With floodwaters swamping Rouseau and a wildfire converging on Denver, it is hard for an economist to avoid thinking about how our government and our society respond to natural disasters. Specifically, do the government programs that absorb risk and offer…
So who’s counting? What median income really means
“We’re rich! We’re rich!” I proclaimed to the household Wednesday morning while reading headlines noting that median household incomes in Minnesota rose 17 percent in the 1990s, and that the St. Paul-Minneapolis metro area now ranks fourth in the nation…
Cost of the commute
The census always provides interesting information about American lifestyles. The tabulations of 2000 data released earlier this week are no exception. Particularly striking is the fact that Minnesota commuters now spend nearly 22 minutes driving from their homes to work.…
If you value sound reasoning, watch out for these words
“Patriotism,” Samuel Johnson famously said, “is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” The great English writer did not mean that patriotism is bad, but that people sometimes use it as a shield when their arguments lack substance. The same thing…