The non-prodigal son had a legitimate gripe. At least that is what I thought as a child. And that is why I think the debt relief offered to poor African countries should be extended to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other…
Gravel dispute raises concrete economic issues
Sometimes an apparently mundane local issue contains more economic issues than meet the eye. Take a story in this newspaper last Sunday on the controversy over a proposed gravel pit in Dakota County. On the surface, it is simple: The…
Concern over Social Security is nothing new
Two misconceptions are confusing current discussions about Social Security. The first is that the program has never been changed since its inception in 1935. The second is that until recently, the problems of funding baby boomer retirements were unanticipated and…
Productivity should be focus
Most public discussion of Social Security focuses on the most obvious problem: financing benefits. It avoids the more fundamental question of how to produce goods and services to meet the needs of people when the number of workers per retiree…