Ever since the tulip bulb mania of the 16th century, if not earlier, people have fallen for various “bubbles.” Right now, I think we’re in the midst of a “government bubble.” The Wisconsin elections may–may–signal that we’re coming to an end of that mania, and a realization that fundamental reform of government is not just a matter of ideology, but of math. In the tulip-bulb […]
MNFMI
Can we get over the birther nonsense now?
The White House has released a certificate of live birth for President Obama. Can we move on to more serious problems, now, such as the damage that are being inflicted on the country by the policies of his administration? Like many people, I think Obama let the “distraction” (as he calls it) go on for as long as it did so that his political opponents could […]
The Stupid Party at Work Again
Talk about reinforcing stereotypes. First it was the cut in business taxes combined with Gov. Snyder’s proposal to tax senior citizens. Now comes a proposal from State Sen. Bruce Casswell (R-Hillsdale) to extract a pound of flesh from children in foster care. His idea? Require children in the state’s foster-care system to spend their clothing allowance in thrift stores. Oh yeah, those foster-care kids are bleeding […]
California, Here We Come?
Just how unrealistic is Minnesota’s expectation that its major pension plans will earn an investment return of 8.5 percent per year? Consider this: Of 126 major public plans across the country, only one out of ever ten expects that return. The rest anticipate less. So says the Wall Street Journal, which collected information from two national organizations of retirement plans. The single-largest target, pursued by […]
Price Controls and Banks in Minnesota
We’ve been following the fate of the Durbin Amendment because with its price controls and favoritism, it’s a great example of a bad policy. It also has a Minnesota angle, too, as a recent editorial in the Star-Tribune mentions. The editorial supports a delay in the implementation of the Durbin Amendment, something I wrote about earlier, and would support. (Even better would be to scrap […]
The Price-Control Republican Caucus
Updated March 17: The Wall Street Journal picked up the idea of “Republicans for Price Controls” this morning in its lead editorial. They have a great idea: rename the Durbin Amendment the “Payday Lender Empowerment Act.” Price controls do not work. They distort markets and hurt consumers. Period. Unfortunately, the Beltway is attempting to deal with this by “delaying” the law for two years. As […]
Meet the Anti-price-fixing Senators
Proving that some sort of economic sense can still be found in both parties, nine senators have signed onto the Debit Interchange Fee Study Act, which would delay the price controls imposed on debit transactions for two years. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has said, “The stakes are simply too high to move forward with this rule without a closer look at the impact on consumers, credit […]
Minnesota by the Numbers
How does Minnesota compare to the other states on key economic measures? The Tax Foundation’s 2011 Facts and Figures has some interesting numbers. The first number is Tax burden per capita, in which Minnesota ranks 7 ($4,651). The highest is Connecticut ($7,256). You might look at that number and say that government here spends too much. Or you might say we can spend so much because we […]
When Will They Ever Learn? Durbin Amendment Brings Price Controls, More Corruption
Doing a little more research into the Durbin Amendment, which causes the power of the U.S. Government to intervene in a commercial dispute between merchants and banks, I found something remarkable: even the New York Times admits that this measure is a price control. The website of Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) includes a reprint of an article from the New York Times, which reads in part: […]
Price controls for consumer banking?
Can some good news come out of Washington DC? Yes. Key regulators at the Fed and FDIC have been signalling for weeks that they do not support price controls contained in the Durbin Amendment to the financial overhaul known as “Dodd-Frank.” This according to an article at the Star-Tribune, among other places. Under the draft of regulations proposed by Fed staff, the U.S. government “would cap the fees […]