Productivity drives earnings. Arguments that it doesn't are based on the selection of poor variables, incomplete data, and misleading measures of inflation.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. But are the Vikings desperate enough just two games into the season to sign controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick? Sports writer Jim Souhan went long…
When the Governor talks about attracting a new Amazon distribution center to Minnesota, does he tout our great bike paths? Er, bike roads?
It’s not your imagination. It’s not your fault. There’s a deliberate campaign by city, county and state transportation planners to get more cars off our freeways and streets. See “Twin…
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.
Center of the American Experiment may or may not have had anything to do with it, but I choose to view a story in the Star Tribune on Sunday (September…
Is Roseville the Twin Cities first sanctuary suburb? That was the goal behind a months long behind-the-scenes campaign by liberal activists to pressure Roseville City Council members into taking action.…
After 25 years in the same house, my wife and I are relocating a dozen miles to the suburban west. And yes, as you might imagine, after a quarter-century of…
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…
A food fight has broken out in the press and on social media between DFL factions in Duluth. On the surface it’s about a vulgar private Facebook message sent over…
Yesterday four Senators—Lindsey Graham, Bill Cassidy, Dean Heller, and Ron Johnson—released the latest bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Like every other bill, it only partially repeals Obamacare because it…
SWLRT has hit several walls: a structural operating deficit brought on by the Council favoring LRT expansion and bike lanes over a well-run bus system, a Legislature that has refused…
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.
A “politically incorrect” sign posted by an owner of a Dairy Queen franchise in Kewaskum, Wisconsin has generated a blizzard of attention on social media after an out-of-town customer complained…
The Guthrie Theater debuted a new production of Romeo and Juliet over the weekend. It premiered on Saturday night, and I saw it on Sunday. The play’s greatness is, I…
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,…
A prominent DFL donor and key witness in an unfolding Indonesian corruption scandal committed suicide last month after a nine-hour standoff with a SWAT team in Los Angeles. Johannes Marliem,…
A prominent DFL donor and key witness in an unfolding Indonesian corruption scandal committed suicide last month after a nine-hour standoff with a SWAT team in Los Angeles. Johannes Marliem,…
Earlier this year I wrote a piece (Government, Not Wall Street, Caused Financial Crisis) that showed that the Trump administration was right to call the Dodd-Frank legislation passed in the…
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…
American Experiment has long warned taxpayers and legislators to the threat posed to taxpayers and recipients by Minnesota’s underfunded public pension system. But a new Bloomberg analysis of our state…
State’s system is losing ground fast, relative to others. Here’s why. This op-ed originally appeared in the Star Tribune on Sunday, September 10, 2017. Bloomberg Markets recently released a bombshell…