Bohanon: Counting Conservatives, Terrorists
by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. I think it was Mark Twain who said there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Of course, unlike a mere opinion a reference to a number gives an objective aura to a specific claim. It is no wonder that op-ed writers, this one included, love to pepper their writings with statistics Read the full article…
Keating: The Folly of Tax Abatements
by Barry Keating, Ph.D. The tallest and most prominent building in South Bend is the Chase Tower. The tower is also known for inoperable elevators and a crumbling façade; the occupancy rate is about 50 percent. The Summit Club, once located on the tower’s top floor, was considered the most elite restaurant in town. Now Read the full article…
The Outstater: Business Groups on the Make
“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” — Adam Smith by Craig Ladwig Our foundation’s seminar this week focused on Indiana’s expanding business leagues, the various Chambers of Commerce, economic-development departments, regional Read the full article…
Huston: Here Come the Property Police
by Tom Charles Huston Land-use regulation is the means by which communities self-segregate by race and class. Through the use of zoning and subdivision control ordinances, regulators establish housing price points and those prices determine who can live in the community. The Obama administration has set out to upend this process by using “disparate impact” Read the full article…
Indiana at 200 (65): Fastest Cyclist in the World
by Andrea Neal Dubbed the “colored cyclone” by newspaper reporters of the early 1900s, Hoosier Marshall W. “Major” Taylor was a champion cyclist whose speed was surpassed only by railway locomotives. Despite achieving international fame — and defying bigotry and Jim Crow segregationist practices — Taylor died penniless and alone at 53, a forgotten sports Read the full article…
The Outstater: A Mayor Immigrates
“There is surely no more squalid idea than that propagated by the death-cult calling itself Islamic State. And there is no finer idea than the freedom that defines Western societies. Let’s not be shy about saying so.” — Dan Hannan THE MAYOR of my mid-sized Hoosier town is a “Hey, Norm” type of guy, the Read the full article…
