A Believer in Good Government Programs
Posted on June 13, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Kansas, free markets | Leave a Comment
An audio version of this post is available here.
A Mr. Greg Abbott of Clearwater, Kansas makes the case in the June 13, 2008 Wichita Eagle that there are many good government programs: the interstate highway system, the post office, the air traffic control system, police and fire departments, etc.
I believe the writer makes a huge [...]
Wichita School District Economic Impact
Posted on June 5, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Education, Kansas, Schools, Wichita | 1 Comment
In February 2008, Janet Harrah of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University produced a report titled “Wichita Public Schools: Impact Analysis Operations Impact, Bond Impact and Success Measures.” This report painted a glowing picture of the USD 259 (Wichita, Kansas public school district) bond issue in 2000. The district [...]
Read More..>>Wichita Public Schools as a Public Good
Posted on May 29, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Education, Kansas, Schools, Wichita | Leave a Comment
An audio recording of this article may be heard here.Â
Supporters of the proposed bond issue for USD 259, the Wichita, Kansas public school district, portray Wichita’s public schools as a “public good.” Therefore, the entire community should pay for — and be happy to pay for — the ongoing operations of the schools, and should [...]
Sedgwick County Trash Franchising: On the Road to Economic Perdition
Posted on May 23, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Kansas | Leave a Comment
I received this letter to Sedgwick County (Kansas) Commissioner David Unruh “over the transom” and I thought it merited reading by the general public. The author speaks of the “road to economic perdition.” I had to use the dictionary to refresh my memory of the exact meaning of the word “perdition.” While that term seems [...]
Read More..>>Trash Franchising in Wichita and Sedgwick County
Posted on May 21, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Kansas, Wichita | Leave a Comment
Currently both Sedgwick County and Wichita are considering trash franchising.
On the surface, “franchising” sounds like a good thing. It sounds like someone’s opening a new Subway sandwich shop.
But what trash franchising does is to grant a monopoly to one (or sometimes a few) service providers for specific geographic areas. Under franchising, people living in an [...]
Senator Anthony Hensley: Please Stop This Nonsense
Posted on May 15, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Kansas | Leave a Comment
On May 6, 2008, Kansas State Senator Anthony Hensley, Democrat from Topeka and Senate Minority Leader, introduced a resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s new deal.
Besides being misinformed about the true impact of Roosevelt and the new deal, Senator Hensley wastes the time and resources of the people of the State [...]
How Much More Will Kansas Electricity Cost In Your Future?
Posted on May 15, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Kansas | 3 Comments
From Karl Peterjohn of the Kansas Taxpayers Network.
How Much More Will Electricity Cost In Your Future?
Karl Peterjohn, Kansas Taxpayers Network
Governor Sebelius and her bankrupt Secretary of Health and Environment Rod Bremby (Bremby filed for personal bankruptcy over a year ago) now appear to have stopped the Kansas house from joining the Kansas senate in overriding [...]
Kansas Under Kathleen Sebelius: Poverty Grows Quickly
Posted on May 13, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Kansas | 3 Comments
Denis Boyles dissects the 2007 Kansas Economic Report and discovers something growing quickly in Kansas under its governor Kathleen Sebelius: poor children. He quotes the report as follows:
The number of Kansans estimated to be living below the poverty threshold in 2004 totaled 297,733, or more than 11.0 percent of the total population. From 2000 to [...]
No Government Trains, Please
Posted on May 3, 2008 - Filed Under Economics, Kansas, Wichita | Leave a Comment
Part of the Wichita Eagle opinion watch series.
A writer in the April 2, 2008 Wichita Eagle presses the case for passenger train service in Wichita. But there are several problems with the writer’s argument.
The writer makes this claim: “With Kansas’ vast wind resource, we could power our trains with no fossil fuels.” Yes, there is [...]
Diversity Is What Starbucks Decides It Is
Posted on April 25, 2008 - Filed Under Economics | Leave a Comment
Paul Jacob, in a Common Sense commentary writes about David Boaz’s article in the Wall Street Journal (available at the Cato Institute) which describes the effort to obtain a customized Starbucks card with the phrase “laissez-faire” printed on it.
The request was rejected. But the socialist slogan “people not profits” was accepted by Starbucks, as was [...]
