Policy in Detail
May 9, 2013
Proposals to expand Minnesota’s renewable energy mandates will raise electricity prices on Minnesota families and businesses. If electricity prices increase by a half cent to two cents per kilowatt hour, the loss of Minnesota jobs in just the manufacturing, retail and hospitality sectors will likely amount to 12,000 to 49,000 jobs.
Apr 22, 2013
Some of the biggest changes that will result from one-party rule will be felt in energy policies, with implications for family budgets, jobs and economic growth. Ironically, the push for so-called green energy is fueled by money derived from oil—the heirs to the Standard Oil fortune.
Feb 27, 2013
In this article I provide information clarifying this debate over economists’ views on the minimum wage. After clarifying the literature, I then turn to the data about who receives minimum wages in Minnesota. I use some existing estimates of the size of the effect of the minimum wage to estimate the impact on just one subsample of the labor force: teens. A loss of jobs in the short run is only one dimension of the problems created by rising minimum wages.
Jun 18, 2012
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and lawyers with Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand recently filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Minnesota to strike the Voter ID constitutional amendment question from the ballot. I do have some empathy for their position, but the law is not on their side.
Jul 14, 2011
Top earners have more incentive to move from Minnesota to a lower tax state in 2010 than they did throughout the high-tax decade of the 1970s. Just as important, they have a stronger disincentive to move to Minnesota from a low-tax state today.
Oct 1, 2009
A health insurance exchange is often reported as one of the few key congressional health care proposals with bipartisan support. Whatever bipartisan support people perceive is illusory. The fact is, conservatives and liberals support very different versions of an exchange
Sep 8, 2009
In today’s health care discussions, the Mayo Clinic is regularly held out as a high value health care provider that delivers high quality at a low cost. There is indeed a strong body of research from Dartmouth Medical School that shows Medicare patients at the Mayo Clinic consistently cost far less and experience superior outcomes when compared to similar patients at clinics across the country. However, when it comes to understanding value—the intersection between cost and quality—the Dartmouth research is limited by the fact that it covers only Medicare patients.
Apr 8, 2009
Lawmakers’ top priority for this session is erasing the $4.6 billion shortfall forecast for the 2010-11 biennium. To keep the economy on the right track, budget proposals should aim to advance at least four objectives: First, promote job growth; second, expand economic freedom; third, bring balance beyond the biennium; and fourth, obtain more value from government services. To improve the budget and advance the four objectives listed above, this report offers the following recommendations.
Feb 3, 2009
To protect electricity consumers, prudent long-term planning and investing requires that utilities and their regulators estimate how future CO2 regulations will impact the cost of generating electricity.
May 8, 2008
In searching for ways to improve quality and enhance value in Minnesota‘s health care market, Minnesota lawmakers have hit upon the concept of the “medical home.” Currently there are respective medical home proposals under consideration in the state House and state Senate.1 Governor Pawlenty also has offered a proposal.