Socialism is not about sharing. In fact, it is about replacing sharing with government redistribution, which is not the same thing.
Public policy must deal with the world as it is, not as we would wish it to be. As in any profession, some teachers are better than others. We might…
When politicians decree that labor costs will rise, businesses are incentivized to switch to capital inputs rather than labor. Who wins and who loses from this?
Leaving aside the question of whether government ought to be involving itself in these sorts of personal decisions, cigarette taxes don't even appear to be working on their own terms. But…
We all want to see higher wages. They’re are the best way of guaranteeing a good standard of living. But, to be sustainable, they need to come from higher productivity,…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
Minneapolis has passed an ordnance raising the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020 and St. Paul is currently considering similar legislation. But why? If you are unsatisfied with…
President Trump describes his trade policies as "America First." But he could just as well say "Buy Local." After all, in terms of the economic logic, his trade war is…
This op-ed appeared July 29, 2018 in the Duluth News Tribune. This month, the News Tribune published a commentary by Sandra B. Zellmer and Alexandra B. Klass of the Center for Progressive…
David Cooper of the Economic Policy Institute, author of a recent report comparing the economic performances of Minnesota and Wisconsin, has a counterpoint to my counterpoint in today's Star Tribune.…
Economic policies in the Gopher State have yielded better results? Data suggest otherwise.
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
Yakety Yak is one of the great pop records. It has sharp lyrics and tight vocal harmonies. It also has that famous saxophone part, played by the great King Curtis.
Advocates of minimum wage hikes all too often live in a fantasy world where employers are vast corporations whose owners and managers are swimming in piles of cash while paying…
Between 1998 and 2000, Minnesota's top rate of income tax was cut from 8.5% to 7.85%. The effects? In 2017 dollars, income tax revenues in the nine years before 1998,…
Data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that Minnesota's economic growth lagged that of the United States as a whole in the first three months of the…
State income tax receipts were higher both in dollar terms and as a share of Minnesota's GDP when the top rate of income tax was 9% than when it was…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin is trying to get the 'Go Pack Go' Act through Congress. This would force cable, satellite and other TV providers to give customers in Wisconsin access to programming…
The just-released summer issue of Thinking Minnesota makes a compelling case for how allowing more mining in northern Minnesota would give Minnesota’s economy a potent shot in the arm. In…
How mining will bring 8,500 jobs and $3.7 billion to Minnesota's economy
The dollar amount of tax revenue seems far more likely to be a function of the size of the state's economy than of its tax rates. This means that if…
The employment-participation rate for 16- to 19-year-olds in Minnesota fell from 69.8 percent in 2000 to 52.3 percent in 2016, a decline of 17.5 percentage points. Unemployment rates for black…
When the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Janus case recently, teacher's unions warned that pupils would suffer. However, new research suggests students might actually be better off…