99 years of economic insights for Indiana

The IBR is a publication of the Indiana Business Research Center at IU's Kelley School of Business.

Executive Editor, Carol O. Rogers
Managing Editor, Brittany L. Hotchkiss

Spring 2008

Spring 2008 Indiana Business Review
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Indiana is Different: Measuring Economic Activity in the United States and Indiana
By Morton J. Marcus

The Impact of Property Tax Legislation on Indiana Households
By Larry DeBoer

From the Editor

As this edition goes to press, the property tax reform package passed by the Indiana General Assembly awaits the governor’s signature. But as long as there are taxes—of our income, automobiles, homes, and retail purchases—there will be concerns and debates about how we are taxed, by whom, and for how much.

The articles in this issue of the Indiana Business Review deal with income and taxation. The first, by longtime contributor and IU economist Morton Marcus, focuses on which industries produce the most output (GDP) and thereby the most income for Hoosiers. The second, by Purdue economist Larry DeBoer, challenges us with pervasive questions—if households pay less in property taxes but more in sales taxes, do they pay more or less in taxes overall? How can we predict which households will pay less or pay more? What makes the “less taxes” households different from the “more taxes” households? Dr. DeBoer describes his model for answering those questions, providing us with greater substance now for the tax debates that are likely to continue—at least in my lifetime!

–Carol O. Rogers, Executive Editor