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 “...”
Krull Commentary: A portrait of the artist in his native earth
This column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com. By John Krull TheStatehouseFile.com January 2, 2026 DUBLIN, Ireland—The young artist posed for a portrait on this spot. I’m standing in the garden of the Museum of Literature Ireland near an old ash tree where Jam “...”
Krull Commentary: Mike Braun freefalls into the new year
This column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com. By John Krull TheStatehouseFile.com December 31, 2025 Santa Claus left Indiana Gov. Mike Braun a true lump of coal in his stocking for Christmas. A Public Policy Polling survey of 636 registered voters in Dubois Count “...”
Krull Commentary: Resistance, reckoning and history’s demands
This column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com. By John Krull TheStatehouseFile.com December 29, 2025 COPENHAGEN, Denmark—The past makes demands. It demands acknowledgment. It demands accountability. It demands a commitment to the truth. This is the overarching l “...”
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 “...”
Krull Commentary: Braun, Beckwith and the wisdom of Will Rogers
This column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com. By John Krull TheStatehouseFile.com December 26, 2025 The early 20th-century cowboy comedian and philosopher Will Rogers once delivered a great droll joke. “I am not a member of any organized political party,” Rog “...”
Krull Commentary: Books and the great deep dark world
This column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com. By John Krull TheStatehouseFile.com December 24, 2025 PRAGUE, Czech Republic—Outside, the fog and mist hover, making the lights of this old city shimmer wetly over the cobblestones, turrets and rooftops in the night “...”
Krull Commentary: A Trump by any other name
This column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com. By John Krull TheStatehouseFile.com December 22, 2025 So, President Donald Trump wants to have his name attached to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His minions already have added Trump’s name to “...”
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 “...”
Krull Commentary: Opera, passion and the river of time
This column was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com. By John Krull TheStatehouseFile.com December 19, 2025 VIENNA, Austria—The crowd traipses into the old opera house as the orchestra continues warming up. Ladies of mature vintage cloaked in elegant gowns and shimmeri “...”