Uneven recovery: Five years after the housing collapse
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How’s the housing market recovery going and what does it mean for Minnesota’s homeowners and renters?
Sequestration and housing: From bad to worse
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Budget cuts since 2010 and the subsequent across-the-board cut called “sequestration” that went into effect earlier this year are razing havoc with Minnesota communities’ public housing programs, a new study by Minnesota housing experts reveals. Continue Reading
Made in Minnesota 2013: Fair retail wages strengthen local economies
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Many of the nation’s richest retailers count on poverty level wages to pad their multi-billion dollar profit margins, stripping workers’ purchasing power and undermining local economies. This holiday season, Minnesota 2020 is urging shoppers to reward merchants that provide fair wages and benefits, consistent working hours, and reasonable sick and vacation time.Download full report (pdf)View online at ScribdUsing Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development data, Minnesota 2020 found that the three sectors most closely associate with the holiday season—department, clothing, and sporting goods stores—pay a median wage of just $9.05 an hour, meaning half of the workers make below that level.This wage is below the poverty line for most Minnesotans and far short of Minnesota’s living wage for a family of four, which Jobs Now Coalition estimates at roughly $13.55 for two adults working fulltime.With 70 percent of the nation’s economy based on consumer spending, it’s critical for shoppers to realize the power their dollars have in bringing economic justice for workers at the lowest rung of the wage scale. The same way shoppers could demand certain goods appear on the shelves, they can start asking merchants critical questions about how they treat their workers.The report lists key questions for consumers to ask stores they frequent, such as:Is the store’s minimum wage at least $9.50? (the state house’s proposed new minimum wage)Are full-time workers entitled to sick leave and paid vacation?Are enough full-time positions made available?Is there consistent and predictable scheduling for part-time workers?These social screens aren’t new, the report adapted them from socially responsible investing models common among faith-based organizations and pension funds and responsible dining guides in Wisconsin, San Francisco, and New York City.Raising Minnesota’s minimum wage is one way to bring justice for workers immediately and help strengthen the economy. A $9.50 minimum wage would put $470 million in purchasing power into the hands of 357,000 Minnesota workers, helping stimulate local economies. Continue Reading
Business, academics partner on immigration
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Minnesota may be in the center of the country geographically, but economically it’s smack in the middle of world affairs, both from its Fortune 500 and business representation and from its growing immigrant population.
OPINION | Organized, cooperative home care a shortage solution
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Minnesota is projecting a shortage of as many as 53,000 home health care workers by the end of this decade. In order to avoid forcing older Minnesotans and people with disabilities into nursing homes because of worker shortages, there are several steps we must take to professionalize the industry, raise wages, and provide better benefits.
Corporate farm law protecting Minnesota from land ‘bubble’
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An anti-corporate farming law in Minnesota may be helping to keep farmland prices in the state from inflating into the large bubble that appears poised to burst on the American farm economy the way inflated home values collapsed during the Great Recession.
Nobel prizes and asset “bubbles”
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The guy who predicted the housing bubble is back with similar warnings about farm land. He’s someone the Nobel Prize committee thinks we should listen to; it just gave him the award for Economics. (Why he received the prize is a little complicated and this piece doesn’t deal directly with that.) Continue Reading
Big Minnesota premier of “Food For Change” a cooperative event
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Minnesota might not attract fancy opening night premiers for many Hollywood blockbusters, but when you want to debut a national documentary about co-ops, where better than the Land O’ Lakes?
Business expansion affirms taxes aren’t everything
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It’s only 10 jobs, but a California company’s Minnesota expansion is a strong arguing point for folks who say there’s more to attracting business than just low tax rates. Continue Reading
No Farm Bill, sequestration hit rural Minnesota housing
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The Uptown Apartments in Silver Lake are among 35 multifamily housing entities in rural Minnesota that have learned they are a month away from losing rental assistance funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.