Tag: Capitalism
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Jeff Fluhr decided
A few weeks ago in the post Jeff Fluhr’s Decision I wrote that the the new president of the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation had a choice to make: “Mr. Fluhr needs to decide if he’s on the side of open and transparent government, or whether he’s in favor of crony capitalism and the good ol’…
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Do We Have Too Little Regulation?
One of the things we’re being told by the mainstream media is that deregulation is the cause of our current economic crisis. If only Bush hadn’t torn up so many regulations, we wouldn’t be in this trouble. Only adding more regulation will save the economy. Free markets — as if our economy is based on…
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Jeff Fluhr’s Decision
At the December 2, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council, Jeff Fluhr, the new president of the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, spoke on behalf of the expansion of the Center City South Redevelopment District, commonly known as the downtown Wichita arena TIF district. Attending the meeting with him were several members of that organization’s…
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Wichita Taxes Cancel Development
Carrie Rengers’ Wichita Eagle column from yesterday (Warehouse plans near airport are called off) reports on two Wichita real estate developers who have canceled a project that would be a valuable addition to our city. The reason for canceling? Wichita’s property tax environment. In Wichita, we’re separating real estate development into two classes. There are…
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Wichita TIF districts mean central government planning
As the City of Wichita moves towards more government subsidy and planning instead of entrepreneurship, we should make sure we know what we’re relying on.
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Downtown Wichita Arena TIF District Still a Bad Idea
Say no to expansion of the Center City South Redevelopment tax increment financing (TIF) District. Remarks to be delivered at the December 2, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council. Watch the video here. Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council: It is the case the the City of Wichita is proposing to limit this TIF…
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Introducing Economics in One Lesson
In This Book is So Me, Walter Block introduces a book that I’ve quoted from and used extensively: Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. Every widespread economic fallacy embraced by pundits, politicians, editorialists, clergy, academics is given the back of the hand they so richly deserve by this author: that public works promote economic…
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Bryan Derreberry and the Chamber’s goals for Wichita
When the head of a chamber of commerce speaks or writes, it pays to listen or read carefully. While chambers are nominally pro-business, that’s a long way from saying they’re pro-liberty. Instead, they increasingly exist to serve a narrow interest. Using words and language like “pride,” “community,” “investment,” and “economic development” — all words that…
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Wichita Chamber of Commerce values
Here’s a message that Bryan Derreberry, president of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce, sent to Chamber members. Note that this message doesn’t mention the role its political action committee played in the third Sedgwick County Commission district. In that race, the PAC spent some $19,000 of its $48,000 in an effort to elect Goddard…