Hicks Commentary: Side effects of property tax reform
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks January 18, 2026 One of the thornier issues in tax policy is anticipating behavioral, or second-order, effects. These are normal “...”
Hicks Commentary: A year of Christian nationalism
A note from the publisher of The Indiana Citizen: One year ago–on Inauguration Day, January 13, 2025–we asked one of Indiana’s leading public intellectuals, Ball State Economics Professor Michael Hicks, to analyze and anticipate the impact of having a Christian nationalist “...”
Hicks Commentary: A Reversal of Rural Fortunes
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks January 4, 2026 Small towns are in for a sobering stretch of economic challenges as elected officials reverse pandemic-era polic “...”
Hicks Commentary: Don’t Ask Your College Kids What They Learned, Ask Them Why They Learned
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks December 28, 2025 Exams are over and college students are home for the holiday break. Parents are certain to ask what they learn “...”
Hicks Commentary: A Pretty Bad Way to End the Year
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks December 21, 2025 The final jobs report of 2025 makes one thing abundantly clear: The critics of President Donald Trump’s tari “...”
Hicks Commentary: Art Laffer and Karl Marx remembered for being wrong
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks December 14, 2025 American economics departments don’t teach Karl Marx or Arthur Laffer for the same reason: their economi “...”
Hicks Commentary: Redistricting Is Both More and Less Than It Seems
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks December 7, 2025 I have been reluctant to write about the redistricting debate in Indiana. After all, there is no original sin t “...”
Hicks Commentary: Challenging Economy Poised to Worsen
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks November 30, 2025 Few American families made it through Thanksgiving without noticing the cost of their classic American meal. T “...”
Hicks Commentary: An Anecdote on Taxation
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks November 16, 2025 I enjoy telling this little anecdote about how voters tend to feel about taxes and spending. From 2004 to 2007 “...”
Hicks Commentary: How to Thank a Veteran
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks November 9, 2025 As Veterans Day approaches, I am reminded that the hardships of military service provided me with the most valu “...”