Minnesota’s economic news, w/e 9/21/18

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

Check Out the Thinking Minnesota Poll

Center of the American Experiment has initiated a poll in connection with our quarterly magazine, Thinking Minnesota. The poll, conducted by nationally-recognized Meeting Street, samples 500 Minnesota registered voters. Typically the largest number of questions will relate to the subject of the magazine’s cover story, but other topics are polled as well. The most recent survey, conducted at the end of August and beginning of September, contains some eye-opening findings. Like the fact that by 65% to 31%, better than two to one, Minnesotans want lower income taxes in all brackets. And the fact that Minnesotans overwhelmingly want to reduce...

Counterpoint: No numbers, only words, in appraising single-parent households

There is, in fact, quantitative analysis applicable to a recent commentary, but this is an issue that also can (and should) be discussed qualitatively — and with grace.  This Counterpoint originally appeared in the Star Tribune on September 21, 2018. The Star Tribune recently ran a commentary by a Detroit Free Press writer, Nancy Kaffer, titled “What everyone gets wrong about single moms” (Sept. 17). Joining with another writer, Alicia Guevara-Warren, a project director with Kids Count in Michigan, the two make fair points about how quantitative data — such as how many children are growing up with only one parent —...

AMERICAN EXPERIMENT BOOK SHELF

EIA: One in Three U.S. Households Faces a Challenge in Meeting Energy Needs

Electricity bills, especially in states with large renewable energy mandates, are skyrocketing. Rapidly increasing electricity prices have forced families to make tough decisions about whether to pay their electric bill, or to buy groceries. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports nearly one-third of U.S. households (31%) reported facing a challenge in paying energy bills or sustaining adequate heating and cooling in their homes in 2015.

What are the prospects for wages in Minnesota?

Wages have been rising in nominal terms in Minnesota, but inflation has taken much of that increase. Fortunately, if the Federal Reserve does its job, the prospects look better.

American Experiment event celebrating free speech protected by police while police union protested outside

The Teamsters are certified under the law to represent police officers all over the state. The Center had to hire police to protect us while the Center and our guests exercised our right to gather and speak. We had to hire police to protect us from possible interruptions, or worse, from the police union and other public-sector unions and protesters.

Star Tribune Fooled by Cherry-Picked Data: How the Left Demagogues on Climate Change

A recent Star Tribune editorial (“Climate change is real in Minnesota, too,” Sept. 13) compared precipitation for two periods, 1941-70 and 1981-2010, and found that in the Twin Cities it was up 20%, and some counties in south-central Minnesota saw 30-35% increases.  This info was “told” to an editorial writer by climatologist Mark Seeley. Now I’m not a climatologist, but I’m not bad at math, and I’m suspicious when I see arbitrary time periods and relatively small geographic areas (counties?) compared to make a point.  Therefore, I looked up the numbers for the whole state of Minnesota on the National...