A Moonshot of Mistakes: Missouri’s Missing Million
When the United States put a man on the moon in 1969, the state of Missouri was the 13th largest...
Who’s Afraid of Charter Schools?
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board wrote a fearmongering editorial about charter schools becoming a potential option for suburban parents....
Cyclical Poverty Is a Problem in Missouri-What Can Be Done About It?
Imagine the Game of Life played under different rules—with everyone randomly assigned at birth to one of two paths. One...
St. Louis Is Failing, and It Has Only Its Government to Blame
Last month the U.S. Census Bureau found that St. Louis had, once again, shrunk in population over the last year....
Is This How Trust Is Regained?
After voters rejected implementing a local use tax in November, the Columbia City Council made it their mission to win...
TIF in a Flood Plain–A Recipe for Trouble
High noon approaches as the Saint Louis region awaits Stan Kroenke’s development proposal for Maryland Heights. For those unfamiliar with...
Local Control in Education, Properly Understood
If you head West on I-70, past the inner-ring suburbs of St. Louis and over the Missouri river, you’ll happen...
A Big Step Backwards for Municipal Reform in Saint Louis County
Last year, Missouri passed legislation restricting the ability of cities to rely on fines and fees to run their local...
Saint Louis Transportation Planning Prioritizes Public Transportation, MetroLink
Saint Louisans depend on a functioning transportation system to do practically everything in their lives, from getting to work to...
Zoos, Taxes, and Admissions Charges
A recent editorial in the Post-Dispatch by former Clayton Mayor Ben Uchitelle once again set off a debate on how...
Local Fuel Tax in Foristell Fails by a Nose
On Tuesday, voters across Missouri cast ballots on many different local issues. Most had to do with bond issuances and...
Trucks on Missouri’s Highways
The Show-Me Institute recently hosted a panel discussion on the future of transportation funding in Missouri. An audience member asked what...
Ambulance Service An Example Of Privatization’s Benefits
As first appearing in the Southeast Missourian on 10 Feb, 2014: When I was growing up, I regularly played golf...
The 100-Year Flood Of TIFs
Is there anything the Missouri Legislature could do to both reduce the abuse of tax subsidies in Missouri AND improve...
School Transfers, Follow The Money
Following the advice of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the Riverview Gardens and Normandy school districts...
Stokes on KWMU – TIF Hurts Communities
Shrewsbury is the latest city within Saint Louis County to consider Tax Increment Financing (known as TIFs) to subsidize a...
Tax Increment Financing and Columbia, Missouri
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is Missouri’s bad idea that keeps coming back and refuses to die. Despite TIF’s documented failures,...
Donnybrook: Audrey Spalding Reappears on KETC
Show-Me Institute Policy Analyst Audrey Spalding was once again a guest on Saint Louis local roundtable discussion show Donnybrook on...
Arch Sales Tax Is An Opportunity For A Regional Bad Idea
Too often, the cities and other taxing districts in the greater Saint Louis area act unilaterally in ways that hurt...
A ‘Historic’ Surge
The tuition hikes that the University of Missouri is instituting are affecting real families all across the state. The Show-Me...
