Close
Taxes
Border County Blues: Why Mountaineers are worse off than those across the state line
Some state vs state differences just make sense: Louisiana has more gator attacks than Texas, Florida gets more tourism than Alabama, and Maine catches more lobsters than Minnesota. One that makes no sense can be found at the edges of the great state of West Virginia. According to the bureau… Read More
New Year, New West Virginia!
If you’re like most people, you make resolutions at the beginning of every year – lose weight, read more books, travel someplace new, finish a degree, etc. A new year is a chance at a fresh start – it’s an easy marker on the calendar that allows you to push… Read More
Certified to Succeed: Private Certification as an Alternative to State Occupational Licensing
Government regulation of most industries is taken for granted. However, there are many fields where the free market could do a better job regulating quality and protecting consumers than the existing government apparatus. Government-imposed occupational licensing is often a burdensome requirement on… Read More
Three Economic Proposals That are Better for Rural America Than Pete Buttigieg’s Plan
More money, subsidies, and government – oh my! Earlier this month, Democratic Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg released his plan for rural economic development. And, as readers of this blog might expect, his plan is nothing new under the sun. Buttigieg calls for paid family leave, additional farm… Read More
Green Spaces and Brown M&Ms
In debates about how to entice people to move to West Virginia’s respective cities, the claim is often made that we need to invest in more green spaces, more parks, more arts, and the like. It’s true, people enjoy these amenities. But these alone are not what draw people… Read More
The Four Pillars of a Miracle
This week our Executive Director is going to walk you through the Four Pillars of a Miracle! These are our guiding principles at the Cardinal Institute that help us determine the policies we advocate for as we work toward a brighter future in West Virginia. Four Pillars of… Read More
Voice and Exit
Where given institutions fail to satisfy the wants or needs of those living under them, there are two options for expressing dissatisfaction: voice and exit. In West Virginia, the argument can be made time and again that public education institution… Read More
5 New Year’s Resolutions for West Virginia
In some ways, this list is a wish list as much as it is a list of resolutions. As many of you know, West Virginia hasn’t been prosperous in any meaningful sense of the word for a very, very long time. The state has many hurdles it must overcome… Read More