In naming attorney and investment banker Jerome Powell to succeed economist Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, President Donald Trump steered a moderate and prudent course. This was not foreordained. This happened on the day…
Weathering the adjustments of progress
Economic growth is good, but often involves dislocations that hurt some people. This is true on the consumption side of the economy as well as on the production side. It is evident in the Twin Cities urban metro right now,…
A disingenuous take on the estate tax
Initial reactions can be harsh. Mine was on reading an interview with National Economic Council head Gary Cohn. In it he said, “The estate tax really hits farmers, and we don’t want to hit farmers. It hits small and medium-sized…
Thaler’s Nobel sign behavioral econ has come of age
The award of the 2017 Nobel to Richard Thaler confirms the economics discipline is in a healthy intellectual renaissance. He and many others in the field are moving beyond long-dominant assumptions that now are more fetters than tools. This work…