We All Have Our Priorities
Another session of the Missouri General Assembly has begun and lawmakers in Jefferson City, by law, must close the projected shortfall...
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The Gateway City, The ‘Possibility City,’ And Hope For The Future
The guard is changing at Saint Louis’ regional chamber of commerce, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA)....
Oh Well, It Will Be A Thin Report: The Mamtek Hearings
A Missouri House committee heard testimony Wednesday from the soon-to-be former director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED),...
What Do Academic Studies Say About Tax Credits?
During the recently-completed not-so-special Missouri legislative session, some lawmakers continued to push for a new set of tax credit programs,...
It’s Not About China, It’s About Corporate Welfare
During the special session of the Missouri Legislature, there was no shortage of personal attacks levied at individuals and organizations who...
Nothing Says ‘Progress’ Like a Vanity Trolley Project
Will Kansas City be bringing streetcars back to Main Street? If events from early this week are any indicator, maybe....
Talking Aerotropolis: Audrey Spalding with Greg Knapp on KCMO, Patrick Ishmael with Mark Reardon on KMOX
Busy days in these parts, as you might imagine. Audrey Spalding was on with KCMO’s Greg Knapp on Tuesday morning...
Hot New Argument for Tax Breaks in Kansas City: Abate My Taxes, Or I Just Might Build a QuikTrip
Taxpayer-subsidized apartments or $1 buffalo chicken hot dogs? How will I ever decide? (Emphasis mine.) Read what David Martin wrote...
Aerotropolis Debate with Ray Hartmann on Charlie Brennan’s KMOX Radio Program
For background on this good-natured feud, Hartmann’s post, Audrey’s post, and Hartmann’s response to Audrey. Was lots of fun. Full...
Who Gets Tax Credits? Distribution of Tax Credits Issued by the Department of Economic Development Since 1999
Over the last few months, Bruce Stahl and I have been compiling data from the Department of Economic Development (DED)...
In July 2010 E-mail to NCBE, Tyson Executive Saw “Very Little Opportunity” in Beef Export Plan
Note: Tyson Foods is the largest exporter of beef from the United States. In response to an e-mail from the National...
Republic, Missouri Has Come Unstuck in Time
When I was a freshman in high school, I read Kurt Vonnegut’s classic novel Slaughterhouse Five. I didn’t fully understand...
Green Acres, We Are (Not) There!
If you lived in an alternate universe where Eva Gabor got her way over Eddie Albert, your version of the...
Del Blighto
News that the flying saucer–shaped Del Taco might be demolished has the Saint Louis community of architectural preservationists up in...
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
On Wednesday, June 1, the Kansas City Star reported that Applebee’s will receive tax breaks to move its headquarters from...
The Next Big Handout: An “Aerotropolis” Near You?
The prospect of “Big Idea” economic development makes politicians do strange, contradictory things. On the stump, candidates rail against corporate...
“An Unspoken Bond”? City Aldermen and Land Patronage
Recently, Show-Me Institute Executive Director Brenda Talent wrote in an op-ed that “To better serve the public interest, the LRA...
Herbert Hoover the Interventionist
One of the projects I have been working on lately is a unit about the Great Depression for junior high...
More Good News for People Who Want to Buy Vacant City Property
After hearing about Show-Me Institute research finding that the city of Saint Louis was turning down almost one out of...
Serious Effort to Reduce Number of State Reps
The Missouri Democratic Party has announced that it will be launching an initiative petition to reduce the number of state...
