This op-ed appeared May 21, 2018 in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. There’s an old saying where I’m from: If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. The…
In its new report, the Economic Policy Institute argues that "Wisconsin’s determined efforts to weaken unions have contributed to the state’s poor wage growth". But data from the Bureau of Labor…
Minnesota faces a looming shortage of skilled workers, and we look increasingly to our community and technical colleges to help solve it. But here’s a big problem: Many first-year students…
In its new report, the Economic Policy Institute claims that Minnesota's performance in labor force participation rates since Gov. Dayton took office vindicates Big Government policies. It can only say…
Wisconsin's Gov. Walker inherited an unemployment rate of 8.1% in January 2011, and our own Gov. Dayton inherited one of 7.1%. Since then, Wisconsin's unemployment rate has fallen by 5.2…
Construction on the Enbridge 3 replacement oil pipeline should start this year, once state regulators get out of the way and give final approval. The vital project will generate hundreds of well-paying…
Despite what the Economic Policy Institute might claim, the data show that since Governors Dayton and Walker took office, Minnesota's economic growth has lagged Wisconsin's.
On May 7th, 2018, the county went to court to defend the ban in the face of legal challenges. Regardless of whether Winona's frac sand mining ban withstands court challenge, it…
New data shows that, on jobs, Minnesota's metropolitan areas are losing ground relative to their neighbors.
The first girls recruits didn’t waste any time becoming official Cub Scouts in Pack 212 in northern Wisconsin, signing up the first day they could make it official on May…
On April 24th Rep. Jason Lewis put forth a locally important amendment to H.R. 4, the bill re-authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration. It is a simple amendment that would finally…
Minnesota's rate of job growth in the twelve months to March 2018 ranked 37th out of the 50 states. Isn't this because unemployment in the state was already low? Well,…
Bonnie Blodgett recently penned a pessimistic piece in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, but cheer up, Bonnie! Things are getting better!
As Minnesota grapples with an increasingly urgent workforce skills gap, stories like Minnesota banker Dennis Frandsen’s offer inspiration. Frandsen—whose business holdings include banks and manufacturing companies that employ 1,000 people…
The 'affordable housing crisis' in Minnesota is a creation of state and local government. The solution is not to have them intervene more, as Governor Dayton proposes to do with…
Could the Janus case restore civility to Minnesota’s politics and classrooms?
Minnesota was the sixth-largest producer of metals and minerals in the United States in 2017, but where did it used to rank?
American Experiment’s newest staff member, energy and environment expert Isaac Orr, has hit the ground running. In a column in the Duluth News Tribune, Orr refutes irresponsibly misleading and dated…
This is what happens when elected officials get into the business of micromanaging how companies compensate their employees through mandated paid leave time. The Duluth City Council’s amateurish attempt to…
Recognizing that they likely cost tax revenue, states have been reducing or eliminating their estate taxes in recent years. The increase in the federal exemption in the Tax Cuts and…
New data shows that, on jobs, Minnesota's metropolitan areas are losing ground relative to their neighbors.
A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota
American Experiment’s Newest Policy Fellow.
Back in the mid-1980s, there was a surge of writing celebrating the supposed poetry of baseball as opposed to the mere prose of other sports. George Will’s Men at Work…