Hicks Commentary: Churchill Was Right About Americans
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks July 6, 2025 Our nation was born in an epic struggle over the radical ideals of our founding—that (1) we each have value and “...”
Hicks Commentary: More Changes to Economic Development Policy Are Needed
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks June 29, 2025 Several weeks ago, I wrote that Hoosiers should offer Gov. Mike Braun grace in his efforts to reorient the Indiana “...”
Hicks Commentary: We Have a Healthy Middle Class
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks June 22, 2025 I’m often asked, “What has happened to the middle class?” The best answer I can think of puts the question “...”
Hicks Commentary: Economic Freedom Is Essential, but It Isn’t Just Taxes
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks June 15, 2025 Over the past few years, academic economists and think tanks have published studies on freedom that offer valuable “...”
Hicks Commentary: The Labor Demand Shocks of Artificial Intelligence
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks June 8, 2025 The most disruptive technology in human history was almost certainly the wheel. That economic shock, and all the o “...”
Hicks Commentary: Misdiagnosing Housing Problems
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael Hicks June 1, 2025 The U.S. faces three types of housing market problems, with three very different types of solutions. Yet, policy eff “...”
Hicks Commentary: It’s TDS to Suppose These Tariffs Are Working
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael Hicks May 18, 2025 Judging from email and social media, my last column, which revised my 2025 economic forecast in light of President Tru “...”
Hicks Commentary: Trump’s Tariff Recession Is Here
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael Hicks May 11, 2025 Three months ago, I released an economic forecast that I called “the best for Indiana in the 17 years I’ve been do “...”
Hicks Commentary: Two Key Economic Lessons in One Bill
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael Hicks May 4, 2025 Indiana’s 2025 legislative session offered a valuable pair of economic lessons. The first is that there are no perfec “...”
Hicks Commentary: Time to Fix Economic Development Policy
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael Hicks April 27, 2025 Media reports identified significant accounting problems at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). In “...”