Government Growth in Context

Shocking claims of growth in government abound. However, viewed in context of the economic, demographic, and societal changes that have occurred over the last fifty years, the growth in government is far less astounding than the sound-bite statistics indicate. For...

Real Per Pupil State Aid Has Declined Since FY 2003

The conservative Minnesota Business Partnership recently challenged our contention that real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) per pupil state aid has declined since fiscal year (FY) 2003. North Star’s assertion in regard to declining state aid is completely accurate—if you...

Conservative Spending Claims Don’t Add Up

A recent chart from the Republican Party of Minnesota, reproduced below, purports to show that Minnesota’s general fund budget is growing about 12 percent faster than the state’s economy and about 25 percent faster than the rate of inflation from 2012 to 2017. The...

The "Real" Story Behind State and Local Government Inflation

When measuring changes over time in income, wages, revenue, spending, or just about anything else that is measured in dollars, amounts are commonly adjusted for the decline in the purchasing power of the dollar due to inflation. Without inflation adjustments, we have...