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

Time to Fix Economic Development PolicyAllocating tax dollars to land development won’t cause economic growth.

The Unanticipated Effects of SB1Businesses, governments and households may all feel the effects.

The Stupidest of PoliciesThis whipsawing of tariff rates has unnerved financial markets, which on Wednesday, were toying with a liquidity crisis.

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Commentaries tagged with inequality and poverty

February 16, 2025 The End of DEI and a Call to ActionHow can we ensure that everyone has equal access to schooling, health care and economic opportunity?
July 7, 2024 Freedom Is DifficultSimply living in the United States is as easy as it gets, and almost always has been.
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.
March 17, 2024 Deep Ideological Chasm Behind SB202 Will RemainThe central fight over ideological bias on campus involves two competing visions of the world.
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.
February 18, 2024 NATO Has Secured Our Peace and Prosperity The wars of the 20th century were economic disasters of historic proportion.
January 14, 2024 Thinking Hard About the IREAD TestAbout one in five Hoosier 3rd graders fail to pass the statewide reading test.
December 31, 2023 Education After High School Is the Path to Middle-Class LifeJobs of the future require at least some college training.
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 3, 2023 The ‘Great Discordance’ of Economic Fact and FeelingThat Americans appear to prefer higher unemployment over historically mild inflation is not something any of us should be proud of.
November 12, 2023 Defend Democracies on This Veteran’s DayOur Constitution offers the highest form of a liberal democracy.
September 24, 2023 Don’t Expect the UAW to GrowThere is no evidence of a resurgence in the UAW or other industrial unions today.
April 2, 2023 The Five Skills Employers Tell Me They NeedI’ve asked countless numbers of leaders in business, government, military, and organizations.
January 15, 2023 Three Types of Public DebtAll types of public debt are effectively transfers of wealth from the future to our present selves.
December 18, 2022 The Anderson Family Scholar HouseThe best assistance for a family comes comprehensively.
November 27, 2022 Economic Optimism and Worry on ThanksgivingThe balance of power between freedom and tyranny has never been this favorable.
November 6, 2022 Adopt the Governor’s Public Health Commission Report Proposals Hoosier health problems are in areas that are the most susceptible to public health interventions.
August 28, 2022 Student Loan Forgiveness Is a Policy MistakeThis addition to federal debt during this time risks worsening inflation.
July 31, 2022 Trying to Measure the Effect of Abortion Bans on Our EconomyThe effect we see right now is vastly different from what we’ll see in a few years.
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.
July 3, 2022 The 246th Anniversary of ‘The Great Experiment’Our nation may be at its most divided, but I have great hope.
May 8, 2022 The Lives of Mothers Through the Last CenturyThe women of the 20th century witnessed the most stunning technological and economic growth.
February 6, 2022 Some Surprising Lessons from COVID Learning LossThe median school saw pass rates on standardized tests drop by more than 10 percent.
January 23, 2022 Indiana’s Long-Term Economic Prospects Are PoorState policymakers should be deeply alarmed about a return to a ‘normal’ economy.
January 16, 2022 Americans Are Quietly Realizing Dr. King’s VisionMLK’s words are part of the canon of American political writing, and belong to a long tradition of Enlightenment thought.
January 9, 2022 IU Health’s Price Freeze Is a GimmickThe medical provider has become a strong regional monopoly in many parts of the state.
November 28, 2021 A Time to Give ThanksIf Mr. Lincoln could find reason to call us together for a day of gratitude, we can now have no cause to do otherwise.
October 24, 2021 Deep Worries About Education and Employment Are Still With UsIndiana will start 2022 with three consecutive years of declining educational attainment of adults.
October 10, 2021 COVID and the Risks of Medical Care Delays As we think about the longer-term effects of COVID, we must consider how many people have deferred medical care because of the disease.
August 29, 2021 COVID Reveals Regional InequalityThe latest jobs report captures the geographic clustering of COVID and economic performance.
May 9, 2021 Mother’s Day Thoughts in the Wake of COVIDThe experience of women in the labor force has differed from that of men in key respects.
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.
