Why Is Missouri Losing Congressional Seats?
The South County Journal poses this question without (in my opinion) the right answer. In 1980, Missouri lost its first...
A Healthy Trend
Yahoo! Finance is reporting the largest annual federal budget deficit in history. In FY2008, the U.S. government will post a...
Counties, Not Cities, Should Determine TIFs
A 2007 change to state law granting more authority to county tax increment financing (TIF) commissions within the Saint Louis-area,...
Athletes And Entertainers Get Special Love, And Special Tax
Combest links to an article by Shawn Clubb in today’s Suburban Journals of St. Louis that discusses the athletes and...
Georgia on My Mind
Yesterday, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed a comprehensive health care reform bill similar to Missouri’s landmark HB 818 legislation, which...
Mother Government Is Our Provider and Our Caregiver
An op-ed by Amy Blouin of the Missouri Budget Project has been making the rounds. Combest linked to it in...
Some Positive (and Not-So-Positive) News for Missouri Homeowners
Forbes Magazine has ranked Kansas City fifth in its “Best Cities for Home Sellers” list. This is good news for...
The Missouri Health Transformation Act: Everything AND the Kitchen Sink
The Missouri Health Transformation Act of 2008 (SB1283), which would implement several state health care reforms, has passed the Missouri...
Lower Tax Rates More Efficient Than Tax Credits
Tax credits are a hot topic in the Missouri Legislature. Fans of these instruments assert that tax credits are necessary...
Should College Be Free?
Jay Nixon wants college to be free. Here he explains why: "I firmly believe a college education is key to...
Totally Awesome Post About Stupid Public Policy Decisions
Over at The Atlantic, James Fallows has the winner in a great contest about stupid public policy decisions. I encourage...
True Step Forward for Free Markets in Missouri
Regular readers may readily recall my writings about utilities. So it is with some surprise that I was not more...
A Contrarian’s View
A summer gas tax “holiday” seems to be all the rage these days. Last week, the Missouri house approved a...
A Victory for Alternative Teacher Certification
Great news: Alternative teacher certification in Missouri just got better. The new alternative route, which combines hands-on experience, mentoring, and...
Are You There, Free Market? It’s Me, Sarah
Following Dave’s example, I couldn’t resist a Judy Blume-inspired titled. The question is about the education market. I wrote the...
Bombardier Tax Credits Revised, But Still a Dangerous, Unjust Idea
The ill-conceived Bombardier tax credit plan is moving forward, albeit in a more limited form. Instead of being worth as...
HSAs Are Catching On
Health savings accounts are growing in popularity, according to this article. Six million people are now enrolled in plans that...
Sergio Leone Analyzes the Missouri Legislature and More!
The good, the bad, the depressingly ugly, a fistful of dollars, just a few dollars more, and once upon a...
Recent Articles From SMI Writers and Economists
If you are a fan of our blog you may not have seen some of the latest op-eds and other...
Missouri Helmet Law Repeal?
I meant to write about this a few weeks ago when I first heard about it. Earlier this month, a...
