by Leo Morris To the Fort Wayne police officer who stopped me on Bluffton Road the Saturday before Christmas: A belated thank you. I wish I had thought to say it at the time. It’s not that I was belligerent, the way some drivers are when they get pulled over. I wasn’t rude or impatient, nervous or defensive. I remained relatively calm and, if I may say so, perfectly polite. And you were not obnoxious,…

by Mark Franke I have this rule to avoid books that use either profanity or obscenity in their titles, with good cause. They generally double down on the offensive language once inside, no doubt to cover up the writing and thinking deficiencies of the authors. But I made an exception to this rule, and I am quite glad I did. “Socialism Sucks: Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World” (Regnery Publishing, 2019) by…

by Andrea Neal Indianapolis taxpayers are out millions for the city’s relentless effort to force motorists to give up their automobiles. The demise of electric car-sharing service Blue Indy, announced with a whimper on Dec. 20, comes as no surprise to anyone who has studied the urban transit landscape. Give the equally-trumpeted Red Line Rapid Bus a few years to meet a similar end. What began five years ago with a highly-publicized deal between the…

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…