EVANSVILLE, Ind. — For nearly a decade, identity politics has dominated public discourse, shaping debates in boardrooms, classrooms and legislative halls. It rose from real and necessary grievances: centuries of exclusion and marginalization demanded redress. Identity politics was meant to elevate the voices of the overlooked, to correct historical wrongs.  But today, the ground beneath …

INDIANAPOLIS — This year’s legislative rodeo features the property tax. The farmers aren’t happy. The poor aren’t happy. The rest of the state either doesn’t care or is high on Hoosier Happy Juice. Property taxes are already joyfully beyond understanding. We have fantasy appraised values, supposedly based on selling prices of our neighbors’ properties, as …

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Hoosiers have had many great leaders emerge from their midst or seen them move here to instill success. Abraham Lincoln is regarded as our greatest president, having saved the Union while ending human bondage. Johnny Wooden followed a path from Martinsville to Purdue, South Bend and Indiana State before winning 10 national …

MUNCIE, Ind. — A small number of policy entrepreneurs are calling for “degrowth” in the economy. Most economists have dismissed them as irrelevant, which seems appropriate because every government on Earth has also laughed them away. But, faced with widespread dismissal, they are now turning to schools, colleges and universities. Degrowthers believe our economy is …

INDIANAPOLIS — So many ideas have gushed forth from Donald Trump’s incoming administration. One of the most intriguing, from Indiana’s point of view, is the de-Washington-ization of federal employment. The concept is easy to understand: Many federal civilian jobs are not reported by the Congressional Research Service. Most legislative and judicial workers and those of …