DeHaven: Indiana Joins Washington in Crony Capitalism
by Tad DeHaven The Indianapolis Star’s investigation of a contractor hired by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) to select companies to receive taxpayer handouts is further evidence that a separation of state government and commercial interests is needed. For that to happen, however, Indiana will need to separate itself from the federal money that perpetuates Read the full article…
Schansberg: ‘Who Prevails with the Prevailing Wage?
by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. A prevailing wage is a legal arrangement to set minimum compensation (wages and benefits) in public-sector construction at rates above where market participants (demand and supply) would otherwise reach equilibrium. As always, the basic choice is between markets and government; we either allow people to do what they want — or Read the full article…
Indiana at 200 (3) | State’s Economy Built on Agriculture
by Andrea Neal By the time Europeans reached Indiana in the 1600s, our economic future was already set. Cornfields stretched for miles along the river valleys and colorful vegetables filled gardens tended by Native Americans. Indiana was destined to be an agricultural state. Climate and topography made it so. In 1794, after Gen. Anthony Wayne’s Read the full article…
King: Immigration — ‘Not More Government, Better Governance’
by Stephen M. King, Ph.D. The chairman of the Howard County Republican Party declared recently that we do not have an “immigration problem; we have a Hispanic immigration problem.” His solution is to penalize employers who illegally hire illegal immigrants and redirect the considerable resources of the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Read the full article…
Newsletter | Indy Economic Development: It’s not Cricket
For the use of the membership only (668 words) “With the flanneled fools at the wicket or the muddied oafs at the goals. Given to strong delusion, wholly believing a lie.” — Rudyard Kipling, “The Islanders” (1902) The mayor of Indianapolis (or someone who has his ear) looked down from a corner window office of Read the full article…
King | Same-Sex Marriage in Indiana: Who Decides?
by Stephen M. King, Ph.D. Neither on the Left nor the Right was there a shortage of viewpoints regarding Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) opinion. The Wall Street Journal labeled it “A Gay Marriage Muddle.” Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion in Hollingsworth vs. Perry called DOMA “an illegal federal intrusion on the traditional Read the full article…
