Bob Collins
Thanks to the trade war that was ostensibly intended to preserve and create American jobs, some American workers will lose theirs. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Economy
Times are good. Unemployment is low. People are buying big SUVs and trucks and driving fast. New homeowners are buying houses for more than the asking price.
What if it’s about to all come crashing down again? Read more →
Your daily dose of bittersweetness comes from KARE 11’s Boyd Huppert, who has covered the decision by farm families to cash out, thanks to low milk prices. Read more →
James Fallows, the correspondent for The Atlantic, has always had a soft spot for Duluth. The plane that he flies around the country reporting on America’s overlooked communities, was built there.
So it’s not surprising that he gave the city of heaping helping of love in the CBS Sunday Morning segment that included a beermaker in Duluth. Read more →
St. Cloud’s lesson to Rust Belt cities? Don’t be a city in the Rust Belt. Read more →
The price of gasoline is heading back to economic reality and we’re about to see the effect of Americans’ appetite for not learning lessons about trucks and SUVs. They’re really expensive to drive when the price of gasoline lives in economic reality.
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Drew Cloud has been occasionally quoted as one of the leading ‘experts’ on student loans.
Today, it has been revealed he’s fake. There’s no such person.
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The era of $2 gasoline may be over — again. The experts today predicted gasoline will shoot past $3 a gallon in the next few weeks in many states with the nationwide average of $2.80.
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It’s hard not to think that Sun Country’s latest problems are a sign that the once hometown airline is descending into the abyss of no-frills airlines, which is notable only because Sun Country was once known for customer service.
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Paul TostoThe Anti-Defamation League says it from Target customers who bought diapers at the store only to open them and find the slogan linked to white supremacist groups written on a laminated index card.
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Cleophus Smith is one of the most popular sanitation workers in America this week. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 50 years ago today, shortly before King was shot to death by James Earl Ray. Here’s the thing that is worth thinking about on this day: Mr. Smith is still working, picking up trash in Memphis at the age of 75. Read more →
The Duluth City Council has become ground zero in Minnesota for the debate over whether businesses should be required to provide paid sick leave.
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At one time the United Way was a staple of charitable giving; you filled out a pledge card at the beginning of the year (usually under pressure from the boss as I recall from my early working days), the money was deducted from your paycheck, and the United Way took care of the rest, vetting the organizations who wanted and needed some of the money. Read more →
Back in the day when ethical leadership and management was a corporate goal, Tom Peters ‘In Search of Excellence’ was the management bible, documenting several companies’ approach that companies who value profits by valuing people could emulate.
One of those companies was IBM. How times have changed! Read more →
Employees of the Diocese of La Crosse had faith that their pension plan would help them retire. It won’t. The Diocese has canceled the pension program and will cut a one-time check for the workers instead. Read more →