Show-Me Institute in the Media

The primary purpose of Show-Me Daily is to facilitate conversation and debate about policy issues in Missouri, from a free-market perspective. Our blog has other roles, though, and one of them is … ahem … self-promotion. So, with that in mind, I’d like to call your attention to the good amount of media coverage we’ve had lately. Here is the convenient and concise rundown for you, our dedicated fans.

Last Tuesday, Nov. 9, David Stokes and Dave Roland appeared on the Bernie Hayes Show on WGNU St. Louis AM 920 to talk about occupational licensing generally, and African hair braiders specifically. You can listen to the whole show here.

On Thursday, Nov. 11, Audrey Spalding was a guest on a panel discussing public education and the film Waiting For “Superman,” at Plaza Frontenac. Audrey was quoted in the St. Louis Beacon and on the St. Louis Business Journal‘s blog about the film and the issues of school quality and choice that it addressed.

Thursday night, David Stokes was quoted in a KMOV CBS Channel 4 story about public pensions. Show-Me Institute scholar Dr. Susan Feigenbaum was also interviewed for the story, an issue that the institute has addressed previously. If I could stress one point further, it would be to repeat the point Dr. Feigenbaum made in her interview that governments themselves are to blame for much of the public pension shortfalls by not making adequate contributions during good fiscal times.

On Friday, Stokes was quoted in a St. Louis Business-Journal piece by Dave Drebes about the potential for the city of St. Louis to re-enter St. Louis County. (You need to subscribe in order to access the full story online.)

Last, but not at all least, is yesterday’s major Post-Dispatch article on economic development, tax-increment financing (TIF), etc. Show-Me Institute intern Tom Duda and Stokes were both quoted in the story on how “economic development” in the St. Louis area amounts to nothing more than using tax dollars to lure business from one part of the area to another — sometimes only a few blocks away.

As a fun parlor game from the Post-Dispatch article, I’ll give 10 Show-Me Institute bonus points (whatever those are) to the first commenter who correctly cites the blatant red herring argument used by someone quoted in that last story.