South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard didn’t hold anything back in one of his last official acts in office when it came to his neighbor to the east. Daugaard announced that…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
Raising prices to help tackle a high cost of living might well be #peakgovernment
In a front-page story in the Star Tribune, “Help Wanted: Homebuilders Need Workers” (December 27), reporter Jim Buchta opened by noting how the “labor crunch is hitting home in the…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
Nicotine addiction means that smokers will suck up small price increases resulting from increased cigarette taxes - demand is 'inelastic' in the jargon. That means that, to really have an…
This op ed appeared December 22nd, 2018 in the Duluth News Tribune. The economist Paul Krugman once wrote that, “Productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run it is almost…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
Great news! The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has granted the final permits for the PolyMet copper-nickel project in northern Minnesota to move forward. According to PCA: “The Minnesota Pollution Control…
"So what are the effects of increasing minimum wages? Any Econ 101 student can tell you the answer: The higher wage reduces the quantity of labor demanded, and hence leads…
A serious look at our economy dispels the political hype that Minnesota is a 'blue state that works.'
In an attack on our report on Minnesota's economy, City Pages claims that ‘Despite propaganda, Minnesota’s ‘high tax’ economy is crushing Wisconsin, Iowa’. But every bit of tax data cited…
"This is the end of the internet as we know it" - Sen. Bernie Sanders, December 2017 "Hello, I'm still here" - The internet as we know it, December 2018
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
As the economist Assar Lindbeck put it, "In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing."
In today’s low-unemployment environment, which demographic group is below all others in labor force participation? A recent article in Bloomberg reports the surprising answer: “Millennial males remain less likely to…
Minnesota’s accelerating talent shortage has created a mismatch in our labor market. Employers are desperate for skilled workers but are struggling to find and retain talent. Why? Why are these…
Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its prototype estimated for Gross Domestic Product by County for the years 2012 to 2015. True, they are only prototypes and cover a…
“Great Jobs Without a Four-Year Degree” has focused on young men and women, roughly between their high school years and late 20s. This emphasis will continue. But there is no…
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…
The Associated Press had a great overview of the problem presented by the failure of Governor Mark Dayton to negotiate and sign a bill that would bring Minnesota income tax…
A headline in London’s Daily Telegraph recently read, “'Snob’ Parents to be Told Degrees are Not the Only Route to Success.” With the story going on to declare, “Britain has…
The “gender wage gap” is as real as unicorns and has been killed more times than Michael Myers.
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota