A new study released by the University of Minnesota Extension details how COVID-19 impacted craft breweries in 2020. According to the report, Based on Extension’s assumptions and the craft brewer…
State and local taxes and spending Grand Forks Herald: Summer school funds, tax relief stuck as Minnesota lawmakers prepare for recess Star Tribune: You know the story on Minnesota’s taxing,…
Rent control is making a comeback in Minneapolis. According to the Star Tribune, the Minneapolis City Council is pushing two charter amendments that would ask voters to cap rent hikes.…
State and local taxes and spending The Center Square: Minnesota Gov. Walz revises budget, drops some proposed tax hikes Star Tribune: Gov. Tim Walz scales back proposed tax increases, boosts…
According to data from DEED, in February Minnesota's unemployment went down mainly due to people finding jobs.
A coalition of south metro suburban and exurban mayors are blasting state lawmakers over proposed legislation aimed at making housing more affordable without government subsidies as a threat to local…
Today, we release our new report, ‘The State of Minnesota’s Economy: 2020.’ Its key findings are: Minnesota typically scores well on levels of per capita income, which is what matters…
State and local taxes and spending Star Tribune: Minnesota Senate passes tax relief on pandemic aid for some businesses, workers Star Tribune: Hennepin County eyes taxes, borrowing to pay for…
Today, Tattersall Distillery, one of the jewels in the crown of Minnesota’s craft distilling industry, announced: “We are BEYOND excited to announce our plans to open a destination distillery and…
While Target's decision to reduce space is potentially rooted solely in less need for office space, it nevertheless makes downtown less appealing to other businesses– both in and outside the…
While Minnesota has gained almost all jobs lost in December, long term job losses are still high. Additionally, our unemployment rate is down yet again due to people leaving the…
Despite the evidence showing how disastrous raising the minimum wage is, a bill proposed in the Minnesota senate seeks to drastically raise Minnesota's minimum wage effective August 2021.
How the Met Council and local governments deny affordable housing to the working poor.
This week, it was announced that US News had ranked Minnesota the 2nd best state in America. State policymakers were quick to crow. Gov. Walz put out this press release:…
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2020, the minimum wage workforce was mostly made up of young, low-skilled workers with low levels of education. Additionally, most minimum wage workers…
I’ve written before about the damage that the Covid-19 pandemic and misguided government policy responses to it are having on Minnesota’s thriving brewing and distilling industry. The Minnesota Craft Beverage Council (MCBC) reports…
If you drive a car, I’ll tax the streetIf you try to sit, I’ll tax your seatIf you get too cold, I’ll tax the heatIf you take a walk, I’ll…
Earlier today, the Senate voted against including the $15 federal minimum wage provision in the stimulus package. This is a big win especially for low-income, low-cost regions like rural Minnesota…
In our recent report ‘Closing Minnesota’s Budget Deficit: Why we should make spending cuts and not raise taxes‘, we wrote that our state has the fourth highest top rate of…
Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote that Berlin’s rent controls had slowed house building in the city. To recap, the German capital’s population is growing rapidly which means that the…
Tax rates matter. They play a big role in how competitive a state economy is in relation to other states. Higher tax rates not only penalize hard working individuals, families…
On Feb. 18, 2021, Commissioner John Tuma of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) called out grid operators in Texas for failing to plan for winter weather. As reported by KTTC,…
Different workers produce different outputs. This is valued differently and, thus, compensated differently: "We realized that we had to pay attention to market forces"
Some people excuse Minnesota's extremely high level of welfare spending on the idea that the majority of welfare goes to Medicaid spending for the elderly. But in order to justify…