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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.

If Wisconsin children receive poor instruction, attend chaotic schools, and learn through weak, incoherent curricula, then industry and civil society will struggle accordingly.

Since data centers are capital intensive, Wisconsin — a state that manufactures capital goods — is benefiting immensely.

Much remains to make Wisconsin reach its full economic potential, including matching its strong inputs with stronger outputs.

The childcare sector is highly regulated in ways that drive up costs without clear evidence that the related regulations improve safety or quality.

With important reforms, Wisconsin can meet both the demands of ensuring safe and affordable childcare for Wisconsin families while controlling overall costs.  

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’s next governor and Legislature should strengthen the state’s safety net by focusing it more clearly on work, family stability and upward mobility.

“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.