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Get the latest news and research from Badger Institute
- Transportation policy for the way Wisconsinites actually want to travel
- Having two parents matters; so does data
- Do Madison’s schools underperform Milwaukee’s? Let’s talk about it.
- Milwaukee-Racine-Kenosha rail idea back on radar, despite costs, existing options
- Three policy avenues to help public schools flourish
- Data center boom means good times for old-line manufacturing, 50 or 500 hires at a time
- Strong foundations, untapped potential: Wisconsin’s economy
- Want to help families, Wisconsin? Stop raising childcare costs
Browsing: News
One important factor remains missing from Wisconsin’s education dashboards: family structure.
Truth be told: Madison Metropolitan School District is as troubled as Milwaukee Public Schools is.
A costly proposed commuter rail system between Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee is back on the radar of municipal leaders, even as frequent service on high-end buses already serves commuters on the same route.
Since data centers are capital intensive, Wisconsin — a state that manufactures capital goods — is benefiting immensely.
The childcare sector is highly regulated in ways that drive up costs without clear evidence that the related regulations improve safety or quality.
Tax increment financing can raise existing residents’ property tax bills, at least the way the tool is used in Wisconsin.
Sales tax exemption isn’t a subsidy but a common shield against increasing consumers’ prices with hidden levies.
Why do Wisconsin politicians want to close schools providing measurably great education for working-class kids?
Wisconsin’s own economics standards consistently teach the importance of prices, profits, competition, incentives and property rights, while one of the state’s leading candidates for governor campaigns without admitting or even seeming to understand their value.
Overall spending by the federal and state governments on Medicaid has never once been reduced since Congress approved the program in 1965.
Promoting employment, rather than simply awarding benefits, should be the central goal of Wisconsin’s safety net program design.
One recent July morning in a riverside woods west of Eau Claire, 13 high-schoolers took turns firing practice versions of PepperBalls at an old steel drum and un-abolishing the police.
Florida’s politics, suggests Owens, which are more confidently conservative than in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin is tied for first place among states when it comes to reconnecting unclaimed money with its rightful owners — though no state is particularly good at it.
More than 60 percent of Wisconsin circuit courts use text-message reminders to notify criminal defendants of upcoming court dates, but only a minority of counties send messages automatically.
Wisconsin is a better place because of Mark Schug’s scholarship, his advocacy, his teaching, and, above all, his kindness. His influence can be seen in the countless students, teachers, policymakers, and colleagues whose lives he touched.
“The days of white liberal guilt are coming to an end and thank God for it.”
A growing number of Wisconsin communities are choosing to act against considerable economic interest and sit out the data center revolution.
Economic freedom is a fundamental animating idea of the republic that people should be free to work, build, hire, save, invest, trade and make their own economic choices without unnecessary interference from government.
While state law prohibits drivers from driving with a suspended license, it’s not a crime unless alcohol is involved.

