U.S. and Minnesota Poverty Rates Down in 2015

by | Oct 24, 2016

In addition to showing sharp growth in income and earnings in 2015, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau released last month also showed a significant reduction in poverty, both in Minnesota and the nation as a whole. With the improvements shown in the new data,...

The Reason for School Referenda

by | Oct 20, 2016

The Fall season is in full swing. Leaves are dropping, there is a chill in the air, and school district referenda are on the ballot. Next month, 32 Minnesota school districts will hold operating referenda, while a number of other districts will hold capital project...

Union Jobs Pay Better Wages

by | Oct 18, 2016

The trend of stagnant and declining wages for low- and moderate-wage workers coincides with the decline of union membership, as demonstrated in the first part of this article. Both of these trends also coincide with a long-term pattern of anemic economic performance....

How Wage Stagnation Contributes to a Lackluster National Economy

by | Oct 13, 2016

Wage stagnation—a major contributor to income inequality in the U.S.—is a particular problem for workers at the middle and lower end of the wage scale. While the wages of workers in high-wage jobs has continued to grow in recent decades, the wages of low- and...

Education Alone Does Not Explain the Racial/Ethnic Earnings Gap

by | Oct 11, 2016

Americans in general experienced strong earnings growth from 2014 to 2015; this was especially true for blacks and Hispanics, as noted in the preceding article in this series. Over the longer term, however, the earnings gap between white Americans and most minority...

2015 Earnings Finally Surpass Pre-Great Recession Levels

by | Oct 5, 2016

Median earnings among Americans have finally exceeded pre-Great Recession levels, according to 2015 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 Current Population Survey (CPS), thanks to strong growth from 2014 to 2015. Growth in earnings was a major contributor to the...

Billions in Tax Revenue Lost Through Foreign Tax Havens

by | Oct 3, 2016

U.S. corporations have stashed profits totaling trillions of dollars in offshore tax havens, potentially avoiding billions in federal taxes, according to a new report issued by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF). States also lose...

How to Succeed in Tax Rankings Without Really Trying

by | Sep 29, 2016

The conservative Tax Foundation just released the 2017 version of its State Business Tax Climate Index (SBTCI) and once again, Minnesota is purportedly in terrible shape. Minnesota policymakers need only follow a simple strategy to improve its ranking on the SBTCI:...

Racial Income Gap Persists Despite 2015 Income Growth

by | Sep 27, 2016

Median household income in Minnesota grew significantly from 2014 to 2015, based on Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) data summarized in part two of this series. Growth among minority groups was particularly strong, although this fact by itself does not...

Minnesota Follows National Trend in 2015 Income Growth

by | Sep 21, 2016

Data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) released last week shows strong growth in mean and median household income in the U.S. from 2014 to 2015. Data from the Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) confirms this trend, although the rate of...