To better understand the U.S. economy right now, read history rather than economics or Wall Street punditry. But don’t just focus on market crashes or recessions. Instead, examine the most important Post-World War II trauma, the “great inflation.” The 1929…
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Farm, mine sectors pack less punch
Will prosperous farm and mining sectors help Minnesota weather the economic storm? Perhaps, but we should not count on it. While it is always better for important sectors to thrive rather than stagnate, it is not clear that good times…
Boosting local tax deductible a bad idea
Everyone hates paying taxes, but property taxes are a particular hot button with voters. Now some in Congress are proposing to take some of the sting out of paying property taxes by making it easier to deduct them when filing…
To spree, or not to spree
For years I passed a billboard that proclaimed, “Where will you spend eternity? That is the crucial question!” Change it to “How will you spend your fiscal stimulus payment?” and you have the crucial question for the U.S. economy right…
Cents and sensibility in marriage
Marriage sure is simpler nowadays than in the world depicted in Jane Austen’s novels (and the public TV versions of them). But the relative economic simplicity of marriage in contemporary America contrasts with complexities still faced by many people in…
Cure the disease, not just the symptoms
Politicians and journalists are missing a key question when talking about ongoing U.S. economic problems: Is the current slowdown in economic activity and decline in asset prices cyclical or structural? Without answering that question, much public discussion is pointless. Cyclical…
Recession onset is an “unknown unknown”
Talk of recession in the United States has gotten louder recently. Last summer Alan Greenspan saw a 30 percent chance. Now he describes a greater than 50 percent probability. An Associated Press article last week quoted one Wall Street economist…
Data show rich indeed get richer
The World Bank says India and China are poorer than previously thought. Though both are still among the world’s largest economies, the adjustment was not minor: the value of the two countries’ output dropped 40 percent. Yet despite this drastic…
On this monopoly board, railroads are winning
Dow Chemical, Xcel Energy and Idaho barley farmers might not seem to have much in common, but all are “captive shippers.” All depend on rail transport for shipping key raw materials or products yet can get service from only one…
Exchange seats go for big money
Seats on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange now sell for $275,000. Only a few decades ago, plaintive notes in the visitor’s gallery offered seats for $10,000. David Ricardo, perhaps the greatest economist of all time, explained the whole process 200 years…