Tobacco taxes are becoming a popular solution to address smoking and tobacco use. In Minnesota, numerous proposals have been brought up this year to raise taxes on cigarettes and other…
At the beginning of 2021, Congress passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package –– namely the American Rescue Plan Act –– which, among other things, expanded the maximum Child Tax Credit (CTC)…
Advocates of occupational licensing claim that it is necessary to improve quality. However, this argument for licensing has proven largely untrue. According to research evidence, licensing has very little effect…
University of Nebraska Omaha criminologist Justin Nix said: “The evidence that proactive policing works is pretty solid.” A new article for Vox by German Lopez sets out some of that evidence.…
In May this year, Jama Pediatrics published research showing that San Francisco’s ban on flavored electronic tobacco products nearly doubled youth smoking rates. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)…
Recently, the Golden Valley City Council passed a law to restrict payday lending. The Golden Valley City Council took action Aug. 17 to safeguard its community against “predatory lenders” via…
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, when humans used stone tools in their daily lives, it would have been virtually impossible to imagine a more sophisticated way of life. Yet…
Coming out of the pandemic, one of the biggest questions in policy research has been whether COVID-19 restrictions hurt or helped our state. One way that this question has been…
Universal childcare distorts choice and pushes more parents into opting for outside care even in instances where outside care would not be ideal or highly preferred.
During the pandemic, states enacted numerous restrictions to curb the transmission of the virus. One of those restrictions was a stay-at-home order. In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime…
The following article was written by Mike Palicz, and it appeared at Real Clear Policy: Included in Joe Biden’s $2.5 trillion grab bag of progressive priorities — billed as an…
This op-ed appeared in the Star Tribune on April 28th, 2021 As Minnesota’s economy slowly begins to recover from COVID-19 and the measures taken by state government to fight it,…
Last week, I wrote about how increased unemployment benefits are preventing employers from hiring. This isn’t just a problem for Minnesota or for specific industries. As the Wall Street Journal reports:…
We’re getting there. Last month, Gov. Walz released his revised budget proposal for the 2022-2023 biennium. It was an improvement on his January effort, ditching a proposed estate tax hike…
Yesterday, I wrote about some of the research on the effects of corporate taxes on entrepreneurship. But the positive observation that higher rates of corporate taxation lead to lower rates…
Yesterday, I testified in the House Committee on Taxes in opposition to HF 1689, a bill brought by Rep. Aisha Gomez (DFL) which would abolish the ‘stepped up’ basis of…
On Wednesday, a Minnesota House division approved a bill that would raise taxes on cigarettes, cigars, and tobacco products. Indeed, if it becomes law, this bill would increase the tax…
According to a new study, lockdowns during the pandemic made it difficult for people to drink at bars and restaurants pushing more to drink at home. This, unfortunately, increased cases…
A new study summarizing the literature on the impact of minimum wage agrees that, as a whole, research on minimum wage "point strongly toward negative effects of minimum wages on…
Apart from preparing children for their future, k-12 education also frees parents to do paid work. School closures, in addition to harming children, have disrupted this central role of schools…
According to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, school closures have contributed to higher educational inequality, and wider achievement gaps will persist until students finish high school, which…
A new study found evidence suggesting that deaths of despair (deaths from overdose, suicide, and alcohol abuse) during the pandemic increased by 10 to 60 from pre-pandemic levels.
Occasionally, policy makers and pundits will harrumph about 'Covid fatigue'. Perhaps, just perhaps, the constant shrieking from America's media - which isn't warranted by the data - has worn people…
Startups are important for the economy; they are a major contribution to job creation and productivity growth. Their ability to survive and grow is therefore important for the growth of…