Adages may be old, but they still can be wise. “Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched” should be a foundation stone of good economic policy. However, financial prudence does not seem to be a virtue of baby boomers…
Author: Ed Lotterman
Why is government intervention OK in bird flu epidemic?
Flu outbreaks continue apace on U.S. turkey farms. In Minnesota alone, the infected turkey count has hit 1.5 million, with new reports coming in virtually every day. That is over 3 percent of our average annual output of some 46…
Property rights vs. harm to others
It was good timing that Rand Paul’s presidential candidacy announcement came the same week as a Ramsey County judge’s ruling that the owners of a house in a historic St. Paul neighborhood have the right to tear it down. A…
On Asia bank, heed ‘Gambler’ wisdom
The ongoing kerfluffle over the new Chinese-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Development Bank — defined by The Economist as a “World Bank” for Asia — is one of those issues that has drawn great attention from the international economic media but is…
External costs and farm filter strips
Gov. Mark Dayton has done a great favor to all microeconomics teachers with his call for a requirement that landowners maintain 50-foot-wide filter strips along streams and other bodies of water to reduce pollution. This is not because the measure…
Falling prices can signal end of cycle
The prices of many primary commodities, agricultural, mineral and fuel, have fallen significantly. Crude oil is down by 40 percent to 50 percent just in recent months. Copper is down 18 percent since July and 28 percent from the beginning…
Minnesota’s budget bonanza can teach us a lesson
Minnesota has forecast a budget surplus of $1.87 billion over the next two years based on the latest calculation by the office of the state economist. That is good news and is an increase from the $1.06 billion forecast just…
Using tax to capture increased value an ideal, but tricky, feat
Many people understand that we are not even maintaining our existing transportation infrastructure, much less improving it. However, that isn’t translating into political willingness to raise more money by increasing long-established taxes, such as the state-level gas tax or local-level…
Comcast: a case for revival of anti-trust
Comcast’s well-documented history of contemptuous treatment of its customers reportedly is coming back to haunt it in its quest for approval of a merger with Time-Warner. Gee, isn’t karma a female dog? Unfortunately, little of the public discussion goes beyond…
Don’t get greedy, Minnesota farmers
Let me offer a bit of friendly advice to Minnesota farmers: Don’t get greedy, folks! I say this in response to a bill recently introduced in the Legislature that would create yet another special treatment in taxation of farm real…