Opinion

The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette

We are coming up on election season quickly, so it is again time to evaluate claims about economic policy. This isn’t a partisan process; candidates across the board tend to make claims that might trouble a close observer of the economy. I will focus on claims that might plausibly lead to counterproductive policies. I begin with the many claims about manufacturing, and its role in our economy.

Since I am unemployed and unemployable, I am blessed with the luxury of deciding how I spend my time. That is not necessarily a good thing as I am a soft target for church and community related volunteer jobs. It’s my own fault so I won’t blame anyone else for the fact that my days are usually filled with meetings, volunteer work jobs and non-degree graduate school classes.

Regular readers of this weekly homily will recall my visits each December with Elvin Elfenhousen at Santa’s North Pole workshop. This year, I found Elvin befuddled by politics.

I’m calling the time we live in the ‘Great Discordance’ between the perceptions Americans have about the economy and the actual state of the economy. By nearly every measure we are in a period of remarkably strong economic performance. This is especially true of those measures economists typically use to judge the overall strength of an economy.

Indiana healthcare costs must come down. According to the RAND 4.0 study conducted last year, Indiana has the seventh highest hospital costs in the nation. There is no reason our healthcare prices should be higher than all our neighboring states of Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan. Hoosier patients, and the employers paying for their medical care are bearing the brunt of these costs due to practices that are unfair and irresponsible. Thankfully, Indiana legislators have shown some courage in recent years to try and inject competition and transparency back into the healthcare marketplace to lower costs across the state.

To the Editor:

In my kitchen are figs from Turkey, coffee and bananas from Columbia, grapes from Chile, apples from Washington state, and Greek yogurt from Canada.

(Jeffersonville) News and Tribune

Anderson Herald Bulletin