The Value of Renewable Energy: How Much Does Reducing Carbon Emissions in Minnesota Affect the World?

Renewable energy has very little value as a power producer—it’s not as reliable as other forms of energy, it’s more intermittent and difficult to predict, and the imposed costs it has on other forms of energy make it among the most expensive sources of energy around. Coupled with government mandates, renewable energy complicates the energy system like no other energy source does.

Minneapolis FBI Agent Gets 4 Years in Prison for Media Leaks

The rogue ex-FBI agent from the Minneapolis field office whose personal gripes with the system outweighed his concern for national security will have four years behind bars to reevaluate his “act of conscience.” Terry Albury leaked secret documents to a media outlet because of perceived mistreatment of minorities and racism at the agency. But the judge laid down the law, according to the Star Tribune. In arriving at his sentence, U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright said she considered Albury’s sterling record with the FBI, as well as his “sincere” belief that he was righting injustices. But, she said that even...

As St. Paul’s politicians prepare to hobble the city’s labor market with a $15 minimum wage without tip credit, D.C.’s are getting rid of it

Despite economic theory and empirical evidence being against such a move, Saint Paul's Mayor, Melvin Carter, seems intent on imposing a $15ph minimum wage without a 'tip credit' on the city's businesses. The experience of Washington D.C. shows just how bad this policy is.

AMERICAN EXPERIMENT BOOK SHELF

Don’t Forget, Trump’s Tax Cuts Brought Down Your Electricity Bill

Despite what its detractors say, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed last year has been an unqualified success. Unemployment is at its lowest rate since 1969, wages are rising in critical industries like manufacturing, and we now have a situation where employers are struggling to find employees, not unemployed people struggling to find jobs. Economic gains were part of the sales pitch for the tax cuts, but Minnesotans have also experienced a host of unexpected benefits from them, including refunds from electric utilities. Because the tax cuts reduced the corporate tax income tax rate from 35 percent to 21...

The Trials of Harvard and Harvard’s Elizabeth Warren

Perhaps the richest irony of Harvard’s admissions policies disfavoring Asians is that they result in preferential admissions for white applicants.  This wasn’t the original intent of affirmative action partisans. Harvard admission rules are currently under dissection in a federal district court in Boston. Of a strange piece, while it was Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s expectation that she has Indian DNA running through her veins, I trust she wasn’t thrilled to learn it hasn’t been replenished for between a half-dozen generations and ten generations.  According to the Wall Street Journal, based on calculations of a distinguished Stanford scientist, this makes the former...

Loneliness, Polarization and Them: Why We Hate Each Other—and How to Heal

Yesterday Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska released his second book titled, Them: Why We Hate Each Other and How to Heal. Senator Sasse believes that Americans aren’t getting along so well. That in fact, polarization is so bad that it is leading many to not simply disagree with but actually hate those who are on the other side of the political spectrum. Coming on the heels of the divisive Kavanaugh hearings and as a lead up to the midterm elections, Senator Sasse's timely book release seeks to bring some light to why our political discourse is so poorly fragmented.

Xcel has Been Increasing Rates to Pay for Expensive Wind Farms

If you’re an Xcel customer, you have most likely noticed your electricity rates have been increasing steadily in the last few years. That’s because Xcel signed a historic multi-year rate plan in 2015 extending to 2018, increasing electricity rates for all Xcel customers. Spelled out directly in its rate-case, Xcel’s rate increases were implemented almost entirely to pay for expensive investments in wind energy and other power facilities, totaling over $1 billion.