The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed some state policies in urgent need of reform. In the field of healthcare, two stand out. First, Minnesota should join the national Nurse Licensure Compact.…
Last week, Gov. Tim Walz announced the “Kids Deserve A Shot” incentive program. Under it, kids who get fully vaccinated for COVID-19 in the next month will get a $200…
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker downgraded its forecast for Q3 GDP growth again: it has now dropped from 6 percent at the end of July to 1.3 percent now. Then came the…
During a press conference on Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed what most people have been suspecting for a while — the COVID-19 virus might be here to stay. “I…
In June, a bill passed in St. Paul waiving taxes owed on 2020 unemployment benefits and, something we argued for, payroll loans. Incredibly for a state government that is so…
Last week, The Globe carried a story titled ‘Southwest Minnesota sees labor shortage, including Nobles County‘: The numbers in southwest Minnesota still add up to a labor shortage, the Nobles…
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 everyone agreed. One response claimed…
On Wednesday, I wrote about how, in a recent interview with the Pioneer Press, I spoke about some of the schemes the federal government used to aid businesses during the…
Yesterday, I wrote about new research which suggested that 15 percent of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans were fraudulent. There was always going to be an element of this, I…
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke to the Pioneer Press about some of the schemes the federal government used to aid businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the…
Yesterday I wrote about the the surge of the ‘Delta variant’ of COVID-19 in Minnesota. What might our state be facing in this situation? The recent experience of the United…
‘As delta variant causes surge in cases, officials closely watching new mutation.’ So KSTP reported at the weekend. ‘Minnesota Officials Urge Shots as Delta Variant Surges,’ U.S. News reported. “‘I’m…
A tale of two Starbucks Downtown Minneapolis has been a strange place to go for more than a year now. First, COVID-19 hit in March last year. Businesses were closed…
The ‘surge’ in cases of the ‘Delta Variant’ of COVID-19 is prompting a clamor for the return of so-called ‘Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions’ (NPIs) — mask mandates, shutdowns and the like —…
Rochester’s economy is heavily dependent on the healthcare sector. In 2019, Ron Wirtz wrote for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis: It’s hard to overstate the influence of Mayo and…
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…