-whiz observer, the man who helped invent voice mail hopes to establish a robotic vehicle business-and ultimately the robotic vehicle industry-in…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: LaSalle economist holds court

Now that President Bush has named both his candidates for Supreme Court vacancies and one has been confirmed, we can expect news soon of an appointment that is more important to businesspeople and markets. That would be the replacement for Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, who retires Jan. 31. Greenspan has been in his seat 18 years and has presided over a period of strong economic growth, low inflation and interest rates, and a tremendous stock market….

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NOTIONS: Government intervention from cradle to grave

My mother always said that if aliens arrived from outer space to study life in America, they’d never be able to figure us out. Had I listened to my mother (instead of arguing partisan politics with her), I might have been better prepared for last week’s visit from my friend, E.T. E.T. arrived all agog after intercepting some of my inbound e-mails in cyberspace. “I’m totally confused,” E.T. said. “So am I,” I said, “but that’s normal. You, on the…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: More than ever, developers give back to communities

As cities and towns work to attract businesses and residents that will make a positive impact on their tax bases and improve the quality of life in their communities, plan commissions, city and town councils and other governmental entities aren’t looking at land use the way they did a decade ago. Now, when a developer files for a rezoning, government officials look for ways that rezoning can improve a community’s standard of living and economic outlook. They evaluate how proposed…

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Free market is best hope for health care:

Clearly, the U.S. health care system has its share of problems. Costs are rising rapidly, some 45 million Americans are without health insurance, and both doctors and patients decry their loss of options and control. But, would a government-run health care system be any better? Single-payer health care systems have been proposed in a handful of states as the solution to the problem of access for the uninsured. While single-payer plans can offer all citizens some type of health insurance…

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Apartment industry embracing Ball State graduates: Program makes property management a career goal

During the 1990s, a booming Indianapolis apartment market was becoming increasingly competitive. About 10,000 units were added to the market in the second half of the decade and professional, well-educated managers to run them were in short supply. Enter the Apartment Association of Indiana, which figured the best way to find the professionals apartment owners needed was to grow their own, so to speak, by creating a post-secondary education degree program for the industry. At that time, Virginia Tech was…

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Women gain place at table: Increase in WBE firms seen at airport

At $1.66 billion, the 1.2-millionsquare-foot midfield terminal project, scheduled to open in late 2008, is more than the future gateway to the city. It is a gateway of opportunity for many local women-owned business enterprises (WBEs). The Indianapolis Airport Authority’s commitment to increasing participation of women-owned businesses is more than lip service. “Over half of the users of our airport are women,” said Lacy M. Johnson, president of the IAA board of directors and champion for women-owned and minority businesses….

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Economy likely to purr on despite hurricane mayhem

Did your company miss its earnings targets last period? Or did your household spend a little too much on your last vacation? Or maybe you’ve just added a few extra pounds on your waistline recently. Then you should do what just about everyone else is doing-blame it on Katrina. It seems as if every disappointing result in the economy is being blamed on the big storms that have rolled in from the Gulf of Mexico in the last six weeks….

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INVESTING: Free markets, low taxes power economic engine

The Empire of the Rising Sun has been seeing a lot more sun lately. The Japanese stock market, as measured by the Nikkei Index, bottomed out only a few percentage points higher than the Dow Jones industrial average in March 2003. Since then, our Dow has rebounded 42 percent, but the Nikkei is up 78 percent! While Japan has been a democracy more than 50 years, the culture has not been as individualized as here. There is a socialist flavor…

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Speaking of health care: Local experts weigh in on rising costs, the uninsured and whether our current system needs an overhaul Public health priorities, executive salaries and the “gold rush” of health care construction were among the topics tackled Sept

Public health priorities, executive salaries and the “gold rush” of health care construction were among the topics tackled Sept. 21 in the latest installment of Indianapolis Business Journal’s Power Breakfast Series. IBJ reporter Tom Murphy moderated the panel discussion, attended by some of the area’s foremost health care experts. Following is an edited transcript of the often-spirited discussion, which included a brief interruption by protestors seeking medical insurance coverage for janitorial staff who clean Anthem Inc. buildings. IBJ: Can you…

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WellPoint company slapped over Medicare: AdminaStar Federal agrees to pay $6 million to resolve old fraud allegations

A WellPoint Inc. subsidiary has agreed to pay $6 million to the federal government to resolve whistleblower accusations of rampant Medicare fraud over a seven-year span in the 1990s. AdminaStar Federal altered claims information, overcharged the government, and even hung up on customers to reduce call times and improve evaluations, according to civil lawsuits filed by several whistleblowers in 1999 and 2000 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The Indianapolis-based company administers and processes Medicare claims…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Is exec a fraud or just bad at business? A jury will decide

Forget Disneyworld. The real excitement in Orlando, Fla., this fall likely will be in a federal courtroom, where Carmel native James T. O’Neal Jr. is scheduled to stand trial on charges he swindled millions of dollars from the rich and famous, including high-profile Indianapolis businesspeople. A federal grand jury indicted O’Neal a year ago on 82 felony counts of money laundering, mail fraud and filing false tax returns. If the 12-person jury finds the 60-year-old Orlando resident guilty, he could…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Lack of fiscal discipline casts cloud over future

There’s been a resurgence of interest in the founding fathers of our country, judging from the best-seller lists. As some have written, not all those men we idolize today as founders of our great democracy were equally excited about the prospect of turning government over to the masses. In fact, some were downright terrified. They feared popularly elected governments would quickly go bankrupt spending their way to popularity. Now more than 200 years into the great democratic experiment, we’re hardly…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Data thin on rural areas, and likely to get worse

There was a time in this country when cities had electricity and the countryside did not. This side-by-side existence of two lifestyles-one filled with leisure and convenience, another with endless drudgery and work-ultimately shamed the federal government to subsidize rural electrification and turn lights on in the country that had been burning in cities for several decades. That same situation exists today for broadband Internet, and its implications for economic development have already motivated many communities to pursue plans to…

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Flexible spending extension expected to be little-used: Planners say total elimination of use-it-or-lose it rule would increase participation, make plans more useful

A new Internal Revenue Service rule relaxes the “use it or lose it” rule in flexible spending accounts by extending the period during which expenses may be incurred beyond the end of the plan year. Health care flexible spending accounts allow participants to set aside at the beginning of the year a predetermined amount of pretax money to be used for medical, dental and vision expenses not covered by insurance. Dependent care spending accounts do the same thing for child…

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Biz groups join forces: Agencies hope to reach more minority-, women-owned firms

Two organizations that aim to increase business opportunities for minorities and women have formed a united front, hoping to foster even greater diversity among companies. Indiana Business Diversity Council and the National Association of Women Business Owners’local chapter aren’t only sharing knowledge and resources-they’ll also share space when NAWBO moves in with IBDC later this fall. NAWBO hopes the partnership will enhance its networking capabilities. It also will give the all-volunteer organization it first-ever place to call home. For its…

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Givers should be smart as well as generous, experts say: Do your homework before donating to any cause

Charitable giving often is a spur-of-themoment thing, particularly if it’s a response to a disaster. Still, charitable groups, relief agencies and financial advisers say a little thought before making a donation is a good idea. Giant disasters such as Hurricane Katrina jolt many people into trying to help, often with no particular idea beyond simply doing something. However, some types of help are more helpful than others. Properly following the rules of charitable giving can provide a tax benefit. It…

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