Iowa

Big old house provides a lesson in economics • Iowa Capital Dispatch

Published

1 year ago

October 18, 2024

Big old house provides a lesson in economics • Iowa Capital Dispatch

There was a big old house located at 502 South St. in Toledo, Iowa.

The dwelling has a living room, dining room, kitchen, den, and bath on the first floor, four bedrooms on the second. The basement is divided, with a gray painted cement floor, into a laundry room and the other half has a work bench and a furnace. To the side of the furnace was, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a coal bin. Once or twice a year, a dump truck would pull up alongside the house, drop a chute down to the window and allow the coal to fill the bin.

My job, when I reached 10 or so, was to shovel the coal into a hopper, which then fed it down to the furnace where it would burn. Every so often, I would open the furnace door and pull out the “clunkers” (burned up coal) and place them in a bucket for emptying in the alley behind the house. The coal would burn, and the heat would spread up throughout the house.

In the spring, along the south side of the building, flowers would be planted and watered by pouring the water on top of the plant, soaking the ground and saturating the roots.

I have now explained all you need to know about the differences between a conservative Republican economist and a Democratic one. Others may try to confuse you by talking about supply and demand, but economic policy is pretty much determined by where you put the emphasis, cutting taxes for the earners at the top of the scale or to those at the lower end.

For conservatives, the supply side theory holds that cutting government revenue (taxes) frees the money up to be used to create jobs to increase the supply of goods and services, thus causing the economy to grow. The more goods that are supplied to the market, the more the economy will grow and revenues will increase.

Democrats hold that emphasis should be placed on government spending, i.e. public works like roads, bridges and infrastructure that creates jobs, which provides the money necessary to purchase goods and grow the economy. Since consumer spending is the major engine that drives economic growth, it also increases government revenue.

One thing is for sure, whether you are liberal or conservative on government policy as it pertains to the tax code: In 2025, it is very likely changes will take place in tax revenue, if only because former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax reductions are set by law to expire. If Trump wins, the tax cuts remain in place and will likely be expanded. But Vice President Kamala Harris, is not yet supporting further across-the-broad tax reductions, instead targeting increased tax rates for higher-income people, and at least extensions of the tax credits for lower-income individuals, like the earned income tax credit for children and a $25,000 credit for first-time home buyers.

There is a bit of irony in all of this. In 1935 a British economist, John Maynard Keynes, upset conventional thinking that the way out of recessions and depression was to balance the federal budget. Instead, he argued what is needed in down times is increased spending by the government. This proposition was, except within the Roosevelt administration, almost uniformly rejected. But by the 1970s, President Richard Nixon’s economic adviser Milton Friedman admitted, “we are all Keynesians now.”

Taxes: Where do Trump and Harris stand?

All of which brings us to Arthur Laffer and his advocacy that high tax rates cause a loss of government money. He developed the Laffer curve, meant to illustrate that when tax rates get too high, they become counterproductive. Reducing tax rates will motivate people to work and produce more since they get to keep more of their own money, leading to more revenue; raising tax rates produces the opposite effect.

Now maybe to everyone’s surprise, and whether intended or not, Harris’ economic consultants are saying turn the Laffer curve upside down: Reduce taxes on the lower half of the economic scale and you will have individuals with money to spend.

That is really the choice the two candidates offer. If you are a supply conservative proponent, then you should stand in the shade of the elephant. If you believe in the Democratic reversal of Laffer’s proposal, ride a donkey. Pretty simple really — coal in the furnace or water on the flowers, just like when I was a kid.

This column was originally published in the Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier.

Source link

Click to comment

Iowa

I-80 crash cleanup continues after weekend pile-up in eastern Iowa

Published

4 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

I-80 crash cleanup continues after weekend pile-up in eastern Iowa

WEST BRANCH, Iowa (KCRG) – Cleanup crews are still working to remove vehicles from Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa following multiple crashes that blocked the highway for about 12 hours Saturday morning.

Multiple crashes on I-80 east of Iowa City Saturday morning shut down the interstate for several hours in both directions. No one was killed, but dozens of people were injured and taken to the hospital.

Lanes in the area will be closed in order to pull crashed cars out of the median.

