In a recent tweet, Gov. Walz references CNBC's notorious “America’s Top States for Business” rankings, where, in 2023, Minnesota did, indeed, beat Texas. But...
On Tuesday, I wrote about new Census Bureau data for population and components of population change for 2022-2023 and revisions to the data for previous years. I noted that “they…
The Census Bureau released its estimates for State Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2023 today and they show that, once again, Minnesota lost residents, on net, to other states…
Minnesota’s media is cock-a-hoop over the latest jobs numbers: WCCO: Minnesota reached record 3 million jobs in October Star Tribune: More than 3 million Minnesotans worked in October, the highest total ever…
With immigration much in the news these days, it’s maddening difficult to find concrete data on the phenomenon. Thousands of migrants are streaming across the southern border every day, but…
In December last year, I wrote about newly released Census Bureau data which showed that, on net, Minnesota lost more residents to other parts of the United States in 2021-2022…
This week I’ve been writing about a recent report by labor market analytics firm Lightcast titled “Minnesota’s Vanishing Workforce.” It is worth reading and echoes our 2019 report, “Minnesota’s Workforce…
On Monday, writing about Minnesota’s supposed labor shortage, I noted that our state’s birthrate has held up relatively well. On Tuesday, I wrote about how data show that Minnesota’s employment has…
A new learning program based in Minnesota is helping families break free of government schools.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a new study which found that remote work is allowing people to move to cheaper, rural areas. This is behind the faster…
When CNBC announced recently that they had ranked Minnesota fifth on their annual “America’s Top States for Business” ranking, the state’s media went wild. No less excited were our state’s political leaders,…
Last week, I noted that median household income in Minnesota has grown more slowly than nationally in six of the last seven years. Nevertheless, it remains above national average. One…
I’ve struck a pessimistic note about Minnesota’s economy this week. I’ve noted that Minnesota’s economy — even in per capita terms — has grown more slowly than the United States’ economy generally in…
Recently I have written about how Minnesota’s economy — even in per capita terms — has grown more slowly than the United States’ economy generally every year since 2014. But…
The truth about racial disparities in Minnesota’s criminal justice system.
Yesterday I wrote about how CNBC’s much heralded rankings of “America’s Top States for Business” actually told you very little that was useful about which American states really are top…
Minnesota’s media is always on the lookout for good news stories about the state, which might explain the coverage given to our ranking of 5th in CNBC’s annual “America’s Top…
Growing the economy is the best way to end poverty.
Last year, I wrote about how Minneapolis and St. Paul lost residents in 2021. Census Bureau data show that Minneapolis lost 6,049 residents from 2020 to 2021 and St. Paul…
Yesterday, I wrote about the Chamber of Commerce’s new 2023 state of business retention and expansion in Minnesota report which identified “Minnesota’s high state tax rates and lack of available workers…
Back in 2020, I noted that the growth or otherwise in Minnesota’s state tax revenues seems to be a function of the growth or otherwise of the state’s economy rather…
After E-12 Education, Health and Human Services (HHS) is Minnesota’s next biggest general fund expenditure. In the 2022-2023 biennium, for example, HHS took up nearly thirty percent of all general…
On Monday, the state legislature passed a budget that will grow government spending by 33% by 2027. It has often been claimed — falsely — that this budget contains “the…
Several blue states are deploying a bold new strategy to keep their electricity grids solvent as they push forward with reckless requirements to meet their electricity needs with unreliable wind…