MortonMarcus

Eye on the Pie columnist

Marcus is director emeritus of the Indiana Business Research Center at the Kelley School of Business. He has contributed to local and state economic development efforts since 1970. In addition to teaching economics at Indiana University for 33 years, Marcus has served six Indiana governors as an adviser on taxation and economic development. None of his advice has been taken. Marcus was the governor’s liaison to the U.S. Bureau of the Census from 1979 to 2003, has testified before Congress, appeared on the PBS “News Hour with Jim Lehrer,” and consulted with firms and governments throughout the United States and in Southeast Asia. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Marcus has earned degrees in economics from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of California-Los Angeles. He and his wife, Rebecca, reside in Indianapolis. They have three children, six grandchildren, six cats, a dog and a heavy mortgage.

E-mail:
mmarcus@ibj.com

Recent Articles

MARCUS: Vouchers are fine, but about those details...

April 14, 2012
Without standards of performance, taxpayers sign blank checks while children are set up for future failures.
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MARCUS: Let's do away with child labor laws, too

January 7, 2012
Many parents would joyfully let their 14-year-olds become roofers, if it meant more money for meth.
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MARCUS: Consumer Price Index proposal costs little, saves a lot

July 30, 2011
For all of our philosophical pondering combined with our statistical cleverness, we cannot figure out what is “living” nor determine its “cost.”
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MARCUS: New Hoosier motto could become 'Be less than you have been'

July 23, 2011
The U.S. Army says, “Be all that you can be.” Indiana is moving toward a different message.
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MARCUS: Multipliers are what you make them

July 9, 2011
New money will not necessarily mean new jobs at the beauty parlor or the barbershop if there are already empty chairs.
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MARCUS: Should we be offended by Times story?

July 2, 2011
Last month, The New York Times ran a story under the headline “Indiana: The Exception? Yes, but …” The story gave a factual presentation of our state’s economic circumstances, but with an overriding sarcasm that left a bad taste in Hoosier mouths.
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MARCUS: A tale of Colts, Packers and Longhorns

June 25, 2011
What we gain by having the Colts and Pacers is mainly a psychological benefit. We feel that we are big league because we have big-league teams carrying our name.
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MARCUS: Hold the celebration; reality is just ahead

June 18, 2011
Frequently, Hoosiers ride as passengers in one of the front cars on the business roller coaster.
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MARCUS: Check out this regional cooperation

June 11, 2011
About 48 hours after the exciting finish of this year’s Indy 500 race, Mayors Wayne Seybold, R-Marion, and Greg Goodnight, D-Kokomo, announced the formation of the Midwest Automotive Loop.
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MARCUS: Should we have commuting policies?

June 4, 2011
In 2009, 80 percent of Hoosiers worked in the county where they lived, with the other 20 percent going elsewhere to work. Hardly a change from data 10 years earlier.
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MARCUS: Numbers say Indiana's economy isn't healthy

May 28, 2011
Usually, when an unemployed person gets a job, the number of people unemployed goes down and the number employed goes up. That’s a healthy economy.
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MARCUS: Lies told about people paying income tax

May 21, 2011
“Liars!” I want to shout. People who lie deliberately and those who lie innocently afflict our nation with falsehoods.
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MARCUS: High school principals as economic drivers

May 14, 2011
From time to time, I am asked: “What is the best investment for Indiana’s economic development”? The answer: our high-school-age young men and women.
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MARCUS: Manufacturing is economy's blessing, bane

May 7, 2011
Manufacturing alone accounted for 53 percent of the decline in what people earned at their private-sector jobs.
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MARCUS: Evansville is the least loser or best of the bad

April 30, 2011
Recent data from the bottom of the recession reveal all seven economic areas that include Indiana counties experienced declines in per-capita personal income.
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MARCUS: Uptight music for uncertain times

April 23, 2011
The blues resonate with the tough people living tough lives.
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MARCUS: What is it worth? TV has the answer

April 16, 2011
Discovering value emerged as a TV staple long before the recent economic tsunami.
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MARCUS: No statistics on death by pothole

