Back to the Future: Declining School Aid in Minnesota

by | Sep 13, 2018

Despite increases in recent years, real per pupil state operating aid to Minnesota school districts has declined overall since fiscal year (FY) 2003. This decline in state aid translated into significant property tax hikes and—in many instances—reduced funding for...

The Worth of Women’s Work

by | Sep 12, 2018

Compared to our neighbors in Wisconsin, working people in Minnesota are doing alright. We have more job growth, higher pay, and better labor protections. The prosperity that we enjoy as a state is not, however, equally felt, with significant wage disparities for women...

Opportunity Zones: Making Them Work for Minnesota

by | Sep 6, 2018

Opportunity zones will be in the news over the next few months. Since opportunity zones have the potential to affect communities across the state, now is a good time to learn a little bit about what they are, how they might work, and what they may mean for Minnesota...

Wisconsin Grows Poorer, More Unequal Relative to Minnesota

by | Sep 5, 2018

Minnesota’s median income grew faster than the national average over the past decade, as noted in part 1 of this series. And while Minnesota income inequality has increased, it has increased less rapidly than the national average. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, median...

Minnesota Workers: How are we doing?

by | Sep 3, 2018

  More information about the data Jeff Van Wychen on Job Growth in Minnesota: With the addition of 43,100 jobs from July 2017 to July 2018, Minnesota surpasses all of its neighboring states in terms of job growth over the last year. States with low unemployment...

Work With Me

by | Sep 1, 2018

Misdirection is a powerful tool in the hands of an illusionist: by drawing your attention to something shiny, you are compelled to miss what is important directly in front of you. An act of misdirection in our labor markets is the persistent myth of immigration’s role...

Minnesota vs. U.S. Income Trends Since the Great Recession

by | Aug 27, 2018

When it comes to income trends in Minnesota, we’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that income growth in Minnesota has surpassed the national average over the last decade, both in aggregate and within every income group. The bad news is that...

Welcome Home

by | Aug 23, 2018

Minnesota has a reputation as a great place to call home. In national rankings of quality of life, job quality, child wellbeing, and cost of living we look pretty attractive. Among the competitive advantages of Minnesota is that historically we have been an affordable...