by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. A few weeks ago the Indianapolis Star reported that a bill passed out of committee prohibiting trans women from entering women’s collegiate athletic competition. The bill “requires, for purposes of interscholastic athletic events, state educational institutions and certain private postsecondary educational institutions to expressly designate an athletic team or sport as one of the following: 1) a male, men’s, or boys’ team or sport; 2) a female, women’s, or girls’ team or sport. 3) a coeducational or mixed…

by Mark Franke Sometimes, things just don’t make sense. The news has been full of stories of local government taxing districts unhappy with Gov. Mike Braun’s proposal to reduce property taxes for Hoosiers. It seems these units will find it stressful to operate with a reduction in tax revenue, regardless how small. That’s standard operating procedure. No governmental unit will ever gladly embrace a reduction in revenue any more than a family will be happy with…

by Mark Franke Donald Trump and Elon Musk must be accomplishing something, given the howls coming out of the Washington establishment. Could Trump actually be making good on his 2016 promise to drain the swamp? Still, I am not sanguine about his ultimate success. The root problem will still be there no matter how much fiscal mismanagement DOGE finds.  The problem is Congress and its absolute unwillingness to reform itself. It can’t even pass an…

by J.D. Wong Founded in 1971, Amtrak began as an “experiment” to see if passenger trains could make money. Yet, with routes drawn for political gain rather than public need, it has lost money ever since. Instead of throwing good money after bad, Congress should cut Amtrak’s subsidies to zero in the next 180 days. To put things in perspective, Amtrak’s long-haul routes lost $635.1 million in FY2024. Short-haul, state-supported routes didn’t fare any better, losing…

Update: Municipal Grocery Stores A CITY-RUN GROCERY STORE in a food “desert” — it seemed the perfect opportunity for our new mayor to demonstrate in microcosm how her economic-development vision could be realized. It was a pity the opportunity was missed. The grocery, small enough for people to see the workings for themselves, Could have taught us all how government, properly motivated, can suspend the laws of economics, pushing aside capitalist greed to provide savings, convenience and above…

by Nathanael Snow, Ph.D. I just received information of a call for an economic ‘blackout’ on Feb. 28, There is no reason to be opposed to participation in a blackout, but the reasons given for this one have shaky foundations, even in the legitimate context of “voice and exit” in political theory. Voice and exit comes up in discussions of economics, especially in regard to how people respond to failures in institutions or governments. In simpler terms, it’s about whether people choose…

by Mark Franke Having just dealt with multiple winter storms in the last fortnight, my subconscious has drifted to thinking of spring. Given northern Indiana’s reputation for unpredictable weather, an early spring breakthrough is not beyond the realm of possibility — that’s possibility, not probability. Still, it got me thinking of spring despite the risk of disappointment to follow. What are the signs that spring is coming? First, there is Major League Baseball’s (MLB) spring training camps…

Democracy at Ground Level APPLAUD AS WE DO the preference cascade that was the recent presidential election, a historic validation of the common sense of the common American, but at the local level, ironically, democracy still is problematic. Any Indiana citizen can sign up for a tour of the Statehouse. These are scheduled through your district representative or senator. And, depending on time, you might be granted a few words with the legislator himself or herself, as…

Build it and They Will Come — Maybe MY CITY has been operating with a “build it and they will come” strategy for a couple of decades now. The thing is we have no independent verification that people are actually coming — or coming in greater numbers than otherwise — so we’re not sure why we built any of it. Nonetheless, our downtown boasts multiple supposed “destination” projects, built regardless of market signals, most of them boosted…

by Nathanael Snow, Ph.D. Sir Walter Scott in the first of his “Waverly” novels describes the early adolescence of young Edward Waverly. Edward is too “indolent and impatient,” to enjoy fishing. He is lacking what he needs to move forward in his life. “Society and example, which, more than any other motives, master and sway the natural bent of our passions” were not available to him. Adam Smith would note that we only really learn sympathy…