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“When Edsel Ford died and Henry Ford had to reorganize his company board of directors there was a good deal of discussion of changes in “the Ford Empire.”  Metaphors comparing a businessman with a monarch have become common.  But the business man is not sovereign.  On the market sovereignty rests finally with the consumer…Whether a businessman has got his wealth […]

“As of Monday, more than 54,000 people–out of an estimated 250,000 who are eligible–had enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program, an increase of at least 964 from the total six days earlier,” the Arkansas Department of Human Services reported. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, November 13, 20131   (November 15, 2013) Barely 20 percent of Arkansans eligible for […]

(October 2013) In-state undergraduate tuition costs for students  attending Arkansas’ largest public universities continue to outpace inflation despite the lowest multi-year increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since the early 1960s.   CPI increased 12 percent between 2008 and 2013, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.1  The increase is among the lowest of the postwar era.  Comparable […]

“Arkansas’ civilian labor force declined 4,800, a result of 4,800 fewer employed Arkansans.” Department of Workforce Services, August 19, 2013   (September 19, 2013) Arkansas’ civilian labor force–all employed and unemployed Arkansans–is contracting in an expansion, an unprecedented development in state labor market records that date to the mid-1970s.  The trend may continue when the August […]

“After three decades of rising education spending and dramatic personnel growth in the system, Arkansas’ academic achievement is well below national averages and lags most of the world’s industrialized countries. The current public school establishment is responsible for this performance and must be held accountable and urged to improve.”  Murphy Commission, Policy Foundation project, 1998   […]

“Government, in order to be lean and effective, needs to be infused with market forces, less of a monopoly provider of services and measured for accountability and performance.” Murphy Commission, Policy Foundation project, 1998.   Summary: State government does not have a revenue problem.  The people of Arkansas face weak employment and income markets.   (August […]

The 101st anniversary of the birth of Dr. Milton Friedman (1912-2006), the 1976 Nobel Economics laureate will be commemorated at a July 31 forum hosted by the Policy Foundation in Conway.   The forum will start at Noon at the Faulkner County Library (1900 Tyler).   Dr. Friedman, a 1928 graduate of Rahway, N.J. Public […]

(June 2013) Three decades before Congress voted to defund1 a welfare lobby founded in Arkansas, congressional auditors found the group disregarded federal guidelines by using trainees in a taxpayer-funded program for political activity. The episode illustrates the peril of legislators creating bias in the policy arena by subsidizing pet groups with tax dollars. Originally Relied on […]

Summary: Gov. Mike Beebe, state legislators and the Obama administration have not advanced a “private option” to expand Medicaid.  They have created an oligopoly, a market type characterized by a few suppliers able to capture above-average profits with government assistance.  The most likely outcomes are shortages of consumer information and medical services.   (June 2013) Business enterprises […]

“Reduce the state’s income tax…repeal the state’s capital gains tax.” Murphy Commission, Policy Foundation project, 1998 “State revenues have exceeded forecasts: modest cuts in income … and capital gains rates can occur in 2013.” Policy Foundation, November 2012   (June 2013) Arkansas Republicans, in control of the General Assembly for the first time since Reconstruction reduced […]