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education	186
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indiana	171
budget and spending	145
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law and public policy	142
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CBER Weekly Commentaries - 2024

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January 7, 2024	What Does New GDP Data Tell Us About the Hoosier Economy?More than half of all the state’s new residents since 2020 live in one of two counties.
January 14, 2024	Thinking Hard About the IREAD TestAbout one in five Hoosier 3rd graders fail to pass the statewide reading test.
January 21, 2024	Small School Corporations Face Some Tough ChoicesStudent opportunities and outcomes increase and operational costs decrease when corporations approach optimal enrollment levels.
January 28, 2024	Do Record Levels of Capital Investment Benefit Citizens?Taxpayers may be appropriately skeptical about business relocation announcements.
February 4, 2024	Libertarians Going CrazyLibertarian viewpoints offer us a useful reminder of what restraints we must put upon those who govern us.
February 11, 2024	Some More Truth About Manufacturing and TradeManufacturing employment peaked decades earlier than manufacturing production.
February 18, 2024	NATO Has Secured Our Peace and Prosperity The wars of the 20th century were economic disasters of historic proportion.
February 25, 2024	SB202 Offers the Wrong Solutions to a Real ProblemMy reference to ideological imbalance refers to the creation of an artificial close-mindedness that stifles debate, isolates important perspectives and diminishes the richness of a college education.
March 3, 2024	Indiana Needs More Municipal FlexibilityCities aren’t just critical to Indiana’s economy, they are the future of Indiana’s economy.
March 10, 2024	Are We in the Early Stages of a Long Economic Boom?Economists aren’t yet sure why labor productivity is growing, but I can offer two educated guesses.
March 17, 2024	Deep Ideological Chasm Behind SB202 Will RemainThe central fight over ideological bias on campus involves two competing visions of the world.
March 24, 2024	The Lasting Effect of the KKK in IndianaIndiana had the highest share of residents in the Klan at any time in history.
March 31, 2024	The Political Economy of InflationThe public seems to prefer high unemployment to high inflation.
April 7, 2024	What Caused the Midwest to Thrive? EducationIndiana was universally literate before England was.
April 14, 2024	The Midwest Is Struggling in the Post-COVID WorldWe are chasing past economic glories rather than pursuing economic opportunities of the future.
April 21, 2024	Some Thoughts on the Caitlin Clark EffectAdvance ticket sales for WNBA games in Indianapolis are at record levels—and record prices.
April 28, 2024	We Botched Our Last Curriculum Reform, We Cannot Do So This TimeA very good idea can become very bad public policy when executed poorly.
May 5, 2024	US Debt Will Change Local Economic Development PoliciesThere’s no tax cut that will generate rapid economic growth, nor is there some magical spending mix that will cause a big spike in productivity.
May 12, 2024	The Good, the Bad and the Antisemitic Ugliness on CampusFor every one protesting student, hundreds of others were studying for final exams, completing term papers or preparing end-of-course presentations.
May 19, 2024	The End of Noncompete ClausesBusinesses that have shielded themselves from competition through noncompete clauses will need to do better.
May 26, 2024	Why They DiedFor more than 235 years, our soldiers have died bearing true faith and allegiance to the Constitution.
June 2, 2024	Regional Cities Initiative, an Economic BoonBehind the concept was a clear understanding that most economic growth was happening in cities with solid quality-of-life investments.
June 9, 2024	Advice for Young People Heading Directly into the Labor MarketSkipping college does not mean you cannot have a satisfying career, but it will take more planning and work to get there.
June 16, 2024	What Is Driving Misperceptions About the Economy?In a recent survey, more than half of Americans said the economy is shrinking, when in fact it has been growing steadily for four years.
June 23, 2024	Some Good Reasons for Partisan Perceptions About the EconomyThe gap between rich places and poor places is growing in more ways than one.
June 30, 2024	Silly Tax Cut ProposalsIn Indiana, a 1 percent increase in the average tax rate leads to a 2 percent increase in population growth.
July 7, 2024	Freedom Is DifficultSimply living in the United States is as easy as it gets, and almost always has been.
July 14, 2024	We Are Nearing Fed Rate CutsAll the talk of a crashing, risk-filled economy where people are struggling is unsupported by actual data.
July 21, 2024	Why Don’t We Learn from Economic Development Failures?Educational attainment alone is now a more powerful predictor of a region’s economic success than everything else combined.
July 28, 2024	Biden’s Presidency Has Been Very ConsequentialBiden has held elected office for all but four of the last 54 years, serving on a city council, as U.S. senator, vice president, and, finally, president.
August 4, 2024	Childcare Problems Are Vexing and CostlyIndiana has both childcare and pre-kindergarten programs available to low-income households.
August 11, 2024	Project 2025 Is a Roadmap to DisasterThe document is alarming enough that former President Trump denied knowledge of its existence.
August 18, 2024	What would a conservative tax system look like?There are three big things we can tax: wealth, income and spending.
August 25, 2024	Three Property Tax PlansThere are problems with each of these tax proposals from our gubernatorial candidates.
September 1, 2024	Urban Growth Dominates the US Economy – and Puts Rural Places at RiskEducation becomes more important as more people become educated.
September 8, 2024	You Maybe Don’t Want to Ask How We Can Balance our Federal BudgetIt seems like we could easily cut spending—until you understand what we are spending money on.
September 15, 2024	IEDC’s Unhappy 20th AnniversaryIndiana must become a place where education and skills of people form the central mission of state and local economic development policies.
September 22, 2024	Indiana’s Small Towns Need More ImmigrantsMany Midwestern counties are in their fourth or fifth decade of population decline.
September 29, 2024	The Soft Landing MiracleThe hard part was ending inflation without also causing a recession.
October 6, 2024	Thinking About Marijuana LegalizationIndiana may look to neighboring states when considering policies and effects.
October 13, 2024	Worsening Brain DrainThe declining educational spending at state universities should be of big interest to elected officials in all the towns around public universities.
October 20, 2024	Lessons in Home PricesIndiana’s dominant housing problem is a surplus of homes that are unlikely to ever again be occupied.
October 27, 2024	Indiana Is Ground Zero for Anti-American IdeologiesBad ideas rarely die of their own accord.
November 3, 2024	My Apology to LogansportThe city is well known as an immigration success story in the Midwest.
November 10, 2024	Economic and Policy Expectations for a Trump PresidencyIt is not hard to gauge the policy choices Trump will prefer.
November 17, 2024	The Degrowth Movement Is Wrong and ImmoralDegrowthers are terribly mistaken in three big ways.
November 24, 2024	Thanksgiving 2024For Americans, particularly poorer Americans, the current economy has never been stronger.
December 1, 2024	Time to Learn a Real-World Lesson from TariffsTariffs are designed with the hope of pushing down our trade deficit.
December 8, 2024	Sorting and Policy DivergenceWithout room for state-level differences in what it meant to be a Republican or Democrat, states began to align with national politics.
December 15, 2024	Indiana’s Commission on Higher Education Issues an Eye-Opening ReportOur current level of educational attainment and college attendance rates puts us squarely in the bottom 10 states and territories.

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CBER Weekly Commentaries - 2024