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Improving the Minnesota Tax Incidence Study

I testified to the Minnesota House Tax Committee about how to improve the Minnesota Tax Incidence Study by including the Federal Taxes paid by Minnesotans in the Minnesota Tax Incidence Study.  Rep. Greg Davids introduced legislation to provide this information to Minnesotans.

High school-college dual enrollment: Minnesota can do better

By John A. Spry St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) – August 21, 2016 Minnesota was the first state to create dual enrollment policies that let high school students take college courses for both high school and college credit. But we don’t lead the nation in providing the best dual-enrollment options to students anymore. Post-Secondary Educational […]

How our broken tax code hurts Minnesota workers

By John A. Spry St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) – June 20, 2014 Medtronic’s announcement that it will move its official headquarters to Ireland provides a lesson in how America’s broken tax code hurts Minnesota workers by denying them good jobs purely for tax reasons. Medtronic has promised to invest over $10 billion in the […]

The Economics of Taxation and Dynamic Scoring

I testified about “The Economics of Taxation and Dynamic Scoring” to the Minnesota Senate Tax Committee on March 3, 2011. Here are my PowerPoint slides for the hearing: Economics of Taxation and Dynamic Scoring The video of the hearing:

Reject the 45 percent Trump Tax

By John A. Spry St. Paul Pioneer Press February 28, 2016  Donald Trump recently proposed a 45 percent tax on American shoppers buying imported goods from China. Trump told the New York Times, “I would tax China coming in — products coming in. I would do a tariff. And they do it to us. We […]

Testimony to Improve House Omnibus Tax Bill

Dear Chairman Davids and Members of the House Tax Committee: I have some concerns about H.F. 848 because it has the potential to become a better bill that would further expand economic prosperity, simplify the tax code, and move Minnesota in the positive direction of treating equally situated taxpayers equally. The views expressed herein are […]

CNN cited me in a story about lottery sales

CNN cited me in their story, “The lottery game that’s bigger than Powerball” by Chris Isidore on February 11, 2015 about the economics of state lotteries. The odds of winning an instant game are actually better than they are for Powerball and MegaMillions. Scratch-off games typically pay out about 70% of the money spent on […]

Minnesota and National Unemployment Rates

Minnesota’s unemployment rate is generally below the national average.  However, Minnesota unemployment rate often moves closer to the national average leading into a recession as shown in this graph of Minnesota and U.S. employment from 1976 to 2014.

The ‘pyramid’ problem with Gov. Dayton’s sales-tax hike

St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) – Sunday, January 27, 2013 Gov. Mark Dayton wants to tax the sale of food, clothing, and just about everything else you buy in the worst possible way. His budget proposes a $2.1 billion, or 20.7 percent, sales tax increase. Since everyone pays sales tax, everyone will pay Dayton’s sales tax […]

Don’t cherry-pick: Weigh the costs and benefits of higher taxes

St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) – Sunday, May 19, 2013 Gov. Mark Dayton wisely urged Minnesotans to use facts in the budget debate in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce. Despite this sage advice, he continued to rely on a flawed analysis as an important rationale for his budget’s higher taxes. “If the lowest […]