People respond to incentives. Public policymakers can either stamp their feet and deny this, and pursue counter productive policies, or they can acknowledge its truth, however ideologically indigestible they find…
Minnesotans want to think beyond the policies of the Dayton administration, especially about taxes and spending.
Conservatives have long considered the Minneapolis City Council to be out of control. But now, even some liberal city council members find themselves in agreement, according to the Star Tribune.…
American mass transit systems face challenges from demographics, how people work, and ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft. Randal O’Toole discusses what agencies should do to respond. In short, mass…
In recent years, Minnesota has retired some of the most efficient power plants in the state, including Black Dog, High Bridge, Riverside, Taconite Harbor, Syl Laskin, and Hoot Lake –…
It is heartbreaking to see the people of Venezuela, formerly the poster child for 'democratic socialists' like Sen. Bernie Sanders, reduced to being lab rats in another experimental proof of…
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) recently wrote an editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune arguing Minnesota’s titanium, copper, nickel and platinum deposits are low-grade and economically risky to…
Since 2010, the amount of work done in Minnesota has grown faster than in Wisconsin but the amount produced by this work has increased faster in Wisconsin. As we noted…
For a variety of academic, professional, and personal reasons, I ponder a lot about “diversity,” though not the kinds saturated in identity politics and victimhood and overflowing in American higher…
An activist court ruling. Metrowide racial balancing of schools. An end to local control. Sum total? This Sunday Cover Op-ed appeared in the Star Tribune on October 7, 2018. On…
Carbon dioxide almost always get a bad rap for being a greenhouse gas, but did you know more CO2 in the atmosphere has caused plants to grow faster, causing global…
There was a time when leading economists would write for a mass audience, commenting on the issues of the day, and applying economic principles to them. These six books offer…
Hundreds of thousands of Californians are feeling the negative effects of their renewable energy mandates, which was recently increased to a 100 percent mandate for zero emission electricity by 2045, as…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
Have the bosses of Target, Wal Mart, and now Amazon, have all suddenly been struck with a bout of generosity? Or that they are reacting as you would expect when…
It’s taking longer than expected for Minneapolis to fill what used to be one of the most highly sought after jobs in the field–superintendent of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation…
On October 2nd, Xcel Energy told a crowd of people about how they intend to grow their "carbon free" electricity generation portfolio by replacing coal-fired generation with more wind. This…
Minnesota’s workforce reality requires increased talent recruitment and retention to tackle a worker shortage expected to explode the number of unfilled technical positions from the current 60,000 to 239,000 by…
In today’s Wall Street Journal, editorial board member Allysia Finley writes a powerful piece (“Will the Senate Kill a Mockingbird?”) that describes the haunting similarities between the current Kavanaugh ordeal…
In 2017, an increased number of American workers quite their jobs to look for a better offer elsewhere. This reflects increased optimism about the economy from American workers and bodes…
Every year, millions of dollars are spent propping up astroturf groups that pretend to be conservative that push for decidedly unconservative policies including taxing carbon dioxide emissions and advocating for…
One of the more important, if obvious ideas Katherine Kersten, Catrin Thorman, and I have had reinforced in working on “Great Jobs Without a Four-Year Degree” is that if a…
The Center’s Fall Briefing took place Monday evening at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul, with Professor Alan Dershowitz as the featured speaker. Dershowitz is a tireless advocate for free…
Taxes are too high in our state. In the forthcoming edition of our magazine, Thinking Minnesota, we set out some proposals for getting Minnesota's taxes back to a competitive level.…