University of Chicago economist and 1995 Nobel laureate Robert Fogel had a long and productive life before he died Tuesday, so I don’t consider his death to be tragic. But it is a loss to economic scholarship. As an economic…
Category: Other
Complex economy shields us from agriculture shock
It has been an unusually rainy spring, and planting of corn and soybeans is very delayed, particularly in southeast Minnesota. It appears that as many as 3 million acres of Minnesota land that typically would go into corn or soybeans…
Income comparisons don’t always add up
Even though it is a question that frequently arises, comparing income levels or living standards between different countries is more difficult than people think. And when people don’t understand some of the potential snares involved, they can reach erroneous conclusions…
Plight of the honeybee raises economic questions
There is a lot of economics in an issue that gets little attention from the public: the colony-collapse disorder that is affecting bees in Minnesota along with the rest of the country. At $10 million in value, commercial honey production…
Gas prices fuel talk of big, bad oil producers
Few things cause more generalized public anger than a spike in gasoline prices, as we have seen in recent weeks. This has been especially sharp in Minnesota, and we still are in the unusual position of having prices higher than…
Organ transplant law presents unhealthy outcomes
There is an old legal adage that “hard cases make bad law.” They often result in bad economics, too. That is evident in a recent case of a 10-year-old girl with a lung disease who would be greatly helped by…
U.S. tax policy has winners and losers
Problems in the U.S. system of taxing corporate income were front and center this past week as senators grilled Apple CEO Tim Cook about his company’s tax minimization measures. Yet no one argued that Apple has violated U.S. tax laws…
Government responses to disasters raise economic questions
The tragic tornado in Oklahoma this week has economic considerations — at least judging by questions from readers. The central issues seem to be whether some government policies, such as buildings codes, might reduce loss of life and property damages…
Immigration, economics not easily untangled
The brief hubbub about a Heritage Foundation report on one aspect of legalizing unlawful immigrants — how it would affect government finances — contrasts sharply with the lack of discussion of how such immigration and eventual legalization affect the broader…
Legalizing immigrants will cost us – but unfairly?
Legalizing the status of several million immigrants now here illegally may well increase annual budget deficits at least somewhat over the next several decades. It also would increase the national debt, all other things being held equal, compared with what…