Union Executive and Staff Pay Far Exceeds Teachers; State Union Dues Increase Again

Denise Specht, President of Education Minnesota makes over $206,000 a year. Specht's gross salary increased $5,794 in 2016. Almost 70 executives and other staff at Education Minnesota make over $100,000 in salary. State dues have gone up by $7; dues range from $650 to $1,400. There were 6,534 reported agency fee payers in 2017.

MnDOT Demands Another Amtrak Train Despite Big Ridership Decline

MnDOT wants to add a second Amtrak train between Chicago and the Twin Cities. By the front page story in the Star Tribune, you’d likely think ridership on the taxpayer-subsidized passenger line must be on the upswing. Adding a second daily passenger train between St. Paul’s Union Depot and downtown Chicago, a proposal that has been bandied about for many years, would likely cost from $137 million to $169 million. But it’s unclear at this point how the project would be funded, and by whom, says a new study. But the paper left out an inconvenient fact on the campaign underway...

Minnesota Regulators Approve Controversial Wind Farm Despite Local Opposition

Minnesota's Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved permits for a wind farm planned in Southern Minnesota despite opposition from local residents and property owners.

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Is Minnesota’s ‘labor shortage’ nudging wages higher?

Minnesota's supposed 'labor shortage' represents an opportunity for the state's workers to find higher wages. These increases will be sustainable, driven, as they are, by underlying economic forces, and not the wave of a legislative wand. 

Clear Energy Alliance: The Cause

Most people don’t know about the vast funding that has been funneled into activists groups opposing the use of fossil fuels. Numerous foundations and hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year trying to convince the public that wind and solar are sustainable (they aren’t) and affordable (definitely not), and that humans can only prosper if we wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. Clear Energy Alliance does a great job of shedding light on these groups in the video below. Enjoy!

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...