by JASON ARP Nearly 10  years ago, I published an article in The Indiana Policy Review(Backgrounder: Regional Cities Plans, Jan. 1, 2016) describing some of the issues related to the State of Indiana’s plan to institute a Regional Development Authority (RDA) to fund what were deemed to be multi-county economic development projects. The concerns expressed in that article focused upon the massive increase in government-funded economic development activity that would be incentivized by state injections of capital.  The RDA…

The foundation’s white papers are intended to make scholarly research on Indiana issues more widely available to policy analysts and researchers. White Papers represent research in progress and are published to invite comment and discussion as preparation for their submission to academic journals and other professional publications. The authors are solely responsible for the content of their research and analysis. —————————————————– How Indiana Can Build Data Centers Without Raising Household Electricity Costs? “This so-called ‘Zero…

by MARK FRANKE Saudi Arabia is a complex nation, containing a whole bunch of conquered Bedouin tribes content to live off the largess of the ruling house of al-Saud. Most of the nation’s workforce, which is limited by a general lack of work ethic among the aforesaid recipients of governmental transfer payments, is employed by the government and under rather relaxed work standards. What happens to this flow of benefits when the flow of oil…

Count Me Uncivilized “A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both.” — James Madison THE FIRST ANNUAL Project Civility Summit has adjourned to much hope and acclaim in our lovely, homogenous Carmel. In addition to the “leadership training” that such summitry always presumes to provide, one of the more creative ideas was something called “porching,” a grassroots movement encouraging community…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. My experience with the Wall Street Journal, chronicled in this column a year and a half ago, showed how little awareness the paper had regarding domestic violence. My recent experience with the newspaper shows how much improvement the WSJ and United States could make in order to promote equality among the individuals in our great country. The Wall Street Journal invites reader comments after an article. The article, “Divorce Plunged in Kentucky. Equal Custody for…

I.U. and the ‘Stupid Stuff’ “We can require public universities to return to strong and mandatory core curricula, which challenges students to think, brings them together around shared knowledge and ideas and prepares them for lives as productive and engaged citizens.” — Andrea Neal in “Indiana Mandate: A Return to Founding Principles.” GIVE SOME CREDIT to the Braun administration for reigning in Eric Holcomb’s Indiana Economic Development Corporation. New board members such as Roanoke’s Richard Waterfield…

by Mark Franke In unsettled times people of faith turn to prayer. This phenomenon can be seen in history, such as the number of revival meetings in American Civil War army campsites. There are no atheists in foxholes, so the saying goes. Given the constant bad news about violence and killings, it is not surprising that public statements about prayers for the victims and their families are also in the headlines. Prayer vigils seem to…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. “Gerrymandering” is always a possibility in a republic, but sometimes the topic moves to the front burner. We’re in one of those moments now. Last month, the Texas GOP stirred the pot with its efforts to “redistrict” and some Democrat leaders responded with angry rhetoric and promises to retaliate. (Indiana Republicans are considering something similar.) “Redistricting” is the practice of redrawing the geographical lines that define a political district, given changes in…

Rep. Carson’s ‘Racism’ Falls Flat WELL, IF ALL YOU HAVE is a hammer everything looks like a nail. And so goes U.S. Rep. Andre Carson’s recent depiction of Indiana Republicans as  “racist.” Last month he posted this on X: ”We must stand united against extremism that endangers our community and democracy — including against racist redistricting that threatens to silence Hoosier voices.” But this is not about racism. It’s worse than that; it’s about politics. Carson is upset that redistricting…

Let’s Fire Them for Cause GOOD JUDGMENT like common sense is a trait considered too banal for this generation of human resource managers. Rather, decisions such as firing someone for justifying the assassination of a man for his opinion must involve an exercise in pearl-clutching and legalese. Thus, Ball State University’s carefully worded response to a posting by its Director of Health, Promotion and Advocacy is a pluterperfect example of the art: “The administration at Ball…