Category: Indiana Writers Group

“Something worth doing is worth measuring.” — Dr. John Crawford, Fort Wayne City Council by Ken Davidson Over the course of the past three years, obtaining information on Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts has been made difficult and in some ways impossible. In 2016, shortly after articles appeared in the quarterly Indiana Policy Review, the…

by Leo Morris I was intrigued by a recent CNHI News story to the effect that Michigan’s legalization of marijuana for recreational use could create headaches for police in northern Indiana. For one thing, they have to be on the lookout for those legally using weed in Michigan who might be a little lax about…

5:30 p.m. this Saturday Dec. 8 at Zianos on Dupont in Fort Wayne BRING A FRIEND: Seats are limited. At the podium will be Andrea Neal, Erin Tuttle and Marlin Stutzman speaking on “A Government Upside Down.” Expansive Q&A. Register HERE.

TO ACCESS YOUR ADVANCE COPY of the winter journal, please make sure your membership is up to date here. An individual membership is $50 and a corporate membership is $120. Thank you! The Eco-Devo Promises: Let’s Unwrap Them Unelected redevelopment commissions should not have the power to take money from other parts of government for a Tax Increment Financing (TIF)…

by Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. When teaching principles of economics to university freshmen and sophomores, I always give what I call my “Prozac lecture.” I warn them it is coming so they can bring their coping powers to class, prescriptions and otherwise. You’re probably thinking the lecture has something to do with economics being known as…

by Ryan Cummins The truth is there is no accepted definition in Indiana now of what constitutes “economic development.” And that is part of the problem. For when something like economic development can mean anything, which it often does, then it can just as easily become meaningless, which it often is. Economic development should mean…

by Leo Morris This is actually a Christmas column. But it will take a while to get there, so please bear with me. My first job at my first newspaper was wire editor for the Wabash Plain Dealer. That meant that, in addition to being a reporter charged with gathering information and writing local stories,…

by T. Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. The Bible’s account of Joseph in Genesis (Chapters 37, 39- 49) presents a story rich in lessons. One is an economics lesson. To wit: Speculation in markets can play a positive role in promoting overall economic well-being. This is an important lesson because speculators are typically classified as societal…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. “Moral virtue belongs to all of them; but the temperance of a woman and that of a man are not the same, nor their courage and justice, as Socrates thought.” (Aristotle, Politics, 1260a 21-2) Decades ago, when I was an undergrad and the world was different, what with society being more…

TO ENSURE THAT YOU GET a copy of the winter journal, please click here. An individual membership is $50 and a corporate membership is $120. The Eco-Devo Promises: Let’s Unwrap Them Unelected redevelopment commissions should not have the power to take away money from other parts of government for a Tax Increment Financing project, especially ones that never come to…