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

think tank A think tank, or public 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-governme ...

based in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

that promotes public policies that advance

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), 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 ...

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 t ...

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 t ...

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 Small means of insignificant size. Small may also refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text Arts and ...

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 realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and ad ...

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 or corporate income tax, is a type of direct tax levied on the income or capital of corporations and other similar legal entities. The tax is usually imposed at the national level, but i ...

through the elimination of

economic development In economics, economic development (or 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 object ...

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 po ...

. 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 i ...

, 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 The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

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 loss of societal economic welfare due to production/consumption of a good at a quantity where marginal benefit (to society) does not equal marginal cost (to society). In other words, there are either goods ...

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 (PPACA) and informally 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 is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

and proposals that would financially incentivize non-

long term care Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

beneficiaries to shop for services and voluntarily leave the program. The institute has also written against

certificate of need A certificate of need (CON), in the United States, is a legal document required in many states and some federal jurisdictions before proposed creations, acquisitions, or expansions of healthcare facilities are allowed. CONs are issued by a federal ...

laws and in support of

health savings account A health savings account (HSA) is a tax advantage, 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 t ...

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 insurance providers. It is an umbrella term, incorporating various h ...

, 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 refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

, 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 gov ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, 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 traditional public schools. School choice options include scholarship tax credit programs, open enrollment laws (which allow students to att ...

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. Researchers also introduced a "Missouri Parents' Bill of Rights," with a focus on curricular and spending transparency.

Workforce development and labor policies

SMI researchers have supported the expansion of

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

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

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...

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

Housing

The institute opposes laws that ban

source of income discrimination Source of income discrimination describes when landlords refuse to rent to tenants using housing vouchers or other government assistance. Housing advocates argue the practice keeps vulnerable communities from accessing housing, although landlords ...

for tenants, asserting that such laws are "authoritarian" and infringe upon the property rights of landlords.

Board of directors

As of 2023: * Rex Sinquefield, co-founder and former co-chairman of

Dimensional Fund Advisors Dimensional Fund Advisors, L.P. (branded Dimensional abbreviated DFA) is a privately-owned investment firm headquartered in Austin, Texas. Dimensional was founded in Brooklyn in 1981 by David Booth, Rex Sinquefield and Larry Klotz. The company h ...

* Michael Podgursky, professor of economics * Louis Griesemer, Chairman of the Board of Springfield Underground, Inc. * W. Bevis Schock, attorney * Joseph 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 * Kevin Short, co-founder and managing partner/CEO of Clayton Capital Partners * John Lamping, former member of the

Missouri State Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 181,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

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 advi ...

, 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, p ...

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 U.S. economy as it relates to nonprofit organizations. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases ...

(

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

) 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