Opinion

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IowaBiz blog: What is the “Fiscal Cliff,” and why are we in this handbasket?

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THE ELBERT FILES: Luck of the Lottery

The Iowa Lottery is allowed by law to spend up to 4 percent of gross revenue on marketing. With sales last year of roughly $310 million, that gave the Lottery a marketing budget of up …

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IowaBiz blog: Metal shavings to countertops

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GUEST OPINION: Leaders slow down to face the speed of change

“True leaders — in business and in personal life — are able to navigate the ambiguity of not knowing, the instability of uncertainty; and the discomfort in the gap that opens up before clarity arises.” …

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THE ELBERT FILES: What’s our megaregion?

America was divided into colonies during the 1700s and into states in the century that followed. Regional groupings among adjacent cities and across state lines began appearing in the 20th century as a tool for …

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IowaBiz Blog: Timing is everything: capital investments for the last quarter of 2012

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THE ELBERT FILES: The economy and elections

The big question this fall – now that Iowa State has beaten Iowa in football– is who will win the November presidential election.

Everyone expects the economy to play a deciding role, but seven weeks …

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GUEST OPINION: The future is bright for ESOPs in Iowa

Hundreds of employee-owned company leaders will gather in Des Moines this coming week to share best practices at one of the largest regional conferences on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in the nation. The Midwest …

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THE ELBERT FILES: A need for more downtown green

Something that has been missing from downtown Des Moines the past three years – playable, open green space – may be on the verge of returning to the central city.

Before the John and Mary …

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GUEST OPINION: It’s the economy, stupid!

That campaign phrase from five presidential election cycles ago rings true for us Iowans after two weeks of ratcheted rhetoric from both sides of the wind energy tax credit argument. The campaigns of President Barack …