MikeHicks

Economic Analysis columnist

Hicks is director of Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research and an associate professor of economics.  He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Virginia Military Institute, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Tennessee.  He has been on the faculty at Tennessee, Marshall University and the Air Force Institute of Technology.  Hicks has written two books, more than 25 scholarly papers and over 100 technical reports.  His work extends from the economic consequences of Hurricane Katrina and Wal-mart in local communities, to state taxation and federal environmental policy.  He has testified before the U.S. Senate, several state legislatures and in federal and state courts.  Hicks is an Army Reserve officer with 24 years of service, including combat and peacekeeping tours.  He’s married to the former Janet Thomas, and has a daughter and two sons.

E-mail:  cber@bsu.edu

Recent Articles

Hicks: Firing of Heritage researcher shows cowardice

May 18, 2013
A recent study by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, sheds a great deal of light on the sausage mill of policy research, and the courage and integrity of the process of policy research altogether.
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Hicks: Root cause of suffering labor market elusive

May 11, 2013
At the beginning of the Great Recession, in December 2007, there were more than 26 full-time workers for each part-time employee looking for full-time work. By June 2009, that number had shrunk to less than 15 full-time workers for each part-timer. There it has remained.
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Hicks: The real cause of brain drain? Quality of life

May 4, 2013
Brain drain is a genuine problem in Indiana. But instead of slowing this trend, our higher education financing policies accelerate this problem by pushing more students into majors that are in demand elsewhere.
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Hicks: Fiscal prudence should be rewarded by tax cuts

April 27, 2013
Indiana enjoys what economists call a “structural surplus” in state tax revenue. This means the several-hundred-million-dollar surplus is a permanent affair when viewed against current expenditures. It would be astonishing if this did not lead to calls for a tax cut, and so it has.
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Hicks: Terror won't bring down a determined nation

April 20, 2013
Along with the sadness and anger that accompanies the Boston bomb explosions should come the realization that this could well be our lot for decades to come. We should expect and prepare for the worst.
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Hicks: Bourgeois dignity and the modern world

April 13, 2013
A most remarkable book, “Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World,”, says all the explanations of the explosion of economic growth that occurred about 300 years ago are inadequate.
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Hicks: Three bad ideas that just won't disappear

April 6, 2013
Perhaps difficult economic times unleash the power of long-discredited ideas into general circulation, because three bad intellectual influences merit noting—one from the political right, one bipartisan folly and one from the left.
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HICKS: Major sea change about the debt under way

March 30, 2013
A public fight has emerged among economists over the past few weeks, which likely spells major policy changes over the coming years.
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HICKS: Still too early to call Iraq war success or failure

March 23, 2013
The 10th anniversary of the start of the second Iraq war is an opportunity to reflect upon the economics of the conflict.
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HICKS: Recent economic data hold little good news

March 16, 2013
Most government statistics are preliminary releases, intended to be revised, so they provide a poor picture even to someone with clear context on their meaning.
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HICKS: Economy will get worse before it gets better

March 9, 2013
The dramatic reintroduction of payroll taxes makes this year’s tax increase most injurious to the working poor and the lower-to-middle-income families.
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HICKS: Economic evolution requires ongoing flexibility

March 2, 2013
I am often asked some version of the question, “Can we really survive becoming a service economy—won’t our loss of manufacturing jobs spell doom for our country?” The answer is, “No.”
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HICKS: Stagnant pay for low-wage workers a problem

February 23, 2013
Hidden within the unserious politics of the minimum-wage debate lies an important discussion of why many workers have not seen their wages grow over the past generation. It simply takes some digging.
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HICKS: Let's try a $25 minimum wage to end poverty

February 16, 2013
As the president noted, no one should doubt that raising a family while earning minimum wage is a hard business; perhaps that is why almost nobody does it.
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HICKS: Why stock prices rise in a shaky economy

February 9, 2013
The stock market highs over the past few months have many folks confused.
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HICKS: You can stop wondering ... the recession is here

February 2, 2013
Sometimes the worst part of the economic forecasting I do is the sinking feeling that my predictions will be right.
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HICKS: Middle class, education and income inequality

January 26, 2013
The United States has always had something like a middle class, but for most of our history it has been a distinction not necessarily dependent on income or wealth.
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HICKS: Leaders steer us toward government shutdown

January 19, 2013
We appear to be headed for a government shutdown as our leaders in Washington, D.C., find themselves at an impasse on the largest question facing the nation: how to cut spending.
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HICKS: Why is the unemployment rate still so high?

January 12, 2013
The Great Recession wasn’t caused by a housing market collapse; it was more than that. Our economic unwinding required lots of failures.
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HICKS: More budget failures despite missed cliff

January 5, 2013
It was clear the poison pill of the fiscal cliff required too much courage for our “leaders” in Washington. So, we will have what, at first blush, appears to be the worst possible compromise.
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HICKS: Time to take stock of Mitch Daniels' tenure

December 29, 2012
No matter your politics, you must admit that Mitch Daniels has been the most consequential Hoosier governor in more than a lifetime.
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HICKS: Let's all maximize utility over the holidays

December 22, 2012
The vintage and durability of classic Christmas songs carry an important economic lesson for our times.
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HICKS: Economic forecasts entertaining, but usually wrong

December 15, 2012
This is the season of economic forecasts, for which there are many uses beyond their pure entertainment value.
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HICKS: Perhaps it is time for Americans to pay our debts

December 8, 2012
Our republic can—and probably should—run a debt. As a great nation, we build and do things that endure, and these should be paid for, in part, by successive generations.
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