Last week, I presented my 2025 economic forecast to a large group in Muncie. The projections for 2025 are strong for Indiana and the U.S., with a few matters to be concerned about. First, the good news. I project the U.S. economy to grow between 2.5 percent and 3 percent in each quarter, with annual…
I enjoyed coffee with Y. Joel Wong over the holidays. Joel is a tenured professor in the Counseling and Counseling Psychology Programs at Indiana University. One specialty of his is gratitude and its link to well-being. I met up with Joel at Hopscotch Coffee in Bloomington so I could express a belated form of gratitude…
2024, for me, was a milestone year marking sincere attempts to trim brain fat while in pursuit of improved mental well-being. I started using Prozac and meeting with a mental health therapist. I had never sought mental therapy before, nor had I taken antidepressants. If Tony Soprano could see a therapist and accept Prozac, so…
In 2022, Brynne and I visited the sacred grounds of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Inside, I saw a portrait of my high school classmate’s (Stacey) face. I choked up. It still seemed so surreal, so fresh. We took plenty of Kleenex. What follows is an account of my first visit to the memorial a…
I’m going down New Orleans I’ve got to see Dr. JohnGot my mojo working Everything will be fine–Van Morrison My HOKAs were shined in NOLA. That’s not a euphemism for something dirty, so get your mind out of the gutter. Technically, I was in a gutter in the French Quarter when the aforementioned event unfolded,…
Carolyn Sue Berger, 77, of Dale, died at her home on March 3, 2024. Susie was born Sept. 17, 1946, to Walter and Alice (Arnold) Alvey, and married Leo Carlton Berger on October 8, 1966, at St. Paul Catholic Church in Tell City. Susie worked at GE, Tell City Chair Co. and retired from Masterbrand….
This week is municipal elections in Indiana. That means mayors and city councils are campaigning furiously over the next days. I don’t live in a city, so I don’t get to vote in municipal elections. But local government is perhaps the most important determinant of our economic well-being, and our quality of life, so deserves…
Sometimes I must remind myself of the “why.” Delete that . . . not sometimes, many times. Still self-doubting after all these years. The writer’s plague. My own private dark ages. About the mood shifts . . . the fine line between heavenliness and hellishness . . . let’s not delve too deeply. This is…
Let’s begin with the Foreigner fallout boys, those rock and roll purists who understandably disagreed with the positive things I wrote about my first Foreigner concert at Ruoff “I Still Call It Deer Creek” Music Center in Noblesville last month. I recounted how I bought two tickets at a three-figure price for an official Foreigner…
Economists have been seriously studying migration for a couple centuries; for me it’s been a couple of decades. Over that time, we’ve learned a few useful things that should help elected leaders think about why places grow or shrink. First, most migration is concentrated among younger people with high human capital. Yes, retirees move, as…
