Taking a sledge hammer to a car might seem like an illogical way to protest a tax hike on tobacco. But it sure feels good, especially to people who are stuck inside the economic pressure cooker that is Connersville. So on April 1, the day a 158-percent increase in the federal cigarette tax took effect, […]
Fully 40 of Indiana’s 92 counties derived more than half of their earnings from commuters bringing back their compensation from somewhere else.
My excitement must have been evident to everyone on the street. I was being pulled in a rickshaw though the Indianapolis streets that Mayor Ballard had designated as the local Chinatown. There was a bicyclist providing the muscle power. He was about my age, an older fellow who needed the job, probably to supplement his […]
In just one year, Indianapolis’ unemployment rate has risen from 4.5 percent to 8.2 percent. But don’t expect local economic development officials to complain too much. Not when 74 of Indiana’s 92 counties have higher unemployment rates than Marion County’s. “When I took this job 15 months ago and the Dow [Jones industrial average] was […]
Beyond a sincere effort to improve high school education, we require massive retraining of our
business leaders and managers.
Local manufacturing stalwart Allison Transmission will have to restructure its more than $4 billion in debt or further cut expenses if it’s going to weather the recession. That’s the conclusion of analysts at Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, which have issued negative outlooks for Allison, the top commercial truck-transmission supplier. “The downgrades reflect our concern […]
A frequent reader of these columns protests my persistent attention to Indiana’s long-term economic problems. He wants to hear about my recommended solutions. His will be done in Crothersville and Chesterton, as in Portland and Princeton. To start, I confess my faith in infrastructure. Build Interstate 69. Convert interstates to toll roads. Upgrade water and […]
Difficult economic conditions have been faced before and we have both the tools and will to overcome our problems.
Inflation nearly disappeared in January for the first time in 50 years, with only a slight rise in the Consumer Price Index saving the country from deflation. Rising prices are hardly a concern now, as the depressed auto and real estate sectors can attest. But economists fear inflation might pose a threat as early as […]
Cost-cutting and layoffs at the city’s museums and full-time orchestra haven’t brought many visible changes so far. The scenario could darken considerably in 2010, 2011 and 2012, as cultural institutions fully account for devastating investment losses in their endowments-a key source of income. “It’s a bigger problem than what most people think,” said Andy Bawel, […]
With one hand, Rob Koharchik refills his tall coffee cup with liquid energy. With the other, he cradles rolled-up floor plans like a football. He quickly climbs several flights of dark concrete steps to reach a small stage, where a worker on a lift is filling a jury-rigged bucket with fake flower petals. In less […]
The jokesters in the Indiana General Assembly once again have shown their incredible ability to play the fools. True, it only takes a committee to commit laughable acts beyond the dreams of circus clowns. The entire Legislature need not be involved. This time, a selection of our representatives rejected efforts to rid the state of […]
Popular search engine company ChaCha Search said yesterday that it had raised another round of funding — and laid off 25 workers.
So, the economy is taking a toll on ChaCha revenue even while investors continue to believe the…
The trio of attorneys who practice in the local office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s life sciences group is a self-deprecating, peculiar bunch. Not only are the three the punch line of an occasional lawyer joke, but they’re also the target of lighthearted ribbing about their scholarly credentials. “We’re the geeky group,” patent attorney Kevin […]
Indiana leaders need to focus on the increasing gap between the average wage in Indiana and in the nation.
This week I’m going to be
your own, personal Pollyanna and try to cheer you up with some good news.
The coffee pot was broken at Stellarwind BioEnergy. It was probably just as well, since most of the liquid percolating at its home-in the former Hoosier Orchid Co.-is green and algae-ridden. It’s in water-cooler jugs and 64-ounce Coke bottles backlit by fluorescent tubes, back in the lab. But the main act at Stellarwind is “the […]
Today, with our national economic crisis, it is easy to focus on getting jobs. Under such dire conditions as those facing some workers, homeowners and retirees, we can forget that getting back to where we were before all this economic distress may not be an appropriate goal. Imagine with me that Hershel Hoosier was born […]
At a time when the field of journalism is shedding thousands of jobs, Indiana University’s journalism department is seeing record growth. The growth is so strong, IU officials said the journalism school will have to abandon its home of the last 65 years for a facility twice its size. What appears to be an anomaly […]
The trio of attorneys who practice in the local office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s life sciences group is a self-deprecating, peculiar bunch. Not only are the three the punch line of an occasional lawyer joke, but they’re also the target of lighthearted ribbing about their scholarly credentials. “We’re the geeky group,” patent attorney Kevin […]
