A notable feature of today’s insurance business in the U.S. is the large lines of insurance that hang almost entirely on a government mandate or government subsidy. Regardless of whether these subsectors are profitable, unlike traditional life or property and…
Producers know the cycle of beef price declines
Falling stock markets are getting the headlines, but Minnesota cattle producers face even sharper and much more real-world declines. At the end of 2015, farm prices for fat cattle were down nearly a fourth from highs reached a year earlier.…
China’s selloff of U.S. bonds affects us all
Contrary to the phrasing of many news accounts, China is not devaluing its currency. The value of the yuan relative to the dollar is indeed declining, but the Chinese central bank is intervening in foreign exchange markets to limit that…
No easy solutions for brain drain
Around here, we joke about how a dumb Minnesotan moves to Iowa and raises the average IQ in both states. Iowans tell the same joke with the dolt moving the other way. Old, indeed, but it contains a kernel of…