Recently the city leaders in Velva, North Dakota – a small community to the southeast of Minot – voted down a bid from a developer to buy city land for the creation of a Dollar General store. It was the city which put the land on the market for sale in the first place, but…
Trump’s “Buy American” Idea Is Decidedly Un-American
The oil industry, which overall has benefited from President Donald Trump’s leadership in the White House, is not happy with his plan to mandate the use of U.S. steel in their projects. They have a point: Donald Trump’s allies in the oil industry are warning the president that his bid to boost U.S. steelmakers could…
North Dakota Dentists Push Protectionism In Opposing Advanced Hygienist Position
Occupational licensing is supposed to protect consumers from unqualified or perhaps even dangerous people providing certain services. The state creates boards and commissions which establish licensing standards that professionals like dentists and lawyers and nurses must meet in order to practice. In theory this all seems well and good, but very often occupational licensing is…
Kevin Cramer: We Have To Pass A Farm Bill Because The Free Market Is Scary
Back during campaign season I did an interview with Rep. Kevin Cramer, and we talked about the farm bill. Then, as now, the legislation was stuck in the midst of partisan bickering and I asked Cramer if there was really a lot of urgency to pass a farm bill (I quoted a NDSU farm management…
Bizzaro World: According To Senator Heitkamp The American People Are A "Special Interest"
On her official website, Senator Heidi Heitkamp is patting herself on the back for standing up to “special interests” on the floor of the Senate today. Heitkamp was arguing against amendments which would have ended trade protectionism for the sugar industry which keeps the price of sugar inflated by both controlling production to keep prices…
Heidi Heitkamp Is Working Hard To Make Your Online Shopping Experience More Expensive
Here in North Dakota shoppers buying from Amazon.com must pay the state sales tax, but they don’t necessarily have to pay that tax if shopping at other online retailers. The reason is because Amazon has a physical presence in the state; part of their national operation is based in Grand Forks. States charging sales tax…
Guest Post: Efforts To Reform North Dakota's Pharmacy Law Seem To Have Fizzled
Over the last five years or so, the subject of North Dakota’s unique pharmacy ownership law have been debated in the Legislature as well as the public. During the 2009 and 2011 legislative sessions, bills were introduced in the state House of Representatives, which would have removed the requirement of state law that a pharmacy…
Reverse Protectionsim Keeps Natural Gas Prices Low, Flaring High
Earlier this month the Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about some companies, Dow Chemical among them, lobbying for President Obama to block exports of natural gas. These companies, mostly in the manufacturing field, are enjoying the lower gas prices. They don’t want those prices to go up due to increased demand through export.…
Obama's Tariff On Low-Wage Labor
George Mason Professor of Economics Donald Boudreaux asks President Obama to justify his proposal for increasing minimum wages with his policy of inflating the price of imported goods with tariffs: Dear Mr. Obama: In this year’s State of the Union Show you called for the hourly minimum-wage to be raised from $7.25 to $9.00. That’s…
Big Ethanol Is Questioning Your Patriotism
As you’ve probably noticed because of the slow posting, I’ve been traveling this week on business, and on my way from Bismarck to Fargo I caught sight of this monstrosity alongside the road: Based on some web searches these billboards have been around for a while. It’s not clear who is running them, but whoever…
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