“Towing and recovering efforts started right away after the storm, Sunday night after the storm and have continued each night since then and we’re estimating a couple, two to three more nights yet to get everything removed out there,” said Mitch Wood with the Iowa Department of Transportation.

DOT explains highway closure decision

The DOT did not expect conditions to be as bad as they were this weekend. Access to the highway was only limited after the crash happened.

“It started out with just a typical Iowa snowfall forecast. Nothing in that forecast, I guess, rose to that level of alarm for us to kind of forecast that we would have seen the traffic issues that we ended up seeing,” Wood said.

The DOT says preemptively closing the interstate can be done if unsafe travel can be predicted.

“What we could never really anticipate is the driving conditions changing rapidly and how drivers are going to respond to that,” Wood said.

Wood says shutting down an interstate is never a light decision.

“It’s not something that we necessarily want to do but when we make that decision, almost everytime we’re making that decision for safety reasons,” Wood said.

Cleanup of those accidents from Saturday are still underway. That typically happens in the evening, so drivers should watch for signs and lane closures when towing is happening.

Source link

Iowa

Iowa DOT to rebuild I-35 between Huxley and Ames. When will it start?

Published

17 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Iowa DOT to rebuild I-35 between Huxley and Ames. When will it start?

Ames commuters: Now is the time to send in your feedback for proposed changes to Interstate 35.

The Iowa Department of Transportation is proposing new construction to widen I-35 between Huxley and Ames and rebuild sections of U.S. Highway 30 as part of a multi-year plan.

What’s in the Iowa DOT’s construction plan for I-35 between Huxley and Ames?

The Iowa DOT has been planning these changes for more than ten years. Around 2005, about 35,000 vehicles using I-35 south of U.S. 30. In 2024, that number’s now at approximately 47,000 vehicles — and expected to continue growing.

Some of the improvements include:

Replacing and widening I-35 bridges over U.S. 30 in Ames
Lowering U.S. 30 to improve clearance for I-35 bridges
Reconstructing ramps at the U.S. 30 interchange
Widening I-35 to 6 lanes between Huxley and the U.S. 30 interchange in Ames

How much will I-35 improvements between Ames and Huxley cost?

The cost of the project is expected to total $100 million.

When will construction start on I-35 in Story County?

Construction is expected to begin in spring 2027 and be completed by the end of 2030. The project also requires permanently closing 564th Avenue south of Ames between 280th and 290th Streets.

The public input period concludes at the end of December. You can submit questions and comments on the DOT’s website.

Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132.

Source link

Iowa

Local business highlights Iowa agriculture impact during Iowa Secretary Mike Naig visit

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Local business highlights Iowa agriculture impact during Iowa Secretary Mike Naig visit

CENTERVILLE, Iowa (KYOU) – A state innovation grant is helping a local meat processing facility serve area farmers and strengthen Iowa’s food supply chain.

Country Roads Meat Processing received funding through Iowa’s “Choose Iowa” butchery innovation grant program to update equipment at their facility.

Owner Melanie Seals said the business processes beef from multiple local farmers.

“Probably at least purchase beef from at least 20 to 25 different farmers,” Seals said.

Seals, who grew up on her family farm butchering meat, now runs Country Roads Meat Processing with her husband.

On Monday she gave Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig a tour of the facility.

“I mean we both grew up on farms we always butchered our own meat, and we just want to the local movement ally just excel and to grow,” Seals said.

The Choose Iowa butchery innovation grant helps small meat processors update and expand their operations. Seals used the money to update the facility’s equipment, which she said helps supply an important link in the food chain.

Seals said the grant is also helping the business increase visibility for more farmers in the community.

“We like to get as many as we can on the board up there so that way more people can know,” Seals said.

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said he wants to see this kind of success statewide.

“What we’re seeing is a reasonable investment on the part of the state results in a significant investment locally which again drives more businesses,” Naig said.

The success matters as farmers continue to face challenges ahead.

“Were optimistic for another good growing season but that the marketplace will respond,” Naig said.

For Seals, the grant represents a solution that pays off by investing in the future for local farmers.

“We like to help those people that are local have their own businesses and we just kind of want to be a hub for all of that,” Seals said.

Source link