Productivity drives earnings. Arguments that it doesn't are based on the selection of poor variables, incomplete data, and misleading measures of inflation.
Minnesota's rate of job growth has been ahead of the national average over the last year. But those new jobs have been concentrated in less productive sectors of the economy.
Many Minnesotans are quick to believe the North Star State’s economic performance is well above the norm. Unfortunately, Minnesota’s economy has been mediocre, at best, for some time. Public policies…
New research shows that higher minimum wages lead to more automation.
The phrase 'A fair day's wage for a fair day's work' has a long history. From an economic standpoint, the maxim ought to be a fair day's wage for a fair day's production.
New research shows that it isn't intra-state competition that has been driving capital taxes down, but changes in tax rates and input costs abroad, U.S. macroeconomic conditions, the capital income share,…
As its population ages, Minnesota needs a more productive labor force more than it needs a larger one
John Phelan wrote here about Amazon’s plan to develop a second corporate headquarters that will employ 50,000 people with average incomes of more than $100,000. Governor Dayton has vowed to…
Gov. Dayton's offer to Amazon is likely to include tax breaks. If so, that would be an admission that low tax rates attract business.
The much vaunted 'labor shortage' need not be a problem if we have sufficient investment and innovation to make the workers who remain more productive
Another multi-national corporation has fallen in line with Facebook, Twitter and Google, admonishing the Federal Communications Commission to drop plans to deregulate the internet. Apple has come out in favor…
Hurricane Harvey is and continues to be a human tragedy. Particularly in the regions affected, it will be an economic one as well.
It was not labor but invention and innovation that created the wealth which allows us to work less and our kids not at all. How about we have a day…
It’s almost Labor Day, perfect timing to overturn one of President Obama’s most counterproductive policies. Obama essentially rolled back the requirement for welfare recipients to get a job that had…
The private sector can play a big part in alleviating the suffering of Hurricane Harvey's victims. It shouldn't be stopped from doing so by armchair moralists
Minnesota is one of the top states in the nation for good jobs that don’t require a four-year degree. That’s the finding of a new report from Georgetown University’s Center…
Philanthropic organizations in Minnesota are devoting major efforts to training the state’s neediest citizens for in-demand jobs. A coalition of Twin Cities foundations called MSP Win is leading the way.…
America needs more welders, and recently a delegation of them went to Washington to tell policy-makers so. Congressman Tom Suozzi of New York wrote about their visit in the Wall…
Economists have had a number of theories for economic growth over the years. The most recent offers hope for the future.
Compared to its peers, the Twin Cities' economy is only middling
Net neutrality may be one of the most intangible issues in the public arena. Hard to explain, hard to understand, hard to get too worked about about. Yet it’s often…
With Congress reconvening and tax reform in the offing, where do our state's legislators stand?
When Les Engel and a handful of other St. Cloud-area manufacturers got together one morning in 2008 to strategize about their “talent pipeline” problem, they had no idea how many…
I had an exceptional intern this summer, Tori Roloff, who worked with me on two projects: American Experiment’s multi-year initiative, “Great Jobs Without a Four-Year Degree”; and a related book…