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MinnEcon Blog

Stop work ordered on Army project key to Minnesota plant

Life is a lot more uncertain today for hundreds of employees at a Fridley defense plant. The plant’s owner has issued an immediate “stop work” order on a cannon once thought to be a weapon of the future. We posted a few weeks ago that about 400 jobs at the BAE Systems plant in Fridley…
by Paul Tosto

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How do you talk about your struggles in this recession?

“None of my family knows my situation right now…” That sentence from Annie Baxter’s MPR piece today chilled me. The woman her husband, and four daughters are homeless and struggling but keeping it secret from their families. Yesterday, I half-jokingly talked about recession etiquette. But it’s a serious question here. How do you ask for…
by Paul Tosto

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Recession Etiquette? I’m supposed to be nice in this lousy economy?

I’ve defied all my mother’s efforts over the years to civilize me. I still roll my eyes like a grumpy teen whenever etiquette comes up as a topic (don’t ask me about fork placement or present buying. My birthday card to you will arrive several days after your birthday.) So it wasn’t a real shock…
by Paul Tosto

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Voluntarily cutting costs at work? Getting recognized for it?

I’m a little fixated these days on people who voluntarily take pay cuts or reduce hours hoping to save their organization money and save jobs. Seems like we’re seeing more of it in this downturn and it strikes me as admirable. So I asked our Public Insight Network recently to share some stories about what…
by Paul Tosto

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UPDATE: Would you volunteer to take less money to save jobs?

Hennepin County’s intriguing experiment in voluntary hour cuts has been extended through the end of this week. As we posted earlier, the county asked workers to voluntarily cut hours (and pay) so the organization can try to meet budget goals and avoid mandatory cuts. June 5 was the original deadline for applications to take Special…
by Paul Tosto

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Dipping into the kids’ savings to pay bills

I posed the question recently: Are you reaching into the kids’ savings to pay bills? Now, I’ve scrounged up some reasonably reliable data — a recent national survey by financial services giant ING showing: 34 percent have reduced the contributions they make to their children’s savings 18 percent of parents who have savings set aside…
by Paul Tosto

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Twin Cities housing prices back to 1990s levels?

Not that anyone who bought a house from, say, 1998 to 2006 in the Twin Cities needs reminding, but a new Harvard University report informs us that inflation adjusted home values in our metro area have returned to 1990s levels. Check out the map on .pdf page 3. Looks to me from the map that…
by Paul Tosto

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Twin Cities economy scuffling in newest comparison of U.S. metro areas

The Twin Cities economy does not look great compared to many of the nation’s metro areas, a newly released Brookings Insitution analysis shows. Brookings compared unemployment, wages housing prices and other economic indicators for the first quarter of 2009 and put the Twin Cities among the second weakest group of metro area economies. Here’s all…
by Paul Tosto

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Minnesota unemployment bottoming out?

Minnesota’s jobless rate is still rising. Still the worst in more than 25 years. But if you’re searching for silver linings, take a deeper look at Minnesota’s numbers today. A few thoughts: There’s a widening gap between the nation’s jobless rate (9.4 percent) and Minnesota’s (8.2 percent). That’s good for Minnesota anyway. In February jobless…
by Paul Tosto

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One more way for you to talk Minnesota budget

With four hours to go before Gov. Pawlenty releases his list of budget cuts for the next two years, here’s one more cool way you can share ideas with us and our wider MPR audience on how you’d fix the state budget. MPR’s State Budget Idea Generator (cue applause!). It’s a neat, interactive way to…
by Paul Tosto

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