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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.

It’s TDS to Suppose These Tariffs Are WorkingTrump has pushed the U.S. into an economic downturn that will be especially hurtful to Hoosiers.

Trump’s Tariff Recession Is HereMy new forecast, completed in late April, predicts a national recession began as early as March in reaction to Trump’s tarriffs.

Two Key Economic Lessons in One BillHoosiers face trade-offs and opportunity costs in the wake of SEA1.

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Commentaries tagged with technology and automation

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.
May 4, 2025 Two Key Economic Lessons in One BillHoosiers face trade-offs and opportunity costs in the wake of SEA1.
April 20, 2025 The Unanticipated Effects of SB1Businesses, governments and households may all feel the effects.
March 9, 2025 A 1960s Rural Development PlanFarming and manufacturing jobs aren’t coming back, even as we hit new production records.
February 9, 2025 The Medicaid DilemmaFor every one new job created in Indiana since 2010, we’ve had more than two new people enroll in Medicaid.
January 19, 2025 My 2025 ForecastThe Hoosier economy is growing, but at the same time falling further behind the rest of the nation.
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.
November 17, 2024 The Degrowth Movement Is Wrong and ImmoralDegrowthers are terribly mistaken in three big ways.
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.
February 11, 2024 Some More Truth About Manufacturing and TradeManufacturing employment peaked decades earlier than manufacturing production.
January 28, 2024 Do Record Levels of Capital Investment Benefit Citizens?Taxpayers may be appropriately skeptical about business relocation announcements.
December 24, 2023 Leaving Behind Dickensian PovertyThis Christmas holiday is not about worldly wealth, but it is a time of giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy.
December 17, 2023 Great Economic Holiday GiftsThe end of year data is giving economy watchers plenty cause for holiday cheer.
December 10, 2023 Manufacturing Matters, but Not for Creating JobsManufacturing is important because it is the source of a significant share of regional productivity growth.
October 8, 2023 Falling Behind Mississippi Indiana now sends 52.9 percent of high school graduates to college, while Mississippi sends 81 percent.
September 24, 2023 Don’t Expect the UAW to GrowThere is no evidence of a resurgence in the UAW or other industrial unions today.
September 10, 2023 China Is a Poor and Failing NationChina is getting in the way of its own economic growth.
September 3, 2023 Work From Home Is Here to StayAt least 1 million Hoosiers work from home at least one day per week.
July 23, 2023 Populists Are Wrong—Life Is Better TodayMany problems arise when comparing the past to today.
April 16, 2023 What New AI Might Do to Labor MarketsThe human advantage lies in creative intelligence and social organization.
March 19, 2023 Remote Work Through the Eyes of Three 20-SomethingsRemote work is here to stay.
March 12, 2023 Remote Work and Labor MarketsThere are more remote workers today than there are immigrants in the U.S.
January 8, 2023 Remote Work Is Indiana’s Biggest Opportunity and RiskThere are now more Hoosiers in remote work than there are in manufacturing and logistics combined.
January 1, 2023 The CHIPS Act Was Wise LegislationSemiconductors are a key part of national defense, among other industries.
October 30, 2022 Remarkable Productivity Growth in Hospitality and TourismA more productive business requires—and hires—fewer workers.
August 7, 2022 It Is Time to Face the Facts About Factory JobsThe education and skills of today’s displaced factory workers don’t match the many available jobs nationwide.
July 24, 2022 Why Are Rich Places Growing and Poor Places in Decline?To participate in a new economy, a community’s workforce must possess the ability to absorb new skills that may be vastly different from what they currently know.
January 30, 2022 Chick-fil-A as a Tasty Window into InnovationThe effective mix of people and technology fueled a 16 percent growth in sales.
October 31, 2021 Who Can Fix Our Supply Chain Issues?Congress could ease logistics problems in any number of ways; the private sector is already at work.
October 3, 2021 Automation and Today’s Labor Market ChallengesThe process of workers matching with employers is messy and slow.
August 8, 2021 The Inflation Puzzle, Partly SolvedInflation reduces the standard of living of families and slows economic growth.
June 6, 2021 What Economists Got Right and Wrong about COVIDShifts in labor, occupational structure, and community amenities influence the degree of recovery.
