I am one of 760,000 Hoosiers who are possible villains in the widely declaimed housing shortage. Of course, as a known reprobate, I do ask: How do we know there is a housing shortage?

Retail sales fell 0.4% in February from January. The details were somewhat better, however; sales excluding autos were down 0.1%, and sales excluding autos and gasoline were flat over the month. Sales growth was mixed across segments.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for February edged down by 0.1%. This translates to a 4.6% year-over-year gain, which is down from 5.7% in January 2023 and the peak pace of 11.6% in March 2022 from a year earlier.

In the decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, work from home rose steadily to 5.6% of all workers. Most of this growth was likely attributable to technology that made remote work possible, but work at home pre-dated the personal computer and internet. In 1980, a modest 2.2% of workers worked…

The consumer price index rose 0.4% in February from January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, matching the consensus expectation. This followed a 0.5% increase in January. On a year-ago basis overall CPI inflation (not seasonally adjusted) was 6.0% in February, down from 6.4% in …

Job growth was stronger than expected once again, with the U.S. economy adding 311,000 jobs in February according to a survey of employers, compared to the consensus expectation of 205,000. There were small downward revisions to job growth in January (to 504,000 from 517,000), and December (…

I hope to make lots of new friends today by reminding Hoosiers of something: You do not have a right to food, shelter or health care.

To understand the impact social media has had on crisis communication, it’s important to understand a bit of history and evaluate a recent, local example.

Krysta Young moved her Sassie Cakes shop from Lower Huntington Road to Broadway in downtown Fort Wayne in 2018 to have more space.

Indiana is home to about 1 in 6 of all Amish Americans, with estimates from 2022 at about 62,000 adherents. The Amish, as most readers will know, are a Christian religious denomination who arrived from Germany and Switzerland in the early 1800s. Their members are recognizable by their style …

When you talk about Hispanics in Indiana, who are you talking about? These Hoosiers didn’t just arrive in the U.S. Most (72%) were born in America; another 9% have been in the U.S. long enough to be naturalized citizens.

As someone with libertarian instincts, I’ve always considered traffic regulations to be the quintessence of the law’s potential.

As a business owner, protecting your company and your clients’ data is a huge concern. With data breaches on the rise, it’s clear that hackers are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to steal sensitive information. On the flip side, consumers, eager to avoid data breaches, are becomi…

Indiana is wrestling with a housing problem. Mayors across the state grapple with ways to get new homes built in their communities. Last year, the Indiana Legislature convened a task force that listened to several groups outline their perspectives. One result is that in this session of the G…

There is a whole set of numbers we’d rather forget, so I’ll write about them today. According to data published in National Vital Statistics Reports for March 22, 2022, my life expectancy is another 6.4 years.

I was not raised to say “sir” or “ma’am,” so those words have never been part of my regular vocabulary, except for three years in the Army when they were forced on enlisted personnel as the required way to address officers.

Online shopping seems to be at an all-time high. Just a few clicks of a button on your phone or computer results in a package being at your front door in just a few days, sometimes within hours. This means that many companies are looking to utilize their website to enhance and increase sales…

Have you ever been on a website and felt stranded? Maybe you were placing an order, and maybe you were looking for contact information – whatever the reason, the website left you hanging. The lesson here? Design, navigation, and usability are a big deal regarding website design.

Last Friday, I was scheduled to testify before the Bright Commission, named for its chair, State Sen. Bernadette Bright. It didn’t happen.

Just weeks after Blue Jacket, Inc. announced it had opened a cafe, it has stated a new endeavor.

America’s large public debt seems poised to again become an electoral issue as we gear up for the 2024 election cycle. Though we are a long way from real debt reduction, it is helpful to gather a few facts to ponder the challenge of balancing the budget. I must say up front that balancing th…

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 1,000 to 194,000 in the week ending Feb. 11. Claims for the prior week were unrevised at 195,000.

While industrial production was flat in January from December, the details were much better. Manufacturing output rose a strong 1.0% over the month, the biggest increase since February 2022, after declines in November and December. Mining output jumped 2.0%, the largest increase since March …

Last month I shared the “new rules” of networking and a few tips for building relationships in our changing communication environment. As I mentioned, one key to success is listening first instead of starting with a preconceived elevator speech. However, it’s also important to know what to s…

Retail sales jumped 3.0% in January from December, following declines in the two previous months. Details of the report were good, with sales excluding autos and gasoline up 2.6% for the month. The increase in retail sales, combined with the very strong January jobs report, reduce concerns t…

Do you remember how beautiful and calm is the lily pond? Monet painted them extensively as a delight to the eye. So does a nice data set seem to me.

Several readers have asked what is happening in labor markets, and why it is so difficult to find workers. That’s a common concern in the post-COVID-19 world and is worthy of a deep dive into labor market data. The Indiana experience is similar to many states, but with a few notable twists.

Downtown Fort Wayne has been without a grocery since Tapp’s Family Market at 120 W. Wayne St. closed in 1997. Now, GK Cafe & Provisions is providing city residents and visitors with a spot to stop in to buy a toothbrush, pick up food or sit down for lunch.

Bed Bath & Beyond‘s latest list of store closures includes Fort Wayne’s Jefferson Pointe store.

It’s 2023. The candidates are lined up to become or remain mayors of Indiana cities. There will be primaries where these primates have contests within their respective parties. Some good people and some ridiculous bipeds will be nominated for the November elections.

If you were a hall monitor back in your school days, I apologize for the insult, but I did not care for your kind.

Indiana’s hospital industry is among the most monopolized in the United States, with several federal health care regions facing no competition. The wholly predictable result is that prices for routine medical procedures are among the highest in the world. Not surprisingly, tax filings with t…

The Federal Open Market Committee raised the federal funds rate, its key short-term policy rate, by 25 basis points Feb. 1 as expected. The funds rate is now in a range between 4.50% and 4.75%.

Small-business owners, remember when you had to close your office because all your staff was headed to the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale? Well, get out the “Closed” sign because after a three-year hiatus the event is back.