The Show-Me Institute, or SMI, is an American

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

based in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

that promotes public policies that advance

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

principles. Founded in 2005, the organization focuses on

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for th ...

issues in the state of Missouri. The stated mission of the Show-Me Institute is "improving the quality of life for all citizens of Missouri by advancing sensible, well-researched solutions to state and local policy issues." The Institute opened a branch office in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

in 2014.

Policy positions

Although SMI does not typically take "institutional" positions, the research of SMI analysts tends to converge in support of

small government Libertarian conservatism, also referred to as conservative libertarianism and conservatarianism, is a political and social philosophy that combines conservatism and libertarianism, representing the libertarian wing of conservatism and vice ver ...

principles that maximize both

economic efficiency In microeconomics, economic efficiency, depending on the context, is usually one of the following two related concepts: * Allocative or Pareto efficiency: any changes made to assist one person would harm another. * Productive efficiency: no addit ...

in the Missouri economy and

individual freedom Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-relianc ...

for Missourians.

Taxation

SMI research supports low broad-based taxes and a move away from

income taxes An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

as keys to economic growth in Missouri. The first paper published by the institute, written by Joseph Haslag in 2006, explored how the 1 percent earnings taxes of Kansas City and St. Louis damaged growth in those cities. An essay published in 2012 by Patrick Ishmael and Michael Rathbone called for the elimination of the

corporate income tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...

through the elimination of

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

tax incentives A tax incentive is an aspect of a government's taxation policy designed to incentivize or encourage a particular economic activity by reducing tax payments. Tax incentives can have both positive and negative impacts on an economy. Among the posit ...

. In 2019, Patrick Tuohey and Graham Renz explored

tax increment financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program is ...

, community improvement district and other local taxing districts, finding that the districts could often be formed with little public input and that many districts lacked sufficient oversight of the revenues collected.

Spending

Research by Ishmael and Adam Millsap, published in 2017, explored the relationship between state & local government spending growth and private sector

gross state product Gross regional domestic product (GRDP), gross domestic product of region (GDPR), or gross state product (GSP) is a statistic that measures the size of a region's economy. It is the aggregate of gross value added (GVA) of all resident producer unit ...

(GSP) growth. The paper raised concerns about the compounding effects of

deadweight loss In economics, deadweight loss is the difference in production and consumption of any given product or service including government tax. The presence of deadweight loss is most commonly identified when the quantity produced ''relative'' to the amoun ...

es caused by state governments driving larger and larger portions of their GSP, observing that " na state where government expenditures grow faster than the private sector economy as a whole, the amount of resources the government controls increases over time." The paper included the author-named "IM Index" ranking of states from 2004 to 2013, which compared states based on their overall exposure to these spending and deadweight loss risks.

Health care

The institute is skeptical of

socialized medicine Socialized medicine is a term used in the United States to describe and discuss systems of universal health care—medical and hospital care for all by means of government regulation of health care and subsidies derived from taxation. Because of ...

and has criticized the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

. Researchers have written in support of block-granting

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...

and proposals that would financially incentivize non-

long term care Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods. Long-term care is focused on individualized and ...

beneficiaries to shop for services and voluntarily leave the program. The institute has also written against certificate of need laws and in support of

health savings account A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to an account are not subject to federal inco ...

direct primary care In the United States, direct primary care (DPC) is a type of primary care billing and payment arrangement made between patients and medical providers, without sending claims to Health insurance in the United States, insurance providers. It is an ...

, licensure reform and insurance market

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

Government transparency

Researchers have supported the expanded use of digital recording, including video and

online streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

, of government hearings, including the allowance of outside recording devices when government organs decline to record proceedings themselves. Researchers have also advocated for greater local government transparency, particularly for spending records of

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, and special taxing districts.

Education

Researchers have supported a variety of

school choice School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools. The most common in the United States, by both the number of programs and by the number of participating students are scho ...

initiatives, including education savings accounts, support for

charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

, and greater flexibility in merit pay for high performing teachers.

Workforce development and labor policies

SMI researchers have supported the expansion of

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

programs and a diversification of the state's educational portfolio to better fund

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

career tracks. Institute researchers view government labor unions as inherently problematic.

Board of directors

As of 2019: *

Crosby Kemper III Rufus Crosby Kemper III is the current director of the U.S. National Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Previously director of the Kansas City Public Library from 2005 until 2020, Kemper's other experience includes CEO/Chairman of UMB ...

, executive director of the

Kansas City Public Library The Kansas City Public Library is a public system headquartered in the Central Library in Kansas City, Missouri. The system operates its Central Library and neighborhood branches located in Kansas City, Independence, and Sugar Creek. Founde ...

and former CEO of

UMB Financial Corporation UMB Financial Corporation is an American financial services holding company founded in 1913 as City Center Bank and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It offers a number of financial services from checking and savings accounts, credit services inclu ...

* Rex Sinquefield, co-founder and former co-chairman of

Dimensional Fund Advisors Dimensional Fund Advisors, L.P. (branded Dimensional abbreviated DFA) is a private investment firm headquartered in Austin, Texas. Dimensional was founded in Chicago in 1981 by David Booth, Rex Sinquefield and Larry Klotz. The company has affilia ...

* Michael Podgursky, professor of economics * Louis Griesemer, Chairman of the Board of Springfield Underground, Inc. * W. Bevis Schock, attorney * Joe Forshaw, past president and CEO of Forshaw, a family-owned business * Stephen F. Brauer, chairman and CEO of Hunter Engineering Company; former ambassador to Belgium * Jennifer Bukowsky, attorney * James G. Forsyth III, president and CEO of Moto, Inc. * Robert M. Heller, former judge * Megan Holekamp, real estate broker at Janet McAfee Inc. * Gregg Keller, political consultant * Gerald A. Reynolds, former general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary for

LG&E and KU Energy LG&E and KU Energy is a subsidiary of PPL Corporation, based in Louisville, Kentucky. It is composed of the following companies: *Louisville Gas & Electric Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) is a utilities company based in Louisville, Kentucky. A sub ...

* Kevin Short, co-founder and managing partner/CEO of Clayton Capital Partners

Affiliations

The Show-Me Institute is an affiliate of the

State Policy Network The State Policy Network (SPN) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a network for conservative and libertarian think tanks focusing on state-level policy in the United States. The network serves as a public policy clearinghouse and advises ...

, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

network of free-market oriented think tanks.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.showmeinstitute.org, The Show-Me Institute
Organizational Profile
–

National Center for Charitable Statistics The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops st ...

(

Urban Institute The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...

) Politics of Missouri Political and economic think tanks in the United States Tax reform in the United States Libertarian think tanks Libertarian organizations based in the United States