Economics Archives - Page 118 of 118 Voice For Liberty

May

I, Pencil

I, Pencil Leonard E. Read (Click here to read the article.) Do you think there exists a single person who knows how to make a lead pencil? In this article, Mr. Read shows us how there is no one who knows even a small fraction of what is necessary to produce even this simple, everyday item. How, then, does a lead pencil come to be manufactured? Through the uncoordinated actions of many people, each exchanging their own small amount of knowledge for something else they want. The absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless…

Mar

By Bob Weeks

The downside of Being the Air Cap

Harry R. Clements of Wichita contributed this article, which is a summary of a larger study he performed. Click here to read the full study in pdf format. Mr. Clements's article makes a striking conclusion as to why airfares in Wichita were so high. I would be curious as to whether any of our government leaders have read the study. We should also ask why our government leaders are not performing research like this when they propose to spend large sums of taxpayer money. Wichita State's Center for Economic Development and Business Research recently placed a guest article of mine…

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Stretching figures strains credibility

I recently read that the Wichita Airport's economic impact was estimated at $1.6 billion per year. I thought this seemed high, so I investigated further. I became aware of this study prepared by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University, available here: Wichita Mid-Continent Airport Economic Impact. By reading this study I learned that the employees of Cessna and Bombardier -- 12,134 in total -- are counted in determining the economic impact of the airport. Why? To quote the study: "While it might appear that manufacturing businesses could be based anywhere in the area, both…

Jan

Let’s Pay for Our Own Health Insurance

Having most people obtain medical insurance, and therefore their healthcare, from their employers is a peculiar tradition that leads to several less-than-optimal situations. I would venture to guess that most employees don't know the cost of their insurance. They probably pay a portion of the cost through a deduction on their payroll checks and they know what that amount is, but that is a long way from knowing the total cost. Knowing -- and having to pay for -- the entire cost of something is a good motivator for controlling its cost. It makes no more sense for employers to…

Dec

By Bob Weeks

Prepare for sales tax-induced job effects now

Collecting the sales tax to pay for the downtown Wichita arena may produce unintended consequences. A paper titled "An Assessment of the Economic Impact of a Multipurpose Arena" by Ronald John Hy and R. Lawson Veasey, both of the University of Central Arkansas, (Public Administration & Management: An Interactive Journal 5, 2, 2000, pp. 86-98) looked at the effect of jobs and economic activity during the construction of the Alltel Arena in Pulaski County, Arkansas. This arena cost $50 million. It was funded in part by a one percent increase in the county sales tax for one year (1998). The…

Oct

By Bob Weeks

The value of economic impact studies

One of the factors that usually plays a part in an economic impact study like that used to promote the Downtown Wichita arena is the "multiplier," which accounts for the fact that money spent once is spent again, and maybe yet again. To quote from "Economic Impact Multipliers for Kansas" published in "Kansas Business Review" Vol 12, No. 3, Spring 1989, and available at http://www.ku.edu/pri/publicat/multipliers/multipliers.htm: It sometimes seems that the bigger a multiplier is, the more often it is quoted. (1) In any case, some distinctly one-sided political and economic motives encourage the propagation of exaggerated multipliers. In particular, economic…