Minnesota’s economic news, w/e 2/22/19

A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.

Minnesotans Are Not Getting A Deal on Their Electricity Bills

Renewable energy advocates' fixation on bills relative to the national average rather than prices, is a disingenuous slight of hand that allows them to make it seem like Minnesotans are getting a deal on their electric bill, when in reality our bills are only lower than those of residents living in other states because we less electricity than the national average. In short, we're not getting a deal on our electricity. We're paying more for less.

Sen. Warren’s wealth tax revenue estimates assume that ‘the rich’ will not change their behavior. That is unrealistic.

Taxes are incentives. Change them, and you'll change behavior. Sen. Warren's assumption that 'the rich' will make no response to her wealth tax is completely unrealistic. 

AMERICAN EXPERIMENT BOOK SHELF

The Janus Effect on Teachers’ Union: Too Soon to Know

The impact of Janus v. AFSCME on union membership losses in Minnesota is not fully known yet. In states that passed right-to-work laws prior to Janus, it took several years for public employees like teachers to realize they could resign, and then decide to do so.

Minnesota doesn’t need Gov. Walz’s gas tax hike

In terms of revenue the politicians in Saint Paul have never had it so good. Why, then, are they pleading poverty and planning to take more of their citizen’s money from them?

Hard to Fathom Male and Female Graduation Rates

I went looking for certain education statistics the other day but found more interesting data along the way. It has come to be commonly understood that American girls are doing better than America boys in virtually every education (and noneducation) category, with the same holding true for young women compared to young men.  This is particularly the case regarding college graduation rates.  But until one sees most recently available numbers, I’m guessing most people don’t come close to grasping the size these gaps. The following estimated data, for the 2016-17 academic year, are from the National Center for Education Statistics...

SF1372 Eliminating Size Limits on Hydropower is Smart Policy

Minnesota passed its 25 percent renewable energy mandate in 2007, but did you know this bill specifically prohibited counting electricity from large hydroelectric dams as a way to comply with the standard? As crazy as this sounds, it is true, and it has had serious negative impacts for Minnesota households. Fortunately, SF 1372 would eliminate the size limit on hydropower for satisfying the renewable energy mandate. This may sound like a small tweak to existing legislation, but this is actually a very big deal. Minnesota currently imports about 7.2 million megawatt hours of electricity from Canada, or about 10 percent of...