If immigration is going to be used as a policy tool to boost Minnesotans per capita incomes, the focus will have to be on attracting skilled immigrants.
Minnesota's workforce is set to shrink as a share of its population. To keep GDP per person growing, our state will need to improve worker productivity.
Between now and 2035, Minnesota's declining Labor Force Participation is going to slow GDP per capita growth.
In 1980, Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman turned TV presenter. Over ten episodes, his PBS program Free to Choose explored the workings of the market economy and explained how…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
Even though capitalism is the superior economic system, polls show alarming numbers of younger Americans preferring socialism or communism. The excellent new book, Back in the USSR: What life was…
Minnesota's budget is projected to be in deficit in 2018/2019 and 2020/2021. But tax cuts in St. Paul are not to blame. For one thing, there haven't been any.
Minnesota budget projections show a deficit of $188 million for the current two-year budget cycle, and a projected negative balance of $586 million for the 2020-21 biennium.
Minnesota has low unemployment but creates jobs at a lower rate than the nation generally. And the jobs it does generate have been in lower productivity sectors of the economy.
In 1980, Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman turned TV presenter. Over ten episodes, his PBS program Free to Choose explored the workings of the market economy and explained how…
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.
With the looming closure of Whiskey Junction in Minneapolis, we can start to see the victims of the city's job killing $15 minimum wage
More people working means more goods and services which means a higher standard of living. But the purpose of work is production, it is not an end in itself. In…
Minnesotans would have been $3,500 better off in 2016 if the state's workers were as productive as the national average. Why aren't they? We discuss this in our new report, The State…
In 1980, Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman turned TV presenter. Over ten episodes, his PBS program Free to Choose explored the workings of the market economy and explained how…
A round-up of the last week's economic news stories in Minnesota.
Minnesota's economy grew more slowly than 43 other states in the second quarter of 2017. Much depends on trends at the national level, but the variations suggest that local factors…
Minnesotans work hard and greater numbers than the national average. But they produce less than the national average. So, while GDP per capita is relatively high, GDP per worker isn't…
A new report by Center of the American Experiment finds Minnesota’s economy continued to be lackluster in 2017 with slightly below average economic growth, lagging productivity and personal income gains…
Politicians passed high state tax rates into law. They told us high taxes are a good thing. They have repeatedly said that tax rates don't affect decisions about location, employment,…
A round-up of the last week's economic news stories in Minnesota.
In 2011, Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote "These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes…
Minnesotans have a higher level of personal income than Americans generally. But in recent years the main contributor to its increase has been rising transfer payments. And, odd as it…
As Paul Krugman writes, "Productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run it is almost everything." Productivity drives earnings and data showing that Minnesota's workers are less productive than the national…