Articles

MARCUS: Just ignore ill-conceived rankings

The 24/7 Wall St. website asks the question, “How well-run are America’s 50 states?” To answer this complex question, “we chose what we considered to be the 10 most important ranking [sic] of financial and overall government management.”

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MARCUS: Dirty toilets signal mismanagement

Most people take toilets seriously. A dirty toilet is an affront to people who care about themselves, their families and their fellow citizens. Management can always blame the users of the toilets for persistent filth and disarray, but ultimately it’s management’s responsibility.

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MARCUS: Some data are too exciting for bedtime

he U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis,” I began, “has just released quarterly personal-income data through the second quarter of 2010. They show Indiana in third place among the 50 states—third from the bottom—for income growth during April, May and June.

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MARCUS: The highs and lows of unemployment

Indiana’s unemployment rate in July was 10.1 percent—the 12th-highest of the 50 states. Nevada was running at 14.3 percent to lead the nation, while the lowest rate was 3.6 percent, in North Dakota. We’re much closer to the worst than we are to the best.

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MARCUS: Metrics no substitute for management

Most companies select from a work force that has a mixed quality of education. Instead of using this diversity as an asset, management today tries to impose ‘behavioral metrics’ on its workers independent of their individual strengths.

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MARCUS: Unemployment is a waste of our resources

People have to be hired to do valuable things with the money the government pumps into the economy. That money can’t be given to people or to businesses with the hope that they will use it. It has to be spent on activities that increase employment.

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MARCUS: Is suburbia the root of all evil?

Once upon a time, school transportation eased the journey of farm kids going to school. Today,
it’s a massive subsidy for suburban kids whose parents have chosen to live far from a school in a place without sidewalks.

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MARCUS: How much do workers want to earn?

Regular readers know I’m a numbers guy. Give me a set of data and I can be happily
occupied for hours. A simple visit to Hoosiers by the Numbers on the Indiana Department of Workforce Development website is a data junkie’s joy.

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MARCUS: Health care bill opens doors to change

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a major step forward. It widens the door to health insurance for those
with pre-existing conditions, for employees of small businesses and others currently not covered.

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