We wrote about Amazon’s plans for a massive second corporate headquarters, and the Twin Cities’ bid to be considered for its location, here, here, here and here. The last linked…
As demand for Minnesotan labor continues to expand relative to supply, wages are starting to rise. To maintain increases in income per capita in the future, we need to focus…
This article appeared January 20, 2018 in the West Sherburne Tribune. The recession that hit the U.S a decade ago may be over, but Minnesota’s economy hasn’t kept up with…
From California comes the latest news of the loony left. The federal government’s tax reform, which dramatically reduces the U.S.’s formerly highest-in-the-world corporate income tax rate, has already sparked a…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota
"The economy, stupid", was famously one of the three talking points in Bill Clinton's presidential campaign back in 1992. Elections aren't always focused on the economy, but Minnesota's 2018 gubernatorial election…
Reforming excessive state-based occupational licensing requirement is the issue that has a U of M labor professor sounding like a disciple of Milton Friedman and expressing strong support for legislation…
We do. Sunday’s Pioneer Press had a long article about refugees in Minnesota that featured an admirable family: the Sivasundarams, who have come to Minnesota from Sri Lanka, by way…
The Twin Cities are out of the race to attract Amazon's new HQ. When the company announces the winning bid and their reasoning later this year, it should give Minnesota's…
UPDATE: Two more Minnesota companies have made the Americans for Tax Reform list of companies handing out bonuses to their employees as a result of the federal tax cut. DTN,…
As the supply of workers in Minnesota shrinks relative to the demand for them, wages are finally rising. So who needs minimum wage laws anymore?
New research suggests that state personal income taxes increase income inequality by growing government.
The politicization of science may be good for researchers lining up for government grants but not so much for their credibility. It’s already happened with global warming. The data have…
We all want to see higher wages for workers. But these will only come in a sustainable way from increasing worker productivity. For this, we need to look at education,…
In 1980, Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman turned TV presenter. Over ten episodes, his PBS program Free to Choose explored the workings of the market economy and explained how…
Minnesotans like to think of their state as a high-tech center, but unfortunately that is more fantasy than reality. The latest evidence comes from Forbes, taking off from an analysis…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota
In a new paper titled Youth Unemployment Worldwide: The Canary in the Coal Mine of Excessive Regulation, the economist Deirdre McCloskey looks at the causes and consequences of youth unemployment…
Our reigning elite, including so-called feminists, have shouted down the concerns of Americans who dare to wonder out loud how to deal with incoming cultures that openly reject religious tolerance,…
Apprenticeships have long been confined, as career preparation, to trades like electrical work, plumbing, and carpentry. But a new study says that people entering almost 70 other occupations—primarily white-collar jobs—could…
New research suggests that high housing costs in rich areas and occupational licensing requirements are an obstacle to the geographic mobility of Americans. This, in turn, is a barrier to…
On January 2, Minnesota was featured in a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal headlined “Sluggish Wages See Uptick.” The article described how—in today’s tight labor market—companies like Ultra…
UPDATE: Two more Minnesota companies have made the Americans for Tax Reform list of companies handing out bonuses to their employees as a result of the federal tax cut. DTN,…
In 1980, Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman turned TV presenter. Over ten episodes, his PBS program Free to Choose explored the workings of the market economy and explained how…