Author: Ed Lotterman

Productivity should be matter for thankfulness

On Thanksgiving, some people probably gave thanks for this year’s bountiful harvest. But I doubt many prayers included “and we give special thanks, dear Lord, for the increase in ‘total factor productivity’ over the past year.” Yet increases in economic…

UCare not only victim of bidding process

Columbia University’s William Vickery died only three days after the announcement that he had received the 1996 Nobel for economics. But his insights, particularly on the design of auctions, live on and have practical applications in business and government. They…

Just what would negative interest rates entail?

Part of the unintended genius in the design of the Federal Reserve System is demonstrated by how speeches given by a once-obscure academic in small regional cities like Helena, Mont., or Mankato, Minn., can affect national monetary policy. So is…

We may have overbuilt the railroads, but they spurred U.S. development

Right after the Civil War, our nation embarked on a frenzy of railroad building, spurred by very high levels of government subsidy, albeit often in the form of land grants. Total track miles and tonnage carried burgeoned. But did we…

Economist’s talk underscores lack of voices on the right

The irony couldn’t have been greater. On Thursday, Sept. 10, John Taylor, one of the most experienced and widely respected economists who identifies as Republican, gave an articulate talk at the Economic Club of Minnesota. He holds an endowed chair…