by Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. Among economists’ insights over the last almost 250 years, one of the keenest is that one can do good while doing well. The idea traces to Adam Smith. It means capitalists’ and entrepreneurs’ pursuit of profit can have favorable consequences for the community at large — and not just for capitalists and entrepreneurs. It applies equally to landowners and workers pursuing their own interests. The following are two of Smith’s…

“(Gov. Eric Holcomb) isn’t too concerned heading into a re-election year, saying that maintaining momentum is just as important as starting it. ‘Here in Indiana, whether it’s bold or not or controversial or shiny, I’m fine not being part of the food fight,’ he said.” — “Holcomb Confident in Bid for Second Term,” Niki Kelly in the Dec. 22 Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. by Craig Ladwig Angelo Codevilla of the Claremont Institute knows who will…

by Leo Morris I’m such a cynic sometimes. The superintendent of our school district is retiring, and local education officials are making a big deal about considering public input in the naming of her replacement. I hate myself for it, but I find myself doubting their sincerity. For one thing, they’re using a prestigious firm to conduct a nationwide search, which means they’re already pretty sure of what they want, and for another, they’re convening…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. My wife and I have a friend who has worked at a large retail store as an elf with Santa. She has told us some great stories about the wide variety of Santas and customers she has experienced. She has nicknamed some of the Santas she encountered. I had heard of “Dirty Santa” before — one of the names for the gift-giving and gift-stealing game we like to play among adults.…

WHY WOULD ANYONE spend an estimated $100,000 to win a district council election, especially when the incumbent was heavily outvoted at the council table? Yes, that’s a district council race in a midsized Indiana city, and that $100,000 is said to be a state record. Clearly, it was important to keep the incumbent from using his office to ask questions and raise issues. Someone’s special interest was so untenable it could not bear even the…

WE WERE CHALLENGED recently to name one Indiana city council with a majority of members committed to smaller government. We could not. Indeed, we couldn’t remember one — ever. It is attestation that we’re losing the battle and the war. It’s time to change the strategy For starters, we have to stop . . . doing what we’re doing, that is. A common excuse of the local party chairmen is their difficulty finding candidates with a truly constrained…

by Mark Franke I have an obsession, no doubt an unhealthy one since it controls me and not I it. I love to read . . . all the time. It is so bad that I never go anywhere without reading material just in case I have to wait for a few minutes. I actually keep a log of books I have read but I still find myself rereading something I read several years back…

I AM SUSPICIOUS of downtown economic development plans and their related public-private partnerships. That’s not because I know much about economics or even business generally. They simply don’t pass my grandfather test.  That is, my grandfather would be asking a question: If all you have to do to create a wealthy downtown is slap together a package of government grants, loan guarantees and revenue-secured bonds, plus some spare change from a municipal fund or two and…

by Mark Franke A recent column in the Washington Examiner magazine focused on a congressional candidate in Michigan running as a conservative Republican in a Republican district. No big news there except for the fact that the candidate comes from a low income, Latino, union family. This is Michael J. Fox and “Family Ties” in real life. It’s not supposed to work like this, is it? The young are supposed to be more liberal than…

by Leo Morris In the spirit of Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story” radio segments. Let’s call this the bestseller that never was, adapted from author J. Mark Powell’s version of the incident. “Shep” (that’s how he referred to himself) was born and raised in Indiana but after serving in World War II had a radio career in Ohio before becoming the overnight voice of WOR in New York City. Broadcasting in the 1950s…