When I wrote in the Star Tribune in April that ‘enhanced’ unemployment benefits were one factor explaining the puzzle of record job openings coexisting with elevated levels of unemployment, not…
A month ago, there were more jobs open in Midwest than there were unemployed workers to fill them. “Midwest” might be a slightly awkward geographic entity to analyze but you…
I have commented a few times recently on the puzzle of elevated numbers of unemployed Minnesotans at a time when there are large numbers of jobs available. This puzzle becomes…
In April, I had an op-ed in the Star Tribune titled: ‘A new unemployment problem: it pays too well.’ In it, I noted the phenomenon of elevated levels of unemployment…
For much of the past year, a good number of office workers have been working from home as a measure to fight COVID-19. As the threat recedes, will people go…
The strong economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession is threatened by constraints on the supply side of the economy. Among these, though certainly not the only one, is a labor…
Recently, I had an op-ed in the Star Tribune in which I argued that increased federal unemployment benefits were one factor behind the phenomenon of record numbers of job openings…
Back in March, I wrote that the so-called ‘COVID Relief Bill’ could block Minnesota’s next governor and legislature from cutting taxes: Senate amendments to the American Rescue Plan Act prohibit the use of any…
On May 13 2020, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order. The tweet below, from DFL Chair Ken Martin, was typical of the reaction: As…
There was good news for the 120 year-round residents of Minnesota’s Northwest Angle last Friday when the Canadian government announced that residents driving through Canada to the United States will…
In January 2020, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, announced that he and his wife the Duchess would be stepping back from their roles as senior members of the royal family,…
Yesterday, President Biden made the following statement: President Biden was sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2021, about a third of the way through the first quarter of the year.…
On May 14, 2020, Minneapolis Star Tribune Cartoonist Steve Sack drew a cartoon in response to the conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Governor Tony Evers (D) stay-at-home…
The April jobs report, issued on Friday, showed that, across the United States, employers added just 266,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.1 percent. This…
We’ve seen many cases of interesting new learning techniques brought on by the government-mandated school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the most interesting of them all is…
Recently, I wrote an op-ed for the Star Tribune that argued that increased unemployment benefits are preventing employers from hiring. Most agree that there is an unusual situation in Minnesota’s…