A new study, jointly produced by the Show-Me Institute and the Reason Foundation, examines the relatively new funding paradigm of public-private partnerships and how such arrangements may benefit Missouri’s public transportation infrastructure. The study provides an overview of the types of public-private partnerships that can be utilized for transportation projects, including their benefits and best […]

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By Justin P. Hauke It’s disturbing to think of nursing home abuse. Many of us have elderly family members or friends living in assisted-living facilities and naturally turn to government regulation to protect them. But before passing new legislation, it’s important to determine whether the proposed regulations will actually have the desired effect of protecting […]

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The Show-Me Institute will release a policy study today analyzing the fiscal effects of tuition tax credits in Missouri. SMI argues that tax credit programs have helped to reduce inequality of educational access in states where they have been adopted, and in many cases, they have also helped save taxpayer dollars by lowering the per-student […]

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“Prices are not arbitrary numbers, set by whim, or by the greed of the seller. In competitive markets, prices measure intersecting supply and demand.” One factor Mr. Dixon did not take into account, in his excellent treatise on supply and demand, is the human factor – in particular greed. We would argue that the spike […]

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By David Stokes There are few things as worthless as a gun buyback program. Here is the article on this weekend’s one-day exercise in giving people taxpayer money to purchase new guns. After the “tremendous” success of the 1991 St. Louis City Police Department gun buyback, as the Post-Dispatch puts it: The 1991 cache was […]

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A new policy study from the Show-Me Institute asks, “Should Missouri Eliminate the Individual Income Tax?” The study compares Missouri’s relatively stagnant economy with states that do not levy individual income taxes, and concludes that altering or eliminating Missouri’s individual income tax could well improve the state’s economic condition. The study’s author, R.W. Hafer — […]

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Show-Me Institute policy analyst David Stokes takes a look at Missouri’s property reassessment system, and considers the many assessment complaints lodged by Missourians — particularly in the state’s larger and faster-growing counties. Stokes suggests that the current method of assessing individual homes before determining the county’s average rate of increase should be reversed, using aggregate […]

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American Federation of Teacher’s Blog: I just took a look through Mike Podgursky and Robert Costrell’s latest on pensions. Mike is a state based right wing think tanker/professor who has attacked the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as a cartel, and Costrell is at the Walton school of Every Day Low Benefits or whatever […]

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From Show Me Daily: We’ve extended the application deadline for Spring 2008 internships through Friday, November 16. So if you’re a student (or you know one) who’s interested in Missouri public policy, be sure to look into our internship program. Spring 2008 internships will generally last from mid-January through mid-May, although schedules can be adjusted […]

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By Tim Woodcock Rex Sinquefield could have retired and opted for the quiet life. Instead he left his life in California, where he ran an investment company, and returned in 2005 to St. Louis, the city in which he grew up, and threw himself into the political arena and into philanthropy. The dining room of […]

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