Lockheed Martin is eliminating about 1,000 jobs from its facility in Eagan, Minnesota. Might a better tax climate have averted that blow to Minnesota families? According to company spokesman cited by the Pioneer Press, the company had excess capacity nationwide and needed to consolidate its operations. The Eagan facility has over 600,000 square feet–the size of 3 Super Target stores–so there will be an enormous vacant […]
MNFMI
Courage and Black Humor from Mark Steyn
When the going gets tough, the tough use black humor and courage. That’s one thought I had when reviewing last night’s event with Mark Steyn, presented by the Citizens’ Council on Health Care (CCHC), which as of last night is the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom. KTLK-FM host Sue Jeffers started things off by saying it was no accident the event was held on Veterans […]
Guns and Butter on Veterans Day
On this Veterans Day, I’d like to thank those who have labored in military service to this country. They have helped secure the environment in which people are free to engage in the production and sale of goods and services to fill a variety of human wants and needs. Commerce can and does occur during wartime, but a strong and effective military secures periods of […]
Part 5 in a Series on the Minnesota Corporate Income Tax: President Obama’s Tax Commission Agrees with Economists on Damage of Corporate Income Tax
Over the last two months, we’ve looked at some academic literature on the corporate income tax. With the general election over (or is it?), the discussion will soon be very non-academic. What will the people in charge of Minnesota’s tax system–the governor and the Legislature–do? The prospects for rectifying the problems with the corporate income tax are murky, at best. Candidate Mark Dayton, likely to […]
Part 4 in a Series on the Minnesota Corporate Income Tax Debate: Encouraging Debt, Punishing Prudence
What effect does the corporate income tax have on corporate debt? That’s the topic in our latest edition of a series on the corporate income tax. More specifically, what are the effects of marginal corporate income tax rates on corporate debt, as measured by debt-equity ratios? As with the last time, the commentary comes from an article in the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, by Simeon […]
Part 3 in a Series on the Minnesota Corporate Income Tax Debate: Higher Rates Mean Fewer Jobs
In our last two posts in this series, we looked at the effects of marginal corporate income tax rates on investment and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), as reported in peer-reviewed economic journal articles. Today, we look at the effects of marginal corporate income tax rates on the number of businesses and the creation of new businesses. Entrepreneurs are the people who take an idea and […]
Expansive Government Poisons Science
Scientific disciplines are filled with internal disputes–few of which matter to outsiders, until governments use the authority of science as a justification for taking away individual liberty and expanding official power. The most obvious example is “climate change.” Is the earth on a secular warming trend or is it just another phase in a cycle? What factors cause the climate to change? Does the relative […]
Waiting for Superman: Why charter schools have lotteries
In yesterday’s installment on “Waiting for Superman,” I closed by asking why the students who wanted to enter a charter school had to be on a wait list or endure a lottery. The short answer: laws on the books today are part of the problem. In his book, Learning as We Go: Why School Choice is Worth the Wait, Paul T. Hill asks why there aren’t […]
Waiting for Superman, Part 2
Yesterday I wrote about education reform and Waiting for Superman in general terms. Today I’ll give you a more detailed review. I want to believe in public schools, but … One thing I like about the movie is that it makes clear that it isn’t just libertarian-minded economists who want structural reforms in schools. As it starts, we hear Davis Guggenheim, the film’s director, talking about his […]
Waiting for Superman, Part 1
Public schools are facing “an inconvenient truth” in the form of a movie produced by the man behind Al Gore’s eco-disaster movie. Will it save the fate of America’s children? I’ve just returned from seeing it, and I have one word of advice: Go. Uptown Landmark theater. This week. Waiting for Superman is a documentary about some horrible public schools and several children who attend […]