The Sole Proprietor Is Passé MY GRANDFATHER businessman used to say his life was getting too “busy.” Well, we are way past that now. Extracurricular and regulatory responsibilities have made life for a business owner downright hectic, demonically so. I say that because the Devil loves an impossible task and our days are full of them. Running any business requires a daunting mastery of technical, accounting, computer and engineering skills unimaginable even a generation ago. Hitching a…

(This is a draft copy, not for publication or distribution.) By Barry Keating, Ph.D., an adjunct scholar of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation and Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. Johannes Vermeer, the artist, produced about 35 works that are attributed to him with relative certainty. His most famous painting is arguably Girl With A Pearl Earring (1665). Centuries after his death Vermeer remains one of the most popular artists to have ever…

A Word for You Old Fellows BEING A MAN OF WORDS, I must take them seriously. Recently I discovered a new one that has wide application to my life, explaining vexations that previously were invexible. The word is “non-cognizable.” Yes, I have stretched its meaning somewhat to fit my purposes but that is a feature of the English language. It is plastic, and alas becoming more so. The legal dictionary says “non-cognizable” means a piece of evidence or information…

by Mark Franke It is simply a fact of life that each generation rebels against its predecessors. I will leave it to the psychologists or sociologists to explain why that is and why historically these generations tend to get the rebellion worked out of their system in early adulthood. Maybe it’s the children and the mortgage that cause a reevaluation of the perfect over against the practical. Reality will win out. I wonder, though, if that…

No Saving Small-Town Journos IT’S NOT NEWS to anyone that there’s no news. But I fear too few realize the importance of a media check on local government, a stalwart independent authority that holds councilmen to their word and verifies their facts, tries to match intentions with results. That once was the job of hometown newspapers — particularly those with an individual owner, not a corporate manager. The owner, with roots deep in the community, was the trusted…

by John Gaski, Ph.D.  Clearly, the Republicans need emergency repositioning guidance on the third-rail issue of abortion to neutralize or at least minimize its electoral damage. This is not a “re-branding” matter; nearly all media talking heads and editorial writers misuse that term when they mean repositioning. Bad strategic positioning does cause brand perception problems, but the positioning is the underlying fault. So, here is a primer on what Republicans can do through messaging to prevent getting…

The Government Shell Game “If you think the problems the government creates are bad, wait until you see its solutions.” — Libertarian coffee mug THE INDIANA LEGISLATURE has discovered that the Holcomb administration’s economic strategy, bribing investment, is pointless at best if not self-defeating or even fraudulent. There is a stack of independent economic analyses that says it doesn’t work. A new Rasmussen study finds two-thirds of likely voters nationally continue to favor ending “corporate welfare” and…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. Each morning, I read a newspaper, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and a Gannett product, the daily paper that has many of the same articles in its Milwaukee paper as in its Indianapolis paper. As well, Gannett products have cut back on editorial commentary, especially letters to the editor. The result, as lamented by a Greenfield Reporter reporter, is that papers skew left or right, even if a comment or letter has been well researched.…

The ‘Popobawa’ Election Analysis ALL OF US in the field of political commentary have been searching these past few years for similitude to the current predicament. Although the presidential election is upon us and time is short, I think I’ve found it. First, please know that my associates at the foundation have done their best. The economists have presented compelling economic models, one right after another. Our book reviewer has scoured the historical and religious texts for profound examples.…

by Mark Franke Well, another Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives is in trouble with the most extreme of his own party. The bipartisan budget deal reached by Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, presumably with White House blessing, is too repugnant for these true believers to swallow. In the interest of fair disclosure, I admit to agreeing with the Freedom Caucus’ principles. Something has to be done about the annual…