February 16, 2020 The Economy Is Neither as Good nor Bad as Politicians ClaimEach of us view the economy through our own lens.
January 5, 2020 Growing Regional Inequality Is the Challenge of Our AgeAn educated workforce began to replace physical capital as a factor explaining economic growth.
November 17, 2019 Beware Claims of a Golden Age in Our EconomyWe cannot go back, and are naïve to want to do so.
July 7, 2019 Independence Day ReflectionsPersonal liberty in the US has broadly expanded in both breadth and depth.
June 24, 2018 Temporal Inequality Is Much Larger Than Income Inequality TodayFrom antiquity to about 1650, the average person existed at the margin of subsistence.
January 14, 2018 School Financial Problems an Important Issue for This Legislative SessionSchool children in poor areas receive more funding than students in rich areas.
October 8, 2017 The Model Speech on Diversity and RespectEstablishing respect for one another is the job of all leaders.
August 20, 2017 How an Economic Study WorksEconomic research can help us identify the real problems instead of trying to remedy vague or fictitious ones.
July 16, 2017 Thoughts on the Universal Basic IncomeThis program would put more money in our paychecks but also would eliminate the social safety net.
June 25, 2017 Some Economics of Food DesertsFood deserts are more about poor places than poor people.
June 18, 2017 The State of Fatherhood in 2017Single-parent households face a number of challenges.
September 11, 2016 Cut the Tax Cut Debate, Spend the Money WiselyLet’s focus on workers, not businesses.
July 31, 2016 Labor Markets and InequalityFixing labor market inequality is no easy task.
July 24, 2016 Human Capital, Monopolies, Unions and the Vanishing Middle ClassWas the robust middle class simply a post-war boom?
June 26, 2016 Income Inequality and EducationThe link between education and earnings is very strong.
November 22, 2015 Campus ShenanigansCollege should focus on our ideas, passions and character
September 6, 2015 The Future of Industrial UnionsFor much of its history, the American union movement lived and breathed the class struggle dynamic.
July 5, 2015 Same-Sex Marriage, Liberty and FamiliesThose who think the Supreme Court’s ruling on same sex marriage is the problem have entirely misdiagnosed the deep challenges to families.
May 3, 2015 No Jobs for High School Grads Since 2009Job creation has occurred only for workers with an education beyond the high school diploma.
June 1, 2014 Piketty in the 21st CenturyIs income inequality tied to capital investments?
May 11, 2014 Some Economic Consequences of MotherhoodMany women make great sacrifices for motherhood at the expense of their careers.
February 2, 2014 Policy on Income Inequality and Poverty Hasn’t WorkedIt is what kids learn at home, not how much their parents make that affects income mobility.
January 19, 2014 The Choices of Income InequalityLabor markets value different skills in different ways.
April 15, 2013 Bourgeois Dignity and the Modern WorldIf the encouragement of a young Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison or Bill Gates is key to economic growth, how are we doing as a nation?
January 27, 2013 Middle Class and Income InequalityThe middle class was built upon an abundance of well-paying but relatively low-skilled jobs.
November 25, 2012 ‘Scooby Snacks’ and The Great American GiveawayHere, we'll focus on the ‘something for nothing’ crowd.
April 30, 2012 The Hunger Games and FreedomWhat has kept me in a three-week state of shock is the message on values our kids are getting from this work.
April 30, 2012 The Hunger Games and FreedomWhat has kept me in a three-week state of shock is the message on values our kids are getting from this work.
October 24, 2011 Human Capital, Income Inequality and Our FutureMore than half of Americans compete with perhaps two billion men and women worldwide who are better educated and yet willing to work for far less.
September 26, 2011 Defining and Understanding Poverty in AmericaWe need to structure a measure of poverty that assesses what each person consumes, not what they earn.
June 20, 2011 The Economic Consequence of FatherhoodVirtually all families in long-term poverty – five years or more – are led by single parents.
December 29, 2010 Poverty and the Census of RomeUnlike the Roman census of Quirinius, the modern US Census affects the distribution, not collection of tax dollars.
November 17, 2008 Public Policy Can't Fix PovertyFor most, the only upward path is through work.
October 3, 2003 The Persistence of Racial Inequality "The relevance of race in statistics on economic performance has been a persistent theme in our society."

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