Links, links, links

Well, I don't have time to make a full post today, so here are a few links that you may find interesting:

Economics:

• Check out this link to some research on child care spending multipliers in PA.  (Hat tip to my Uncle Tom for the link!)  Note that the multiplier is one of the highest compared to the ones from my last post about stimulus spending, which implies that public spending in early education is an effective way to stimulate the economy
• Here's a link to an economics paper by Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald at the Minneapolis FED showing the extraordinary long-run returns of investing in early education
• Check out Paul Krugman's (my favorite NY Times columnist) take on the Wisconsin situation.  I don't really know where I stand on this issue, but I think Krugman makes some good points.

Bikes:

• Haven't had anything about bikes on here lately, so here's another NY Times article about the (relatively) new bike lanes in NYC.  This is from their room for debate series, with different folks arguing the issue.  Note that Caroline Samponoro is the only one in the debate who backs up her article with statistics....
• Some cool stuff here about winter bikers in Minneapolis.  I had to bike all through winter last year at Jimmy John's, and I've been biking to work this winter, too because I am too impatient to wait for the bus......

Coming soon:

In the coming weeks, my girlfriend Anna and I will be having a rap battle.  I will win.

More on this as it develops....

Mark Dayton's Minnesota budget: Taxes

Several days ago, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, (who did NOT take six months to be sworn in, - I'm looking at you, Al Franken!)  released his proposed budget for the state of Minnesota.  Here's a summary of his budget:

• Through increased income tax and property taxes, the richest 5% of Minnesotans will pay an additional $4 billion
• Education: Increased funding for K-12 education by $37 million, mostly to fund more full-day Kindergartens
• Early Education: Funds a quality rating system for early child educators
• Health Care: Eliminate eligibility for MinnesotaCare for people making over $20,000 and raise the surcharge on health care providers
• State Agencies: Reduces state workforce by 6%
• This is not a part of the budget, but Dayton is also proposing $1 billion for new public works and construction spending.

Keep in mind that Minnesota currently is $6 billion in debt, and Republicans currently control both houses of the Minnesota legislature.  Since it's getting late, tonight I'm only going to talk taxes.  I'll try to make some more posts in the coming days about the other parts of the budget.  So here goes:

I have to give credit to Dayton for having the guts to raise taxes, which is never a politically popular move.  Despite what republican politicians say, lowering taxes is among the least effective ways to stimulate the economy.  For proof, check out this table from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office!

As you can see, tax cuts to lower/middle income people come in with a multiplier of .6 to 1.5, tax cuts to high-income people have a multiplier of .2 to .6, while on the high end "Purchases of Goods and Services by the Federal Government" has a multiplier of 1 to 2.5.

So what do all these multipliers mean?  Basically, if you want to stimulate the economy in the short run (which god knows we need right now...), a tax cut is among the least effective ways to do it, while increasing government spending is the best!  In addition, it's hard to argue that the richest 5% of Minnesotans will be seriously hurt by a tax increase.  Cry me a river, and buy one less yacht.......

Jimmy John's Workers Union

Hello to anyone who may be reading this!  It's been a long time since I last updated this blog.  Since I last posted, I have gotten a new job and quit my old job as a bicycle delivery guy at Jimmy John's.  Read the full post to see what's been going on there since I left...

Bikes in the News: Nice Ride MInnesota

Hey readers, my last post was about economics in the news, so today I am posting about bikes in the news.  Today I am going to discuss Minneapolis's Nice Ride Program.  Read the full post to see what I think!

Economics in the News: Economics Behaves Badly?

I've decided to do a series called Economics in the News to keep whoever is reading this blog (probably no one right now) posted on current economic events/thought.  Today's post is responding to the article Economics Behaving Badly by George Loewenstein and Peter Ubel that ran in the New York times on Wednesday.  Read the full post for a summary of this article and my reaction to it.

Brian's Bike is Almost Done

Hello to whoever may be reading this! I know it's been a while since my last post here. To be honest, I have just been lazy. I've been thinking of making a post about the financial reform bill set to pass Congress soon, and also a post about the Save More Tomorrow retirement savings program based on behavioral economics. But both of those require some research on my part that I haven't done yet, so take the jump to check out my work on Brian's bike.

Pictures from Vegas!

Since I haven't done much work on bikes or thinking about economics lately, here are some pictures from my Las Vegas trip!

From left to right that's Billy, me, my grandpa, and my uncle Bill at the famous Las Vegas, Nevada sign.  See the rest after the jump...