The widely publicized unemployment rate is one of those chameleon numbers, where apparent good is sometimes bad, and vice versa. All is not always what it seems when you peek behind the wizard’s curtain.
If you indulge in other forms of gambling from time to time, “bracketology” is the smartest bet you’ll ever make. And, you might become a criminal.
What criteria is the public official supposed to use when she is forcing taxpayers to support a private venture? The government’s ability to support private enterprise is limited.
House Enrolled Act 1019, a bill to repeal the wage, is what gives. Few Statehouse junkies thought it would be an issue this time around. But the bill has passed the House and stands a chance of becoming law.
Tax increment financing is sold by supporters as the closest thing to a free lunch mankind ever invented. We differ.
Demand for petroleum products has stagnated because the global economy slowed. Supply, primarily driven by U.S. shale oil, has soared.
Two years into the Pence administration, claims and counterclaims abound about its tax policy. Critics claim the policies shower unwarranted benefits on those who need it least at the expense of the middle class, while supporters claim the policies promote economic growth and prosperity.
I have always thought legislators should be obliged to take the equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath: First, do no harm. Most of the major and minor evils of history have been a byproduct of overambitious political leaders intent on “doing something.”
Free-market economists are skeptical of government programs designed to promote economic development.
The Indy Chamber is opposing the proposed state constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriages and civil unions. Fifty years ago—even 10 years ago—such a position would have been unthinkable. This is a remarkable change.
When I read what then-Gov. Mitch Daniels said in an email to then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett about Marxist historian Howard Zinn’s work, my immediate reaction was, “My thoughts exactly!” I take great exception to Zinn’s characterization of American history.
I weep for my Afghan friends and thank God for the relative civility that characterizes Indiana political conflict.
With the Governor’s Mansion in tow and a super-majority in both houses of the Legislature, Republicans seemed poised to impose radical change on the state.
A word I like to introduce my students to is “intractable.” This is a fancy, 75-cent college word that means can’t be solved, can only be dealt with—as in, the problems of homelessness are intractable.
After an election, it is just good manners to congratulate the winners and offer condolences to the losers. We wish the winners well and hope they succeed in the tough business of crafting and implementing good public policy. We thank those who did not win for giving their time and energy offering an alternative.
Politics is about compromise. But compromise is always around an agenda and elections are about agendas.
The outgoing Daniels administration takes great pride in its fiscal probity and not without justification—the state’s budget is in surplus, its credit rating is better than the U.S. governments’, and business taxes have been reduced.
