Augsburg University’s suspension of a respected history and medieval studies professor who quoted a passage from a James Baldwin book that included the “N-word” in an honors seminar has ignited…
For newly retired Minnesota teachers, the “average pension” from the past ten years is $27,593. But the estimated percentage of new teachers who will actually receive a pension is 50…
This post appeared at MinnPost on February 13, 2019. There has been no shortage of books over the last decade about how Americans are in centrifugal flight from one other. Journalist…
The Star Tribune recently ran an opinion piece by James Lenfestey, who advocated for an increase in the gas tax to finance infrastructure improvements and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,…
New research shows that higher state business and personal tax rates mean fewer businesses, less employment, and reduced capital investment. Minnesota has the fourth highest top marginal individual income tax rate in…
With Bernie Sanders recently announcing he intends to seek the presidency, I thought it was a good time to share an article I wrote in January of 2016 which was…
Hi All, I hope you’re getting outside today to enjoy the balmy 38! degree weather. If you’re out and about or walking the dog, here are two podcasts I appeared…
Duluth public school teachers deserve extra credit. A year after the administration banned “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Huckleberry Finn” from the curriculum, faculty members refuse to back down or…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2019 Issue of Thinking Minnesota, now the second largest magazine in Minnesota. To receive a free trial issue, send your name and address to [email protected]. When…
You can count the number of funny books about economics on two fingers. And P. J. O'Rourke wrote both of them. His latest is None of My Business.
Budweiser’s wind-powered message claims the beer is now brewed with renewable electricity from wind power, which will create clean electricity and a better future for us all. But the answer…
The Star Tribune has published an opinion piece I wrote on how Minnesota's bitter cold should be a wake-up call for energy policy in our state. Instead of mandating the…
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2019 Issue of Thinking Minnesota, now the second largest magazine in Minnesota. To receive a free trial issue send your name and address to [email protected]. On July…
The short, 20-year lifespan of wind turbines is one of the most important, but least talked about facets, aspects of energy policy. American Experiment has written about this topic several…
Minnesota is one of the highest taxed states in America with the fourth highest top marginal individual income tax rate and the third highest corporate income tax rate. Our state lags the…
DFL State Senators have introduced legislation that would make voter registration automatic, and on Tuesday, newly-elected Congressman Dean Phillips (DFL) from Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional district introduced legislation that would make voting…
Customers in central Minnesota were asked to turn heat down to 60 or lower to prevent widespread natural gas outages due to extreme cold. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports: Xcel…
Good morning, everyone! I hope you’re staying warm. If you are, it’s because of natural gas, oil, coal, nuclear power, or even wood, because the wind isn’t blowing right now.…
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We all want to reduce poverty. But we can only do so with by getting the unemployed into work and making our state's workers more productive. Waving a magic legislative…
Minnesota lawmakers are making noise about enacting their own version of Medicare For All. They may want to read this article from Reason, before they do. “A new poll shows that a…
What if the very system so-called voting rights activists instituted to take the inconvenience out of voting in person at the polls in fact ended up disenfranchising hundreds of voters…
In a 2008 book, three of the most insightful and innovative people I know in education wrote, “by 2019, about 50 percent of high school courses will be delivered online.”…