Last week I noted that, because of the “The ideological divide between the two main parties in the state legislature… we actually see some rather profound debates up at the…
Background In the 2023 legislative session, Minnesota’s state government passed $10 billion of hikes to taxes and fees. In November, Minnesota Management & Budget estimated that, in 2027, General Fund…
Last week, I noted that per capita GDP has grown more slowly in Minnesota than nationally in every year since 2014, that median household incomes in Minnesota have grown more…
Why the state’s economic outlook isn’t as rosy as the Walz administration makes it seem.
Last week I submitted an op-ed to two of the state’s major opinion platforms correcting some of the egregiously false statements made recently about Minnesota’s economy. Both declined to run…
On October 9, Gov. Walz tweeted “Our small businesses and working families are driving our state’s economic expansion.” But Minnesota’s economy isn’t expanding. Indeed, data released by the Bureau of…
In July, the Mankato Free Press ran an op-ed titled ‘Minnesota economy doing well.’ It was, in this writer’s view, the sort of fact-free boosterism that too often passes for…
Data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis last week showed that, in the second quarter of 2022, Personal Income in Minnesota increased by 5.4% at an annualized rate. This rate was lower than…
Minnesotans are some of the most heavily taxed citizens in the United States. In our Give It Back report, we noted that at 10.2%, Census Bureau data showed that in…
Two weeks ago, I wrote about how Minnesotans’ per capita Personal Incomes were falling in real terms. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released data today for the first quarter…
Louis D. Johnston, a Professor of Economics at College of Saint Benedict | Saint John’s University, wrote a column for MinnPost back in December titled: ‘An overlooked piece of good…
How indifference about the whopping budget surplus could permanently anchor Minnesota as a second-rate state. The solution: Give it back!
This week sees the launch of our new report, ‘It’s Our Surplus: Give It Back!: The case for permanent tax cuts for Minnesotans.’ In it, we argue that Minnesota’s politicians,…
On Dec. 7, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) released its budget forecast for Fiscal Year 2022-23 which foresaw a $7.746 billion projected surplus. This immediately sparked a debate about what should be…
Research shows that people leave and avoid high tax states. As we explain in our new report, ‘Taxes and Migration Minnesotans on the Move to Lower Tax States,’ looking at…
Last week, the Star Tribune reported: Thousands of Minnesota families living in poverty will see a boost in monthly relief payments and will no longer have to meet cumbersome paperwork…
Today, we release our new report, ‘The State of Minnesota’s Economy: 2020.’ Its key findings are: Minnesota typically scores well on levels of per capita income, which is what matters…
Minnesotans hand over a considerable chunk of their hard earned money to various levels of government: federal, state, and local. In 2020, Minnesota Management and Budget estimated that state and…
Minnesota’s spending is already historically high.
Today we release our new report which explains why spending cuts, not tax hikes, should close Minnesota's budget deficit.
An aging population and increased Social Security spending might mean that income from transfers will increase. But it is a source of concern that it is increasing so much faster…
A serious look at our economy dispels the political hype that Minnesota is a 'blue state that works.'
When you make the argument for mining in Minnesota, a common response is that it would threaten the region's booming tourism industry. Mining jobs aren't needed, so the argument goes,…
This afternoon, Center President John Hinderaker testified in front of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in Washington D.C. on the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on…