Declarations – Midwest

No Guns at Polls

“Wisconsin’s concealed carry law … permits municipalities to prohibit concealed firearms at polling places during elections, whether or not the polling place is located on municipal property.”

—Wisconsin Government Accountability Board Attorney Mike Haas says elections appear to qualify as special events under Wisconsin’s concealed carry law. State law allows special event organizers — in this case, local election officials — to ban weapons as long as they post signs at every entrance stating as much.

A Net Loss

“There is a net loss because the insurance rates will eventually increase to reflect the storm’s damage.”

—Howard Wall, director of the Institute for the Study of Economics and the Environment at Lindenwood University, comments on the financial effect of a late April hail storm in St. Louis, Mo. Storm-created work for recovery businesses coupled with temporary financial assistance from insurance companies resulted in short-term positive gains for the economy. But Wall said those benefits “wash out” in the long run.

Ethics Versus Growth

“Growth and ethical business conduct in today’s markets can appear to be competing priorities.”

—David Stulb, Global Leader of Ernst & Young’s fraud investigation and disputes services practice. Ernst & Young’s annual fraud survey showed that a growing number of senior executives around the world are willing to pay bribes to win or keep business, as the hunt for growth supersedes concerns over ethics and regulatory fines. After quizzing around 1,700 executives across 43 countries, Ernst & Young found more than one third of respondents believed corruption was widespread in their country.