Not all banks are the same. Keep that in mind when digesting news of our nation’s ongoing financial sector problems. It is hard to think of another sector of the U.S. economy that is more heterogeneous than banking. And there…
Category: Other
World currency flap hides deeper troubles
A local TV station ran Shakespeare’s “King Lear” last week. That was a welcome break from the “much ado about nothing” that has dominated economic news of late. I refer to the silly kerfluffle about the possibility of a “world…
It’s a century later, but the financial crisis is the same
The ongoing global financial crisis confirms the observation in Ecclesiastes that “there is nothing new under the sun.” Things happening right now are virtually identical to events in 1929, 1907 or 1873. But sometimes there are new variations to old…
Plan could help local housing prices stabilize
Housing markets are at a point where, as John Maynard Keynes said in 1936, people are willing to try a new initiative “if it should be even plausible.” Working with Minnesota2020, a St. Paul-based policy advocacy organization, two Minnesotans, one…
Give Fed power to stop bonus blowup
Widespread outrage about how the government bailout of AIG is playing out shows we need laws giving the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury clearer powers and duties when they provide money to large financial institutions that would otherwise go bankrupt.…
Mining’s “external costs” hard to calculate
With plans for a large copper-nickel mine on Minnesota’s Iron Range under way, the issue of how to deal with ‘external costs’ is worth considering. When producing something creates external costs — ones that fall on neither the producer selling…
In breeding, as in investment, selection carefully
Sometimes, what seems like the obvious best choice can end up having perverse effects, whether the selection happens on the farm or on Wall Street. The problem comes when bad criteria are used for selection. Let’s start with a farm…
State is ducking long-term look at budget
Facing a nearly $5 billion budget deficit meets the criteria of being up to your buttocks in alligators. As you know, when you are up to your butt in alligators, it is hard to remember that what you are trying…
More focus on Fed governors can only be good thing
While the Federal Reserve does not have the power some critics claim — Alan Greenspan never was the most powerful man in the world — it does play an important role in the economy. Appointments to its Board of Governors…
State’s diverse economy will ride out storm
A recent conversation about the worsening economy ended on a sardonic note. ‘Well,’ my colleague said, ‘Don’t worry too much. Just remember the economy is highly resilient!’ His comment was a jab at Art Rolnick, the Minneapolis Federal Reserve economist…