Federal tax policies lie at the core of ongoing arguments between the two major political parties. Unfortunately, this debate focuses on only one issue, marginal tax rates for individual income taxes. It ignores the equally important issues of what should…
Category: Other
Don’t get hooked by geography in federal spending
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty this week defended accepting a $250 million federal health grant in part because what Minnesota pays in federal taxes is much less than federal spending in our state. By coincidence, I had just gotten an e-mail…
Stagnant incomes, restless voters
Much of the country is angry these days. Millions of voters appear poised to throw all incumbents out of office for sundry misdeeds. Yet, we don’t talk a lot about the sources of this anger, the core of which antedates…
Using laws one opposes is both fair and rational
Some have criticized Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer for accepting $511,000 in public campaign funds. But those who condemn him on this point are engaging in ‘mere cant.’ So are critics of the Wisconsin candidate whose business got a…
Arrogance about financial fix is a danger
Here in the United States we tend to think we are a little smarter than everyone else in the world. That’s not unusual; so do people in China, Germany, France, Japan and many other nations. So it is not necessarily…
Cook’s crime hurt victims more than it pleased him
The sentencing this week of Apple Valley Ponzi artist Trevor Cook got me thinking about the economics of crime and how scams like his make a ‘zero-sum game’ look like a good deal. Crime makes society worse off. This may…
In many cultures, livestock a practical “store of value”
Why would flood-stricken Pakistanis risk their lives for a few goats? The question came up recently when a news story came on a waiting-room TV about the disaster taking place halfway across the world. It reminded me that the role…
Arguments in governor’s race worthy, but flawed
Reports of Minnesota gubernatorial candidates’ pitches to a Chamber of Commerce-organized debate remind me of the old joke about the meek parson who frustrates his wife because he responds ‘yes, yes, you are right’ to any parishioner with a complaint.…
Present malaise is not just part of a cycle
I am sure that Barack Obama won’t use the phrase, but our country suffers from a malaise right now. According to the most common definition, two quarters of declining GDP, we have not been in a recession for a year.…
Man vs. nature: Someone loses
A proposed flood diversion channel in the Red River Valley that could cost $1 billion or more would reduce periodic flood damage in Moorhead and Fargo but might increase it in less-populous areas downstream. It also may harm the environment.…