April 9, 2011
Nothing stirs the imagination like a near-death experience.
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MARCUS: The recovery is over ... or maybe not

April 2, 2011
The recession in Indiana and the nation lasted only three quarters. But the Hoosier recovery took six quarters.
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MARCUS: Training and education aren't same thing

March 26, 2011
Ignorant and bigoted people are encouraged to run for public office when they witness this dumbing-down of society.
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MARCUS: Opposing ideas need not demand respect

March 19, 2011
Failure to cooperate with an unethical power is a commendable ethical stand.
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MARCUS: Fewer Hoosier children means less retail

March 12, 2011
Indiana added 369,400 adults, compared with just 33,900 children, a ratio of nearly 11 to 1. This imbalance was hardly uniform, but its consequences are important for all of us.
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MARCUS: The nightmare in my neighborhood

March 5, 2011
Clearly, any group of workers with incomes in excess of their proportion in the economy are villains.
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MARCUS: Debt and taxes are not the devil's doing

February 26, 2011
This national debt business is being overplayed. Critics characterize the debt as a giant burden, our most important national issue. Borrowing for the future, however, makes good sense when the debt contributes to economic growth.
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MARCUS: Rethink government consolidation now

February 18, 2011
Why isn’t our Legislature shredding the fabric of community government by disbanding cities and towns that are only artifacts of horse-drawn days?
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MARCUS: Hoosier employment deficit stands

February 12, 2011
Few people labor for the glory of being employed; most people work for money. When they do not work, they have less to spend and less joy enters the homes of merchants.
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MARCUS: Recession's recovery persistently denied

February 5, 2011
Indiana's recovery is only 75-percent complete, lagging the nation.
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MARCUS: Indiana says, 'If it's broken, throw it out'

January 29, 2011
Indiana’s new policy is, “If it is broken, throw it out.” We applied that policy to township assessors and now we are applying it to township government. Soon we may do the same to urban school districts.
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MARCUS: A good bill benefits dinosaur buildings

January 22, 2011
Building owners or developers use the Indiana Industrial Recovery Income Tax Credit to reduce their costs in restoring or rehabilitating dinosaur industrial structures.
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MARCUS: Daniels ignores deficit of neglect

January 15, 2011
In the long run, a city or state will attract households and businesses through the services it offers, not the taxes it does not collect. Our political leadership knows this, but ignores it.
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  1. Back in my teens/early 20s, Chicago's in Greenfield was a spot where my friends and I ate on a constant basis. Chicago's has always offered good pizza and bread sticks, but after getting married and buying a home, their prices and locations have made it so I would only get their pizza once every three years. They have expanded into McCordsville, but sadly closed the downtown Indy store years ago (this was the coolest layout for a restaurant in my opinion).

    Just recently we decided to try Chicago's at the old Greenfield location. While it was clean, they haven't updated much over the last five years or so. Still the same layout, booths, tables, etc.. I made a comment to my wife about how that place hasn't changed in years. Good to see they are doing well enough to build a newer building.

  2. INDIANA CASINOS ARE TIGHT. OTHER OUTSIDE CASINOS HAVE WINNERS ALL DAY LONG. PEOPLE HIT REGULARLY AT OUTSIDE CASINOS, INDIANA CASINOS HAVE FEW WINNERS ESPECIALLY THE LARGER JACKPOT WINNERS. PEOPLE ARE NOT WINNING ENOUGH AT INDIANA CASINO , SO THEY ARE NOT FUN TO VISIT. I,D RATHER TRAVEL TO OUTSIDE CASINO AND TAKE THE CHANCE ON WINNING AND HAVING FUN DOING THAT , THEN TO KNOW THAT YOUR CHANCES AT WINNING AT A INDIANA CASINO AREFAR AND IN BETWEEN.

  3. record low crowd and a record low TV audience.

  4. for an IRL carb day. Like a record tv number,,,,that would be soooo hard

  5. For those of you who think the state didn't do as much as they should...the state did $6M more than they should!!! As a taxpayer I am opposed to the $6M!!!

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