Econ in English

Promoting Economic Literacy

Purge Logic and the Minimum Wage

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Year after year voters affirm that the economy is the issue that matters most to them. One particularly contentious topic is the minimum wage. Liberals argue that it’s too low to lift full-time workers above the poverty line. Conservatives, however, point out that increasing the minimum wage would hurt more people than it would help, as companies lay off workers and raise prices in response to escalating costs. But would the benefits of higher wages outweigh the costs of increased … [Read more...]

Earned leave time in Minnesota

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"Lack of earned leave hurts Minnesota families," is a new blog post by Zack Eichten, a junior economics and political science major at CSB|SJU.  Zack is currently an intern at the Minnesota Budget Project, a position funded through the Economics Department's Fruth Summer Internship program. Two important points stand out: "Currently over one million – or 4 out of 10 – Minnesota workers lack earned sick leave, and low-income workers who can least afford to take time off work are also the … [Read more...]

Teaching and Opportunity Costs

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“American teachers are underpaid.” That’s how Professor Dick Startz begins his recent article, "Teacher Pay Around the World." He goes on to describe how, compared to other members of the OECD, the ratio of American teachers’ salaries to those offered in alternative career paths is quite low. In fact, on average, American teachers make roughly two-thirds of what their peers in other careers make. To make this more concrete, consider two students graduating from the same college at the same … [Read more...]

Right-to-Work: How We Got Here

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Image: By Justin Ormont (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] Right-to-work laws returned to public discourse in February 2011 when Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin proposed Act 10 to cut Wisconsin’s budget. Act 10 was not itself a right-to-work law, but it contained many of the same ideas and goals such as restricting the collective bargaining power of unions. Act 10 shocked the country because Wisconsin had always been a union stronghold. It caused many … [Read more...]