The census always provides interesting information about American lifestyles. The tabulations of 2000 data released earlier this week are no exception. Particularly striking is the fact that Minnesota commuters now spend nearly 22 minutes driving from their homes to work.…
Author: Ed Lotterman
If you value sound reasoning, watch out for these words
“Patriotism,” Samuel Johnson famously said, “is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” The great English writer did not mean that patriotism is bad, but that people sometimes use it as a shield when their arguments lack substance. The same thing…
What’s behind shopping for a bargain? It isn’t just being thrifty
You may not have noticed, but we’re in the middle of an undeclared grocery price war in the Twin Cities metro area. The two principal low-cost food chains are advertising and discounting heavily. This engenders responses on the part of…
Media need to know value of dollar vs. trade deficit
Some members of the financial press continue to flub international economic issues. Consider an Associated Press article published in this newspaper on Tuesday. Under the headline of “Dollar still lags against euro, yen,” it states: “The dollar continued to languish…
Sports spending smart?
“I would often go a whole semester without a single parent contacting me to express concern about how their child was doing in one of my courses. But I can’t remember coaching a single basketball game where I didn’t get…
Telecom boom’s bust has basis in economic history
The telecommunications sector is in the doldrums, alarming some analysts and those investors who put major portions of their net worth into firms such as 3-Com, Worldcom, ADC Telecommunications, Sprint and even AT&T. The good news is that a severe…
Dayton plan will hurt serious trade talks
Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, displayed such deep concern for the U.S. constitution in proposing their successful amendment to the pending trade authority bill that they deserve an award. However, an Oscar would be the most…
Squeezed and sweating or simply back to work?
The Department of Commerce said the other day that labor productivity in the first quarter of 2002 grew at an annualized rate of 8.6 percent, the fastest quarterly rate of growth in nearly 20 years. That’s good news, but most…
Pork and PACs vs. priorities, principles
The mini-drama of whether or not the government will buy the Crusader self-propelled artillery piece appears near an end. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday the weapon won’t be built, setting up a confrontation with Congress over the issue…
U.S. account deficit will shrink one way or the other
In modern economies, trade in physical goods is only one component in determining international money flows. Services also flow, whether it be a Minneapolis architectural firm designing a housing project in Korea or a German insurance firm selling variable annuities…