Denied Entrance at the Port of Call
It is often said that government taxes and spends like drunken sailors, and that metaphor is particularly appropriate when referring...
Crime, Public Safety, and Perception in St. Louis with Braxton Steele
Susan Pendergrass speaks with Braxton Steele, intern at the Show-Me Institute and student at Missouri State University, about his summer...
The One Big Education Opportunity with Shaka Mitchell
Susan Pendergrass speaks with Shaka Mitchell, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children, about how a new federal scholarship...
Waiting for Perception on Crime to Change Is Not a Winning Strategy for St. Louis
I’ve highlighted the progress St. Louis has made in reducing crime in recent blog posts. The improving data are positive...
Statistics Shows Crime Numbers Converging for Major Missouri Cities
The violent crime statistics in the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Springfield tell a much different story today...
St. Louis’s Improving Crime Data
If you were to guess that St. Louis was the most dangerous city in Missouri, you would be correct. You...
Schools After the Storm with Noah Devine
Susan Pendergrass speaks with Noah Devine, executive director of the Missouri Charter Public Schools Association, about how charter schools in St. Louis are responding after the recent tornado damaged multiple campuses.
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Governor Kehoe took a red pen to the state budget before signing it, indicating that he takes his fiscal responsibility...
Why the New Property Tax Rules in Missouri Are Bad, Part 1
This is the first in a series of blog posts about why the new property tax legislation passed in the...
Tornado Severely Damages Show-Me Institute Headquarters
On Friday, May 16, a devastating tornado struck the St. Louis area, claiming lives, damaging homes and businesses, and leaving...
The Real Price of “Affordable Housing”
There’s a growing chorus among policymakers in Kansas City, St. Louis, and around the country demanding that new housing developments...
On Transit, Maybe We Can Learn Something from Washington
President Ronald Reagan once quipped that the scariest sentence is “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” That...
The Final Weeks of the 2025 Session
David Stokes, Elias Tsapelas, and Avery Frank join Zach Lawhorn to discuss: the final stretch of Missouri’s legislative session, including...
St. Louis Crime Reduction: Progress, Pitfalls, and the Path Forward
A version of the following commentary appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. With a new mayor taking office, St. Louis begins...
The Three-Legged Stool of Taxes with David Stokes
Susan Pendergrass speaks with David Stokes, Director of Municipal Policy at the Show-Me Institute, about A Free-Market Guide for Missouri...
Reputation and Reality Matter in City Governance
When entrepreneurs and job seekers consider where to live or invest, they don’t rely solely on tax rates or housing...
Jackson County Assessment Disputes Will (Hopefully) Lead to Real Change This Time
A version of this commentary appeared in the Examiner. It’s an obscure state law that every article about government and politics...
Hey Elon, Here Are Some Cost Savings for You in St. Louis . . .
I am a big fan of DOGE, MOGE, and whatever else they want to call any office that attempts to...
The Salad Days in Sugar Creek
The Kansas City suburb of Sugar Creek is considering selling off its water system to Missouri American Water. The proposal...
Can We Handle the Truth . . . of Our Cities’ Financial Status?
The “Financial State of the Cities 2025” report by Truth in Accounting provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health...
