Center for Business and Economic Research - Ball State University

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Commentaries are published weekly and distributed through the Indianapolis Business Journal and many other print and online publications. Disclaimer

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I’m Not Trying to Change Your MindMy goal is to make accurate predictions of policy effects and explain briefly how those predictions are made.

The Real Lesson of the China Shock Education matters, and modern jobs require different skills than factory work.

The Socialist PresidencyIn the past few weeks, President Trump has moved the U.S. closer to socialism than any president in history.

America Is Not in Decline, but Trump and Sanders Could Change ThatThese narratives are poignant, easy to make and wholly false.

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August 24, 2025	America Is Not in Decline, but Trump and Sanders Could Change ThatThese narratives are poignant, easy to make and wholly false.
July 13, 2025	A Golden Age of Economic ColumnistsThe recent mayoral primaries in NYC provide plentiful material for discussion.
May 25, 2025	Previewing the Long-Term Effects of TariffsThe dominant effect of the Trump tariffs will be to raise production costs on almost every American manufacturing firm.
February 11, 2024	Some More Truth About Manufacturing and TradeManufacturing employment peaked decades earlier than manufacturing production.
August 13, 2023	A More Thoughtful Understanding of Quality of LifeRunning through a hypothetical list of amenities is the worst way to think about improving quality of life.
February 18, 2022	More Thoughts on InflationLike George Bailey explained in “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the money held in his savings and loan wasn’t in the bank safe, it was in the mortgages and small business loans around the city.
December 5, 2021	Some More Talk About Inflation RisksA price increase does not equate inflation.
December 6, 2020	The Private Sector Is the Hero of COVIDSmart, successful businesses chase consumer interests.
August 16, 2015	What Drives the Fed Rate Hike Decision?What is the nature of their agreement and disagreements and how does it play into the public debate over economic policy?
March 22, 2015	The Rate Hike CalculusThe Federal Reserve relies on economic models to keep markets in balance.
April 7, 2013	Bad Ideas Still ReignToday I see three bad intellectual influences that merit noting—one each from the political right, the left and bipartisan folly.
July 16, 2012	Tax or Spend, That Is the ArgumentEconomic debates are far more sanguine, with more universal agreement than is apparent to outsiders.
April 23, 2012	Spending, Debt and Long-Run GrowthThe past four or five years have exposed many Americans to a continuing debate over the role of government spending in a recession and resurrected for them the ghosts of many long-dead economists.

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