The holiday season is here, and with it a chance to read or watch Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Listen to learn the strange connection between Ebenezer Scrooge, "surplus population" and British economist Rev. Thomas Malthus. Purdue ag economist, Larry DeBoer, explains.

Suppose we want to cut property taxes for homeowners.

Last week the Federal Reserve changed its interest rate policy. What did the Fed do, and why?

Purdue ag economist, Larry DeBoer, explains.

How do we know if a recession has started?  Sometimes it’s obvious.  In March 2020 during the pandemic emergency, weekly

Closeout day in the Indiana State House is near and dear to the number crunchers among us.  That’s the day the

Ag economist, Larry DeBoer, breaks down the ups and down of Indiana's property tax policy.

Purdue agricultural economist, Larry DeBoer, posits what could happen to Social Security in this episode of Capital Comments.

It was printed in bold letters on the front of the envelope. “Open Immediately. Property Tax Notice Enclosed.” It was the annual property tax bill on my house! I remembered last year:  a jump in my tax bill of 31 percent. 

I tore open the envelope and found the page of numbers showing how my tax bill was calculated. The taxable assessed value of my home went up only 3 percent this year. Last year the increase was 35 percent. My tax rate went down by almost 5 percent. The tax bill is the assessed value times the rate. If my home value went up 3, but my tax rate went down 5, my tax bill should decrease by about 2 percent, right? 

Let’s think about the economy in the simplest possible way. People use tools to make goods and services, which other people buy. Gross domestic product is our measure of the value of goods and services. It grew 2.5 percent above inflation in 2023. We can use the simple view of the economy to figure out why GDP grew this much, and what will make it grow in the future. 

Last year Indiana homeowners were hit with property tax bill increases averaging 17 percent, an extraordinary increase. Will it happen again in 2024? Let’s compare 2023 to what we know about 2024 so far, and take a guess.