Morton makes a critical distinction between true privatization and contracting; between "bailing out" and "contracting out." Contracting can certainly be a cost-effective way to provide public services, but it reduces neither the size nor scope of government. It simply substitutes consultants and independent contractors for municipal…
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LETTERS TO THE NEXT MAYOR 7
Morton, Morton–you, of all people, a Pollyanna? It’s still possible, you say, for Indiana mayors to mount a coordinated legislative campaign to achieve local control? Indiana cities have been trying to get home rule for as long as I can remember, with very limited success.
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War on Women
When I was a young woman, I faced gender barriers my granddaughter will never know: job and credit discrimination, exclusion from educational opportunities, and pervasive social attitudes about "proper" roles for women. Today the legal barriers are largely gone, and social expectations have changed dramatically. Women work…
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LETTERS TO THE NEXT MAYOR 6
If you doubt that economists are cynical and cranky folks, a glance at Morton’s column on neighborhood organizations should prove the point.
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LETTERS TO THE NEXT MAYOR 5
How does a candidate for Mayor respond to environmental issues? By promising to erect an air filter at the city limits? By forbidding pollution of White River by Hamilton county residents? Most environmental problems just don’t lend themselves to local solutions. To make matters worse, scientific debate rages over the causes…
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