It long has been a political fact of life in Minneapolis that conservatives and Republicans are nowhere to be found on the city council, school board, or among the city’s…
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…
Minneapolis’ bogus renewable energy pledge.
While the City Council and the Mayor may attempt to deflect on this issue, the same residents who can get a Minnesota State ID card would be able to obtain…
Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey announced Friday the city's pledge to achieve 100 percent renewable electricity for municipal facilities and operations by 2022 and citywide by 2030. Here are…
Remember when Gov. Mark Dayton dubbed it the “People’s Stadium” in order to sell the proposed $1 billion US Bank Stadium to the public? The press release still resides on the…
When it comes to innovative ways to wring more revenue out of residents, you’ve got to hand it to Minneapolis. The Minneapolis City Council plans to hike utility bills next…
I have decided that Mitch deserves at least one more post from me looking back at his and the Center’s accomplishments in the “early days” of our existence. And I…
This is another one of my “post-Roast” tributes reflecting on some of Mitch Pearlstein’s accomplishments during the “early days” of the Center. My previous piece, which includes the fun poem…
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
Last Wednesday, the Star Tribune published an editorial about the proposed downtown Dayton’s development project that is worth commenting on. It was titled Back to the future with Dayton’s on…
The Minneapolis City Council’s recent approval of two more community solar gardens led to glowing coverage in The Journal, a community newspaper. But the report also appears to contain a…
Keith Ellison pays his interns $0.
Keith Ellison has been a vocal supporter of the campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15. Sadly, he won't put his money where his mouth is.
Economics has laws, and they will be enforced whatever politicians think they can decree
As price of labor went up, people bought less of it — as standard economic theory predicts. This op-ed appeared June 29, 2017 in the Star Tribune. The Minneapolis City…
Steven Hayward has written about how liberals enjoy hiking cigarette and alcohol taxes so less is consumed but somehow totally fail to understand economic basics like supply and demand and…
Higher wages will only come from higher productivity. Trying to raise wages by dictating prices is like trying to slow your car by pressing down on the speedometer’s needle.
Minneapolis’ small business owners are vital to the economy and will struggle with this proposed ordinance. All politicians like Council Member Bender can offer them are empty clichés. Since when…
Higher minimum wages hurt the very unskilled workers they are intended to help. They also hurt small businesses rather than big ones. Minneapolis City Council's discussion of the $15 per…
Using recycled rubber tires as mulch for playgrounds and infill for athletic fields could come to a screeching halt. According to the Star Tribune, the Minneapolis City Council is…
It may not be too late to save freedom of choice at the checkout line in Minneapolis. All Minnesotans’ ability to choose between paper or plastic at their local grocery…
Minneapolis City Council Abdi Warsame was dishonest in his Star Tribune op-ed yesterday that called for all community organizations to not cooperate with the Countering Violent Extremism program when he…
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the City of Minneapolis, already “an island of blue in the red sea of the Upper Midwest,” may be about to swerve even more…