Report: Saint Louis, Kansas City *Not* Among Most Cost-Friendly Cities for Business
Recently, the Post-Dispatch prominently published an article claiming that, “St. Louis is among the top 10 most cost-friendly cities to...
Course Access in Rural Texas
Earlier this month, I wrote about an emerging trend in school choice policy: course access programs, which allow students to...
New Study Shows Benefits of Union Transparency
A new study from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy looks at the ways private-sector unions disclose financial information in...
Bill Addresses Government Union Transparency Gap
What is the difference between a government union, like the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and...
What Do Home Care Union Executives Really Want: A Wage Increase for Their Workers or a Union Contract?
On Christmas week, while many Missourians were exchanging presents or grabbing Chinese food, members of the Missouri Home Care Union...
Riding to the Hounds of Corporate Welfare
Oscar Wilde famously defined foxhunting as “the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.” His quip aptly describes a sport...
New Year’s Resolutions for Missouri Lawmakers
As first appearing in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Are you listening, Missouri lawmakers? This is the Ghost of Christmas Past....
Part One: The Smallness Of The Potentially ‘Hip’ Core
Just the other day, The Daily Beast published an outstanding piece on redevelopment trends in our urban communities. Joel Kotkin, a...
It Just Ain’t So
Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for...
So Long, Missouri
Today is my last day at the Show-Me Institute. Beginning in July, I will be working for the Mackinac Center...
Missouri Can Compete – Despite Recent Poor Performance
Consider two teams on divergent paths — the Missouri Tigers and the Missouri Widgets. Clearly, the football Tigers are on...
Michigan’s Mamtek: Yet Another Reason Missouri Should Abandon Film Tax Credits
Apparently Missouri representatives failed to show at the annual Association of Film Commissioners International Show in Los Angeles. Jerry Berger...
Too Little, Too Late?
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that regulators have granted banks increased flexibility to rent foreclosed homes that they cannot sell....
Land Banking is Expensive
In the final week of the legislative session, Missouri legislators may vote on the creation of a land bank in...
Why a Whopping Increase in Missouri’s Cigarette Tax Is a Bad Idea
While growing up in the small border town of Atchison, Kan., my father, uncles, and family friends made frequent trips...
Since 2005, Jackson County Land Trust Has Sold More Than 1,700 Properties
During a hearing of Senate Bill 795, a bill to create a land bank in Kansas City, the sponsor, Missouri...
Legislators Are Ignoring 40 Years Of Failure
The Kansas City Star reports that a bill to create a land bank in Kansas City is one step closer...
Land Banking Is No Miracle
On Wednesday, Julie Porter wrote in the Kansas City Star that a land bank could help return vacant city property...
What’s Next? Indefinite Detention Of People Who Text And Drive?
Just in time for holiday travel, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended banning the use of cell phones while...
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,...
