DFL Education Foundation

Ideas

The Economist magazine published an article challenging liberals in America to come up with ideas. The accusation is that progressive's in America offered nothing beyond complaints and opposition. I hold forward two examples. Growth and Justice offers means of promoting economic justice without slowing economic growth. Their first study was a cradle to college program for education for all people in Minnesota. Simple premise. By training children today we don't have to subsidize them in the future. It's a pretty sound idea. Another group in Minnesota is the The Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy. IATP has offered a series of ideas to change our agriculture economy into an energy economy that incorporates energy independence and clean energy. The notion that progressives are bereft of ideas is not the case in today's Minnesota. The only thing that is true is that conservatives in America have a thirty-year lead in marketing.

Jeremy Wieland

Living wage debate

Somehow we missed this article from public radio last Friday. Minneapolis City Council President Paul Ostrow was on the radio >advocating a living wage ordinance in Minneapolis. The proposal discussed in the article is one that would cover only companies with $100,000 contracts with the City of Minneapolis. This subject was discussed at length at a Stone Arch discussion group. Economist Ann Markusan presented some of >her work on a living wage, and its benefits to the community. Her work was done in conjunction with Growth and Justice, a think tank that often provides discussion fodder to the DFL Education Foundation. Any cursory Google search will reveal reports that show increasing the minimum wage decreases jobs. However, remaining questions that could be asked are whether such employment numbers are long term, and whether government subsidies increase? After all, decreased jobs increase unemployment. Increased pay decreases other subsides, such as rent and heating credits, tax credits and food stamps. A $6 per hour wage earner is struggling in Minneapolis nearly as hard as someone who is unemployed. This is a good issue for the Minneapolis City Council to wade into and ask whether such a proposal really would be damaging? Perhaps it might be more beneficial in the long run. I would certainly like to ask those questions.

Jeremy Wieland