Since the late 1990s, Missouri’s economy has increased at half the rate of the United States as a whole. But the question remains: Why has the Missouri economy reported such slow growth over the past eighteen years?

Millions of taxpayer's dollars have been put into KC's 18th and Vine jazz district with no signs of improvement. SMI's Patrick Tuohey talks with KCMO's Mike Ferguson on July 11, 2016.

St. Louis is considering spending $2 billion on expanding its low ridership light rail, MetroLink, but what's standing in the way? SMI's Patrick Tuohey on the KFTK's The Marc Cox Show on July 1, 2016.

Is Missouri spending too much on corporate welfare at the expense of taxpayers? Centene, a government healthcare management company, is asking for millions in tax subsidies to build a new office in St. Louis. (Aired 6-30-16 on

SMI's Patrick Ishmael discusses how interstate licensing may help lower healthcare costs for Missourians. Aired 6-27-16 on KCMO.

Interstate licensing is an effective solution to the question of how best to balance patient safety and quality care with the needs of a growing and changing health care market. It's worked in other states, why not try it in Missouri?

Is Brexit the beginning of the end of the European Union? Find out from SMI's Andrew Wilson on The Gary Nolan Show. Aired 6/23/16

SMI's Andrew Wilson discusses the negative impact of the Obama Administration's new mandatory overtime pay mandate.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is Missouri’s bad idea that keeps coming back and refuses to die. TIF has had numerous negative economic effects in Missouri, and in particular in the Saint Louis area. TIF has increased government involvement in the economy, sparked abuse of eminent domain, shrunk the tax base, and made subsidies a permanent fixture of development. Furthermore, TIF has failed at its main purpose: economic growth.

SMI's John Wright discusses recent attempts by graduate students at the University of Missouri to unionize. For more information visit our website.