No sector of the U.S. economy gained more from trade agreements over the past 40 years than agriculture. None has more to lose from a trade war. So while farm areas swung strongly for Donald Trump in November, there is…
The knotty questions of private property rights
Some economic problems are the same, regardless of scale. That is true right now in my neighborhood of St. Anthony Park, where someone is developing a long-unused lot and cutting down a couple dozen mature trees that had been there…
Imperfect indicators can still be useful
No economic indicator — whether of price levels, employment, output or whatever — is flawless. No indicator, by itself, gives a full picture of what it is measuring. All indicators involve some assumptions that to the uninitiated seem stupid. The…
Minnesota’s labor shortage cuts both ways
Minnesota’s “official” unemployment rate remains at 4 percent, a full point below the national rate. That is on a “seasonally adjusted” basis that smooths out such one-off factors as students working in summer or seasonal retail temps in the weeks…