May 23, 2021 Thoughts on the Infrastructure PlanThis plan is perhaps too large but could be more effective than expected.
December 27, 2020 Some Thoughts on the Coal EconomyMany of the cities and towns born in the Industrial Revolution have lost their original economic reason for being.
September 27, 2020 COVID May Amplify Factory Job TrendsFor manufacturing, production continues to grow and employment continues to decline.
July 19, 2020 School Re-opening Decision Is Tough, Politicizing Masks Makes It HarderIndiana has about 1.1 million kids in grades K-12, and many have little-to-no high-speed internet access.
June 7, 2020 What Long-Term Changes Might We Anticipate from These Crises?The first half of 2020 has given us a trade war, global pandemic, economic downturn, and protests.
October 20, 2019 Automation Risk, Trade Risk, and Public Policy We have 6 million fewer factory jobs since 1969.
August 11, 2019 Trade and the Division of LaborThe elemental essence of human interaction is trade.
July 21, 2019 Remembering Apollo 11I remember clearly the night of the landing, the grainy images on a small black and white TV, and the suited newscaster.
May 5, 2019 Data on Productivity Sends an Ominous Warning to Indiana’s EconomyThe slowdown in GDP growth since the Great Recession is a puzzle with many potential causes.
December 9, 2018 Factory Productivity Growth Isn’t About Machines, but PeopleEven if our industry is dominated by technology, we often fail to see how this affects production within our firms.
December 2, 2018 GM’s Layoffs Are a Warning to Indiana’s Workforce PoliciesFactory jobs are not coming back and manufacturing employment will be a much smaller share of US jobs in the future.
September 30, 2018 Broadband Funding the Right Move, for Unexpected ReasonsMeasures of regional inequality were worse due to the absence of this technology.
July 8, 2018 Donnelly’s Automation Adjustment Act Should Be EnactedMost workers were not eligible for assistance because of job losses to automation, not trade.
January 21, 2018 Carrier Illustrates the Big Economic Shifts of Our TimeMachines eliminate some labor and shift the skill and educational requirements of the surviving jobs.
December 24, 2017 Manufacturing in Growth and TransitionSince 2001, 60 percent of all manufacturing GDP growth has occurred in just 10 cities.
December 17, 2017 Bitcoin Isn’t Aging WellBitcoin remains an intriguing presence on the fringe of commerce.
November 12, 2017 Time for More Strategic Thinking on EducationThe skills students need over the long run are those that enable them to master non-routine cognitive tasks.
July 23, 2017 Automation, Trade and Urbanization Require More Resilient People and PlacesOur study implies that regional inequality might be poised for a big increase.
March 19, 2017 Taxing Robots Is NonsenseBill Gates is right to worry about tax systems, but he takes the wrong approach in solution.
March 12, 2017 We Need Better Planning for Automation-Related Effects on WorkersOur workforce must learn to adapt to automation.
February 19, 2017 Technology Related Job Losses of the Last CenturyTechnological changes led to a shift of 1.5 million jobs from one industry alone in Indiana.
July 17, 2016 The Lessons of Pokémon GoThe game’s value lies in the economic, social, and health impacts.
March 27, 2016 Technology Both Complements and Substitutes for LaborTechnology has replaced workers in routine, yet costly, occupations.
April 12, 2015 The Information/ Data Revolution and Its PossibilitiesOnline resources have improved our ability to fact-check and conduct our own research on the topics that interest us.
March 7, 2011 Telecom Reform in Indiana Worked. . . deregulation of monopolies tends to almost always make consumers better off. Indiana’s broad and effective telecommunications reform of 2006 is a classic example of this.
May 21, 2007 The Wireless Challenge to Survey Research"It is an irony of the information age that the same technology that makes it so simple and inexpensive to communicate and ship information from anywhere to anywhere can frustrate attempts to collect it."
July 17, 2006 Old Versus New in Telecommunications Reform "...many generations of Hoosiers, like others throughout the nation, have lived knowing only the world of regulated phone service, where commissions hold hearings for public comment on rate increases and the chaos of competition is far away."
February 10, 2006 We Avoid Complex Issues at Our Risk " We’re kicking plenty of cans down the road these days, waiting for painless solutions to present themselves, which, of course, they never do."
November 4, 2005 Another Failing Technology Grade "... as once backwater states like Idaho and Utah move up the rankings while we remain stationary, one can only ask, why can’t it happen here?"

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