A recent Show-Me Institute study found that states using some variant of Missouri’s non-partisan judicial selection plan tend to correlate with an environment more conducive to economic growth. Greene County will soon have the option to adopt the Missouri Plan for its jurisdiction. In the long run, this could well benefit the county’s citizens.
The Show-Me Institute is excited to announce a new ongoing book review contest, targeted to Missouri college students and college-age non-students. The contest is intended to encourage the appraisal and critical exploration of a broad spectrum of the ideas of liberty, and will feature books both classic and current that focus on the economics and philosophy of freedom.
In November, Saint Louis–area voters will choose whether to increase transit sales taxes. Metro officials worry that raising fares would lead to significantly decreased ridership, but high fuel prices may counteract that trend. What’s the best method for funding crucial transit services — low, widespread taxes, or higher user fees?
Light rail transit is expensive to build, operate, and maintain, requiring regular infusions of new taxpayer financing as construction costs escalate and system components wear down and need to be replaced. Rapid-transit bus routes are more flexible and can provide better, faster, safer transit than light rail at a far lower cost.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit my comments about the upcoming sales tax vote in Saint Louis County, the proposed service cuts if the tax increase does not pass, and more. This testimony follows up on comments I made last month, at Metro’s invitation, at the Missouri Public Transit Association’s convention. The primary point of this testimony is not to comment on the proposed service cuts, but to suggest alternative means of financing and providing mass transit in general. These ideas will hopefully be given consideration, whether or not voters pass the sales tax increase, although they may become imperative should the measure be defeated.
Missouri nestles against eight states, so border wars of all sorts are common. Some are fun, such as this week's Missouri-Illinois football game. But others we can't afford to lose. That includes economic competition between Missouri, which has an income tax, and Tennessee, which does not.
The Show-Me Institute released its 2007 annual report today, presenting a detailed look at its second full year of operations. The report presents a summary of the year's major accomplishments in each of the institute's six research areas: taxes, education, corporate welfare, health care, privatization, and red tape. It also provides a look at some of the institute's other accomplishments, including its youth outreach program, media coverage, and academic influence.
David Stokes, a Show-Me Institute policy analyst, makes recommendations for provisions that should be included in the proposed Franklin County charter.
Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? What makes a perfect parent? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? These are questions that Steven D. Levitt asks in his controversial, critically acclaimed book FREAKONOMICS: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Levitt will expand on his book’s inquisitive premise during an address on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Saint Louis University.
Saint Joseph is considering licensing contractors who work within the city. However, occupational licensing adds costs and decreases competition without improving quality or safety. The free market is best served by competition, not by restricting how somebody can make a living.
In June, Show-Me Institute policy analyst David Stokes submitted this testimony to the Saint Louis County Capital Investment Blue Ribbon Commission, about Saint Louis County's capital investment proposals. He argued that it's necessary to consider the economically harmful aspects of tax increases alongside the infrastructure needs that those increases are proposed to finance.
The urge to help people who have experienced devastation from floods and other disasters is never misguided. However, the expectation of relief spurs more marginal home and business owners to locate in risky areas in the first place. Ultimately, government-subsidized reconstruction sets people up for more long-run damage.
Now that Bombardier has decided to build in Canada rather than Missouri, it’s worth examining whether tax incentives are a worthwhile strategy for economic growth. While legislators certainly had Missouri's best interests at heart, both economic theory and hard data show us that real growth stems from lower tax rates across the board.
The property rights of ordinary Missourians have eroded over the years. The founding principles that established our nation held that individual rights must be protected against the majority. This ideal once guided Missouri’s Supreme Court, as well. Missouri needs to cultivate a renewed respect for the freedoms of all.
Missouri is one of only three states that require a 10-percent minimum ethanol blend (E-10) for retail gasoline sold within the state. The Missouri Corn Merchandising Council (MCMC) recently released a study purporting to demonstrate the positive economic benefits of the state's ethanol mandate for Missouri consumers. The study claimed that Missourians will save more than $285 million through ethanol-induced fuel cost reductions in 2008 and nearly $2 billion in present value during the following decade. The MCMC study ignores important effects of the E-10 mandate, however, most notably the documented decrease in fuel efficiency of E-10 blended fuel and the taxpayer cost of ethanol subsidies. We find that accounting for these costs significantly impacts the MCMC savings projections and would result in a net loss to Missouri consumers of almost $1 billion during the next decade. If one were to consider the additional impact of the E-10 mandate on higher food prices and CO2 gas emissions, these costs would be even higher.
Research shows that judicial independence and legal system quality matter for economic growth, and that a state’s legal system outcomes depend in part on how judges are selected. A comparison of judicial selection methods across states shows that the “Missouri Plan” fares better than alternatives like partisan and nonpartisan elections.
Although Missouri’s Textbook Transparency Act is intended to lower the costs of higher education, the actual provisions of this bill will not achieve that purpose. Informational mandates and regulation of the ways that textbooks can be sold would decrease marginal producer profits, in many cases passing those costs on to students.
A new policy study from the Show-Me Institute examines the varying systems of judicial selection found throughout the United States. Asking the question, “Is the ‘Missouri Plan’ Good for Missouri?” the study considers the state’s method of merit-based selection for Supreme Court judges in comparison both to the similar systems and alternate selection methods used elsewhere.
For 68 years, Missouri has selected its Supreme Court judges through a system of merit selection dubbed the “Missouri Plan.” Today, 26 states use some form of this plan, most having abandoned partisan judicial elections amid concerns about the effects of political pressure on a fair and evenhanded application of the law. Recent debates about this process in Missouri have instigated many proposals for changes. Because judicial independence is critical to a well-functioning legal system, this study will analyze judicial selection and its effect on the quality of courts.
