For many, the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 was the formal commencement of the Great Recession. Within days, we learned that American International Group and Merrill Lynch would be next in line.
I recently overheard two business leaders saying the slow pace of economic recovery would impede their quarterly results. I concur with their assessment, but focusing on the rate of economic recovery is similar to looking at an iceberg; only 10 percent is visible. The other 90 percent is hidden below the surface.
Over beers and dinners, I hear complaints that innovation is dead in the United States, and that most of the “real” innovation comes from southeast Asia, and the university skunk works of Western and Northern Europe.
While the meaning of the term “the skills gap” might always be debated, a new report finds that middle-skill attainment makes up the real gap for Indiana’s economy.
In recent years, our city’s civic and business leaders have put much effort into attracting and retaining young professionals, those young singles who prefer city life, dining out and environmental causes.
As a legislator, I know from experience that some policy topics are more fun to discuss than others. I’ve served a variety of roles in the Senate, and all of them have had their own share of debate and consideration.
Indianapolis has largely reinvented itself over the last four decades. Most of our modern skyline—the major office towers and hotels that define downtown—came about in the last 20 years. The IUPUI campus took shape in the early 1970s and has continued to grow. The sports venues that helped put us on the map, the vast convention center, our impressive new airport terminal—all built within a generation.
Indiana’s health care work force is ill-equipped to meet the daunting challenges and requirements of health care reform without strategic work force development efforts.
Following the federal government’s release of data on hospital charges for Medicare patients, much has been written nationally about how health care providers determine prices, the variation in charges for the same procedure, and the willingness of hospitals to “come clean” on the issue of price transparency.
You probably don’t notice it when you walk into your office building or drive by the bank. The landscaping looks nice, so you don’t pay attention to it. Throughout central Indiana, though, developers and landscapers are using plants that are inexpensive and look good, but plants like burning bush and Japanese barberry are destroying our native habitats and hurting land and water quality.
The City-County Council recently approved a proposal to create more entrepreneurship opportunities for people with disabilities. Led by President Maggie Lewis and Vice President John Barth, the council unanimously agreed to include the disability enterprise category to the city’s contracting program. Within days, Mayor Greg Ballard signed it into law.
That phrase comes to mind when I talk about transit in central Indiana. As I’ve urged people to support the IndyConnect plan, more than a few have said, “But didn’t IndyGo get funds to add a new route and improve others? Didn’t that fix the problem?”
The recent cutbacks sweeping central Indiana hospital systems are part of a larger epidemic affecting the entire U.S. health care system.
Not-for-profit staffs and boards occasionally stub their toes by “firing” or replacing longtime volunteers.
Indiana’s school choice movement is experiencing a lot of growing pains these days, particularly with charter and private schools. Patience and tolerance is called for now.
Congress should act immediately to reverse increase in interest rate.
While elected officials express support for the value and impact of charitable giving, proposals on the table indicate a very real threat to incentives that encourage this kind of generosity.
When I embarked on my 110-day, 48,000-swing, cross-country golf odyssey, I had prepared for the rigors of hitting 500-600 golf balls a day on deserted roads in 100-degree heat.
Fundamental to the American experience is the belief that our children have opportunity to reach whatever heights to which they aspire.
Jay Harvey, the performing arts critic for The Indianapolis Star, retired from the paper May 17. Given the importance of the arts to central Indiana, not to mention the amount of advertising bought by arts organizations, one would think the Star has a plan.
