People instinctively shy away from situations where someone–implicitly or explicitly–must decide who should live and who should die. A few doctors—transplant surgeons, neonatal specialists—make such decisions. But the rest of us don’t, nor do we bring them up when discussing…
Author: Ed Lotterman
Separating silliness from sense in economy plans
To see economic history come alive, take a closer look at the competing ideas President Bush and Democrats proposed last week to fix the economy. First, cut through some of the silly rhetoric surrounding the proposals and recognize that they’re…
Dissecting the dividend tax
President Bush deserves an A for putting an important economic issues, the double taxation of corporate dividends, out for discussion. But his proposal to eliminate the income tax on dividends rates a C+ at best. The administration is willing to…
Rethink the requirement to balance the state budget
The Minnesota Legislature will convene in St. Paul and the Wisconsin Legislature in Madison this week to grapple with giant budget deficits. A new Congress also goes to work in Washington and, facing a growing deficit, will likely add to…
Deciding at what level to tax and spend means tradeoffs
As Gov. Jesse Ventura’s term wound to a close, he faced a last-minute request from Gov.-elect Tim Pawlenty to hold back state funds already promised to local governments. Ventura declined, noting the transfers were approved a long time ago and…
Not in the spotlight, Social Security needs repair
Drastic declines in the stock market and increased focus on security issues now overshadow the public discussion about Social Security that was common only a couple of years ago. This is good and bad news. It’s good that the popping…
Playing the risk vs. the payoff
Many people look at the headlines and just see stories about missile defense systems and the ballooning Powerball lottery. Economists like me see people weighing known costs against uncertain payoffs. In both the missile story and the Powerball story in…
Forget the Friedman fight, just abolish the position
The fight over whether Stephen Friedman should be President Bush’s new top economic adviser reminded me of going to livestock auctions as a kid and seeing a farmer bring in a gunny sack full of surplus cats to sell. There…
Snow has tough policy to sell, swallow
John Snow, appointed as Treasury secretary by President Bush on Monday, appears extremely qualified for the job. He has a Ph.D. in economics, a degree in law and previous executive branch service. He was relatively successful in business and has…
State’s lopsided benefits plan needs attention
About 100,000 retired Minnesota public employees this year are getting the smallest percentage increase in their pensions since 1980. But it’s hard to feel sorry when they’ve done very well over the past eight years, with a cumulative increase in…