by Tyler Watts, Ph.D. Every scientific field has its annals of ancient, failed ideas. In medicine, there’s blood-letting with leeches. In geology there’s the flat-earth model and astronomy has its geocentric theory. And in economics, there’s mercantilism, which oddly enough had a lot in common with one candidate’s plan for job creation in the recent gubernatorial election. The Democrat, John Gregg, unveiled several specific policy proposals to reinvigorate Indiana’s economy, with a particular mind towards…

Nov. 9, 2012 If you haven’t ordered your ticket, click here to join us this Friday Nov. 16  (ticket sales close at 4 p.m. Nov. 12) at the Charlie Creek Inn for a seminar on how the citizens of Indiana can get their economies running again. The all-day format provides time for discussion of side issues, participation in question-and-answer sessions and one-on-ones with the experts. We are sending a special invitation to freshmen legislators. Session leaders John…

by Jeff Abbott, Ph.D., J.D. There has been an ominous tone developing in this year’s presidential election. No, it is not the ugly personal attacks, negative ads by special interest groups or promises that pander to special interest groups. Those have been part of the fabric of America’s elections for far too long. There is something new and even more dangerous. Some politicians see political gain in demonizing economic success under a free-market economy. Make…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Happy Centennial to the 1912 “Bull Moose Progressive Party”. This short-lived political party[1] had its most notable connection to Teddy Roosevelt—a former president who was its standard bearer and claimed to be “as fit as a bull moose.” Beyond surviving an assassination attempt[2], Teddy had the best showing for a “third-party” presidential candidate: he is the only candidate to out poll a Democrat or Republican since the Civil War.[3] The most popular…

by MARYANN O. KEATING, Ph.D. The Federal Reserve System (FED) is regularly in the news, and Ben Bernanke has become a household name. But of what importance is this to the ordinary Hoosier household? From high-school U.S. history we recall that President Andrew Jackson was suspicious of Eastern bankers and refused to re-charter the National Bank of the U.S. 75 years later, in 1913, the Federal Reserve was created by Congress to operate 12 regional…

For release Oct. 31 and thereafter (600 words; first of two parts) by Andrea Neal In his first State of the State address in 2005, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced, “Our state’s public finances are in ruins.” Unaware of the coming recession, he made four promises to citizens:To work to strengthen the economy, make government leaner and more efficient, modernize infrastructure and improve public education. On Tuesday, Indiana voters will select Daniels’ successor. In most quarters,…

by David Penticuff The daily newspaper I edit has decided to pursued a formal complaint against the local “growth council,” a quasi-official economic-development group similar to many in Indiana. It wasn’t an easy decision, forcing our management to defend the newspaper against charges it was against investment and progress. But it came down to an obvious matter of simply doing our jobs as Indiana journalists. At the heart of the complaint, denied recently by the…

There’s good news in Marion. The newspaper there, defying the role of booster that characterizes local journalism today, is asking hard questions about what local government is doing with economic-development dollars. Trips to China by job-hunting delegations of politicians and tens of thousands in tax-leveraged seed money have yielded little but disappointment. Only the folks at the Marion Chronicle-Tribune  — officially at least — are asking why. The newspaper is bucking an establishment that includes a popular…

  By David Penticuff MARION, Ind. — In our 2011 city election, Republican Mayor Wayne Seybold won a third term as he promised more of his brand of pedal-to-the-metal prospecting for companies to relocate in Marion. The Democrat candidate, Lynn Johnson, simply promised to hire many of the thousands of unemployed in Marion to fix up dilapidated buildings. At least her idea, while fantastically impractical, was an honest and transparent waste of tax dollars. Less…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. Political Science professors, members of the League of Women Voters and good government folks agree that the percentage of eligible citizens who vote is the best measure of our “civic health.” They do have a point. Such groups generally support satellite locations for voting, same-day registration, no-ID requirements and a variety of other policies designed to increase voting participation. I am agnostic on all of these policies as I profess a…