Let’s get burritogate out of the way and proceed to more substantive, if less spicy, matters. Yes, a guy who works for the Canadian National Railroad paid for a burrito and a beer that I consumed. He did not know then that I wrote this column and hence commanded a vast, influential audience. I did not know then that he had a project to represent. But CN (as the rail line is called) has a most significant project going. It…
It was dark and I was feeling anxious about getting this column out on time. Then there was a tap at the sliding door to the deck. It was an apparition, a ghost, a figure all in white out of a 19th-century novel. But the tap was real. I opened the door and recognized her. “Nellie,” I said, “what are you doing out here at this hour?” Yes, it was Nellie, the Nervous Nurse, who lives close by. “My frog…
It was dark and I was feeling anxious about getting this column out on time. Then there was a tap at the sliding door to the deck. It was an apparition, a ghost, a figure all in white out of a 19th-century novel. But the tap was real. I opened the door and recognized her. “Nellie,” I said, “what are you doing out here at this hour?” Yes, it was Nellie, the Nervous Nurse, who lives close by. “My frog…
“How are you doing?” Ed asks in a voice that for years has called out over the grind of the machinery that applies water, soap and heated air to thousands of cars. “Well,” I say. “Nice,” Ed says. “It’s nice to be doing well. It’s what a lot of folks wish they were doing in Indiana,” he says, chuckling. “I’m not aware of new serious problems,” I say. “No, you wouldn’t be, since you can afford one of my car…
Like hundreds of millions of other people around the world, I’ve been watching the Olympics on TV. Like most Americans among those viewers (especially NBC executives), I was pulling for swimmer Michael Phelps to win eight gold medals and surpass the record seven set by Mark Spitz in 1972. As everyone not buried under a rock knows by now, Phelps succeeded in his quest, but only by the narrowest of margins and only with considerable help from his teammates. Thus,…
EYE ON THE PIE What projects should public finance? You name it, Rusty Knale will argue against it. We’re at the delicatessen. He buys the hot pastrami on rye. I’m going for the chopped liver on pumpernickel. “I’m wondering,” I say, “if the new Honda plant at Greensburg is going to do more for the people of Indiana than Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy.” “No,” he answers quickly. “Remember that Dean Martin song, ‘Memories are made of this’? How many…
You name it, Rusty Knale will argue against it. We’re at the delicatessen. He buys the hot pastrami on rye. I’m going for the chopped liver on pumpernickel. “I’m wondering,” I say, “if the new Honda plant at Greensburg is going to do more for the people of Indiana than Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy.” “No,” he answers quickly. “Remember that Dean Martin song, ‘Memories are made of this’? How many people will the new Colts’ stadium hold?” “I hear…
Have you read the Ke r n a n – S h e p a r d report? Don’t feel guilty, few have. Its more formal name is, “Streamlining Local Government; We’ve got to stop governing like this.” It’s a very strong, readable statement for reforming local government. Unfortunately, it does not get to our root problem: Local governments are creatures trained for obedience by their master, the Indiana General Assembly. Although the report does not say it, there will…
Just about every young, college-educated Midwesterner has given up hope and moved to the South or West, right?
A story that appeared in IBJ over the weekend suggests otherwise.
The Indianapolis area leads nearly all other large Midwestern cities…
I enjoy the propaganda of government agencies pleading the causes of special interests. This is the opening sentence of our state profile prepared by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy: “Small businesses are the heart of Indiana’s economy.” Frequently, we hear that farming is the beating heart of our economy. Others claim the thumping sound we hear is that of manufacturing. Teachers tell us the economy is only as steady as its educational footing. Steel has a claim…
Few Midwestern university cities have prospered as much as Bloomington in the past couple of decades, a recent Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago study shows. When it comes to growth in per-capital personal income, Bloomington has been surpassed only by Minneapolis, home to the University of Minnesota, and Ames, Iowa, where Iowa State University is […]
It seemed like a good, simple idea at the time to focus this column on how Indiana taxes compare with those of other states. But that turns out to be more of a job than you might think. For example, which year do we use? The most recent year available from the U.S. Bureau of the Census is 2005-06. But that year won’t work because 12 percent of Indiana’s revenue came from its state highways in 2005-06. Remember, we leased…
What we don’t know does hurt us. Many builders constructed houses assuming there was a continuing strong market of qualified home buyers. Some mortgage brokers and some bankers gleefully ignored or misrepresented the abilities of home buyers to sustain homeownership. Too many home buyers did not bother to learn what their obligations as homeowners would be. They didn’t know about paying property taxes or how adjustable mortgage rates could escalate beyond their capabilities to meet their monthly payments. The companies…
As these words are written, we do not know what Congress will decide to do about the mortgage mess. But it is clear folks are angry about the inequity of rescuing borrowers, lenders or traders with funding from the pockets of the innocent. Among the “villains” are home buyers who took on mortgages they could not afford. Also marked for sanctions are over-eager lenders, highly paid executives, and those who dealt in “innovative” financial products linked to mortgages. Those who…
“Geez Morton, lighten up,” was one of the e-mails that came in this week. I find it difficult to do that while our state and national economies are under such stress. Another correspondent wanted an answer to that persistent question, “Are we better off than we were a year ago? Four years ago?” Here is a small part of that answer: At this writing, there are 5.5 million more jobs in the country than four years ago, an increase averaging…
I was uncomfortably challenged when Faye of the Forest landed on my deck a few days ago wanting to know what all these economic goings-on meant. “I’m responsible for teaching the elves,” she said, “and I don’t know what to tell them.” “I don’t know what to tell you,” I said. “But here’s what seems to me has happened.” “Some people,” I said, “are unable to make the payments on their mortgages. These mortgages are not held by the banks…
Critics are chirping like cicadas and basically singing the same song. One, get rid of Lynch, the sooner the better. And two, spend money, lots of it, on a “big-name” coach. If only it were as simple as the knee-jerks would have you believe. Perhaps they have forgotten, but Indiana has a lame-duck athletic director, Rick Greenspan, who won’t clean out his Assembly Hall office until Dec. 31. A search committee is vetting applicants. I’m told there are exceptional candidates…
I apologize for filling a column with numbers. But there is no other way of depicting the unemployment situation in Indiana. As we have learned in the current financial crisis, lack of knowledge is the root of calamity. In August, the latest date for which we have information, Indiana’s unemployment rate was 6.4 percent, compared with 4.5 percent a year earlier. Nationally, the unemployment rate had gone from 4.7 percent in August 2007 to 6.1 percent this year. This stronger…
In 2008, a Hoosier economist suggests consumers first pay off their debts, then invest in a liberal education and other causes
that enrich lives.
Indiana’s economic woes are long standing and may be having an adverse effect on the health of our people,
because Hoosiers can’t consistently gain access to excellent health care.
