The dollar’s current status as “the nicest horse in the glue factory” is a source of pride for some, but on the whole it is bad for the Minnesota economy. Moreover, it may get worse, depending on how acute the…
Leaders take credit for gains, but reality says otherwise
Leadership is important, but even the president of the United States has less of an effect on the economic fundamentals of a large, diverse nation like ours than you might think. And individual members of Congress, even leaders like the…
Loophole let MF Global seep into Midwest
Why would anyone, especially a Minnesota farmer, risk their farm or grain business on what would happen in the European bond market? The answer is that they would not, but the MF Global debacle, in which the company collapsed and…
Where does the Fed get money to lend? It creates it all
The Federal Reserve dominated the news in the past week, and its actions were consistently misunderstood. At the beginning of the week, the news was details, forced from the Fed by Bloomberg News, about some $7.7 trillion in short-term emergency…