Economic Freedom
Oklahoma’s Shrinking Private Sector
December 1, 2015 - 2:21pm CST
When it comes to government spending in Oklahoma, the 800-pound gorilla in the room that many people ignore is this simple question: Should government grow faster than the private sector’s ability to pay? To answer that question, a little history needs to be explored. There are two major components... READ MORE
Oklahoma Is Tough on Crime—But Are We Doing It Right?
August 20, 2015 - 12:57pm CDT
Oklahoma is tough on crime. We are tough on crime for good reason—to keep our communities safe. We administer sentences to criminals commensurate to their crime and we are not afraid to dedicate significant state resources towards public safety. Oklahoma, like much of the United States, entered ... READ MORE
Outnumbered Three to One, Arthur Brooks Shines
August 1, 2015 - 12:26pm CDT
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream Panel discussions on poverty tend to take a predictable course. Speaker after speaker will deplore the existence of poverty, accuse the wealthy of running off with all the money, and propose more taxes (and—as inevitable as sunrise—more government progra... READ MORE
Be Prepared: Federal-Funds Transparency Makes Sense for Oklahoma
August 1, 2015 - 11:59am CDT
A proposal to prepare the government of Oklahoma for emerging federal budget crises fell short in the 2015 session of the state Legislature. But it wasn’t for lack of trying, or support. Some details follow. In a summary prepared by Democratic House media relations staffer Mike Ray, provisions in H... READ MORE
Oklahoma Needs Federal-Funds Transparency
July 1, 2015 - 11:56am CDT
By Tom Newell and Greg Treat It’s no secret that the federal government’s debt is now more than $18 trillion. A bipartisan chorus of policymakers and policy analysts agrees that the current spending patterns of the federal government are unsustainable. One of the significant drivers in federal deb... READ MORE
MAKING THE MORAL CASE FOR FREE ENTERPRISE
July 1, 2015 - 11:51am CDT
Adam Smith. Friedrich Hayek. Milton Friedman. All legendary apostles of economic and political liberty. Now add Arthur Brooks to that pantheon, and you have The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise (Basic Books, 2012), a slim yet potent volume published in 2012 that gives us bot... READ MORE
State-Run Enterprises and One-Ton Nails
July 1, 2015 - 11:44am CDT
A simple insight we teach introductory economics students is that for-profit firms strive to maximize profit. What is more important, however, is that all for-profit firms, from a roadside taco stand to the largest company, receive constant feedback as to how they are doing through the metric of pro... READ MORE
A Three-Step Plan to Prevent Welfare Fraud
June 1, 2015 - 4:36pm CDT
Fraud of state welfare programs including Medicaid and food stamps is far too common, and the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) has released a report documenting cases of abuse and how state legislators can stop it. Let’s take a look at just a few of the many egregious cases where taxp... READ MORE
Unleashing Rural Opportunity in Oklahoma
April 8, 2015 - 3:51pm CDT
State finances are a complicated morass of federal, state, and local revenues and expenditures interacting in ways that almost no journalists understand and very few political leaders can explain. In my tenure while serving two governors (Oklahoma’s Frank Keating and Kansas’s Sam Brownback) and cons... READ MORE
Marching to Freedom
February 23, 2015 - 12:34pm CST
Conservative policymakers in Kansas care more about your family budget than the state budget. The state of Kansas is on a “march to zero.” The state’s political leaders have decided to eliminate the state individual income tax for all income earned in Kansas. As Governor Sam Brownback reiterated ... READ MORE
