Kansas City and “Fraudulent” Crony Capitalism
President-elect Trump has talked a great deal about the need for massive and widespread infrastructure spending. Many people agree that...
Rationalizing a Downtown Soccer Stadium
Sometimes we want something so badly we’ll tell ourselves just about anything in order to get it. Psychologists and philosophers...
Well, At Least It’s Not a Check
In a perfect world, municipalities would not need to offer tax incentives to attract investment. That was the consensus on...
Graham Renz Discusses Water Infrastructure on ABC30
Graham Renz appeared on ABC 30’s The Allman Report on November 22 to discuss alternative ways the city of St....
Watch Michael Highsmith On The Allman Report
Michael Highsmith appeared on ABC 30’s The Allman Report on Monday, November 21 to discuss public funding for a new...
Education Reform Should Be Top Priority for Missouri’s Leaders
On November 8, Missourians sent a clear message: We want change. Republicans won every major statewide office—all of which but...
Straight Talk on Kansas City’s Incentive Reform
In 2014, Mayor Sly James said that “Now is the time to start a conversation about the appropriate level of...
Funding the Foundry: Why Are Taxpayers Continually on the Hook?
When St. Louis public schools are underperforming and the water department is trying to get lead out of the water,...
Kansas City Hires Fox to Watch Henhouse
According to the Kansas City Business Journal, the City of Kansas City has approved contracting with the Council of Development...
Subsidies in Saint Louis, Part 3: Where They’re Used
Supporters of economic development subsidies justify them on the basis that the subsidies will help boost economically depressed areas by...
It Takes a Village to Raise a Subsidy
The Cardinals recently announced plans to move forward with a second phase of development at Ballpark Village, an entertainment district...
Which Came First: the Investment Chicken or the Incentive Egg?
Saint Louis Mayor Francis Slay recently touted the amount of money—more than one billion dollars—that has been invested in the...
Subsidies in St. Louis, Part 2: Economic Development Blunders
City officials, developers, and corporate welfare proponents have touted the benefits of development incentives like tax-increment financing (TIF) to taxpayers...
Hair Braiders Continue Missouri Licensing Fight
Last month we published a paper on medical licensing and reforms that could make care more available to Missouri patients,...
Entrepreneurship in Missouri, Part 3: The Startup Environment
This series on entrepreneurship has highlighted the fact that the percentage of workers in startups is at its lowest level...
The NAACP’s Misguided Opposition to Charter Schools
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) passed a resolution on October 15 calling for a nationwide...
Subsidies in Saint Louis: Part 1
What would you think if your city officials had gambled with nearly $1 billion in taxpayer dollars? What would you...
What an Honest Economic Development Study in Kansas City Might Conclude
A July piece by Steve Vockrodt for The Kansas City Star talked about the city’s efforts to study the real...
The North Side’s Unlearned Lesson
Many Saint Louis residents are familiar with the empty promise of the NorthSide redevelopment project and how it hasn’t achieved...
Two Thumbs Down for MetroLink Expansion
I had a friend – a newspaper editor and publisher – who mangled many words, sometimes inventing new ones in...
