Center Of The American Experiment

CENTER OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT IS A NONPARTISAN PUBLIC POLICY AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION THAT BRINGS CONSERVATIVE AND FREE MARKET IDEAS TO BEAR ON THE HARDEST PROBLEMS FACING MINNESOTA AND THE NATION. THROUGH RESEARCH, OP-EDS, PUBLIC FORUMS, LEGISLATIVE TESTIMONY, PUBLIC MESSAGING IN A VARIETY OF MEDIA, AND A STREAM OF PUBLICATIONS, WE ARE WORKING TO BUILD A CULTURE OF PROSPERITY IN MINNESOTA AND THE NATION.

MINNESOTA ECONOMY:THE MINNESOTA ECONOMY PROJECT WAS LAUNCHED IN 2016. ITS GOAL IS TO EDUCATE MINNESOTANS TO THE FACT THAT THE STATE'S ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN RECENT YEARS HAS NOT BEEN GOOD, IN ORDER TO BUILD PUBLIC AND LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT FOR LOWER TAXES AND LESS ONEROUS REGULATION. SINCE 2016, THE CENTER HAS PUBLISHED AN ANNUAL ANALYSIS OF MINNESOTA'S ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY. WE HAVE PUBLICIZED THE FINDINGS OF EACH PAPER WITH PRESS CONFERENCES, RADIO AND TELEVISION APPEARANCES, OP-EDS IN DOZENS OF NEWSPAPERS, RADIO ADS ON DOZENS OF RADIO STATIONS, THREE INTERNET VIDEOS THAT HAVE NOW EXCEEDED 2 MILLION VIEWS WITHIN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA, TOWN MEETINGS AND OTHER PUBLIC APPEARANCES, AND POSTS ON THE CENTER'S WEB SITE AND FACEBOOK PAGE. IN 2021, WE PUBLISHED A STUDY ON HOW TAXES AFFECT MIGRATION. THE STUDY SHOWED THAT MINNESOTA LOSES HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE RESIDENTS TO LOWER-TAX STATES. FOR EXAMPLE, WHILE OUR STATE HAS SEEN NET INFLOWS OF DOMESTIC MIGRANTS IN THE INCOME CATEGORY FROM 0 TO $25,000 EVERY YEAR SINCE 2011, IT HAS SEEN NET OUTFLOWS AT EVERY INCOME LEVEL ABOVE $50,000. IN 2022, WE HAVE CONTINUED TO PRODUCE MATERIAL, BOTH ON OUR WEBSITE AND IN A WIDE RANGE OF MEDIA OUTLETS, MAKING THE ARGUMENT FOR PRO-GROWTH TAX POLICY. WE HAVE TAKEN THIS ARGUMENT ACROSS THE STATE IN SPEECHES TO GROUPS FROM HIBBING TO AUSTIN.WE PUBLISHED THREE REPORTS ON MINNESOTA'S ECONOMY IN 2022. OUR FEBRUARY REPORT CALLED FOR THE STATE TO GIVE WHAT WAS THEN A HISTORIC $7.7 BILLION SURPLUS BACK TO TAXPAYERS, IN THE FORM OF PERMANENT TAX CUTS. IN JUNE, WE PUBLISHED ANOTHER REPORT SHOWING THAT THE HIGH COST OF CHILD CARE IN MINNESOTA IS MAINLY DUE TO ONEROUS REGULATIONS THAT THE STATE PLACES ON THE CHILD CARE INDUSTRY. AND IN SEPTEMBER WE PUBLISHED A REPORT QUANTIFYING THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF GOVERNMENT POLICY RESPONSES TO COVID-19. WE FOUND THAT STATES LIKE MINNESOTA, WHICH ENACTED A STRINGENT COVID-19 SHUTDOWN, FARED WORSE ECONOMICALLY.ON HEALTH CARE, WE PUBLISHED A REPORT IN 2022 EXAMINING THE TRADEOFFS TO FEDERAL DRUG PRICE CONTROL PROPOSALS IN CONGRESS WHICH CONCLUDED THAT, OVERALL, THE LOSS OF NEW, LIFE ENHANCING DRUGS AND THE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE U.S. DRUG INDUSTRY'S GLOBAL LEADERSHIP POSITION OUTWEIGH ANY ALLEGED BENEFITS. WE ALSO PUBLISHED POLICY BRIEFS AND SEVERAL ARTICLES DISCUSSING HOW MINNESOTA AND NORTH DAKOTA CAN STRENGTHEN AND EXPAND FEDERAL PRICE TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS ON HOSPITALS TO GIVE HEALTH CARE CONSUMERS BETTER PRICING INFORMATION AND IMPROVE COMPETITIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY IN THE HEALTH CARE MARKET.IN ADDITION, OUR HEALTH CARE WORK FOCUSES ON ANALYZING AND COMMENTING ON HOW FEDERAL REGULATORY PROPOSALS WILL IMPACT HEALTH CARE MARKETS, ESPECIALLY THE IMPACT ON HEALTH CARE COST AND ACCESS FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN CONSUMER. IN 2022, WE PROVIDED COMMENTS WITH DETAILED ANALYSIS ON FOUR DIFFERENT PROPOSED FEDERAL RULES RELATED TO MEDICAID, AFFORDABLE CARE ACT WAIVERS, HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUM SUBSIDIES, AND INSURANCE MARKET RULES.OUR POLICY GOALS INCLUDE ABOLITION OF THE ESTATE TAX; SPENDING RESTRAINT TO ALLOW TAX CUTS; PERSONAL AND CORPORATE INCOME TAX RATE CUTS; REGULATORY REFORM; AND INCREASING COMPETITION AMONG HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND INSURERS. OTHER CENTER PROJECTS, SUCH AS OUR ENERGY WORK, WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO A STRONGER MINNESOTA ECONOMY.

THINKING MINNESOTA MAGAZINE: THINKING MINNESOTA, OUR QUARTERLY MAGAZINE, IS AN IMPORTANT COMMUNICATIONS VEHICLE FOR AMERICAN EXPERIMENT, WITH A CIRCULATION OF MORE THAN 100,000. THE CENTER'S GOAL IS TO CONTINUE TO BUILD CIRCULATION WHILE USING THE MAGAZINE TO SPREAD CONSERVATIVE IDEAS AND PROMOTE THE CENTER.SHARP CONTENT AND COMPELLING GRAPHICS HAVE DRIVEN THE POPULARITY OF THINKING MINNESOTA. IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE NET COST OF THE MAGAZINE WE SELL ADS IN THE MAGAZINE, AND ALSO SOLICIT CONTRIBUTIONS TO HELP KEEP THINKING MINNESOTA FREE.OUR MAGAZINE ALSO FEATURES THE THINKING MINNESOTA POLL, A TOP-NOTCH, PROFESSIONAL POLL CONDUCTED BY MEETING STREET RESEARCH. FOR EACH ISSUE, WE SURVEY MINNESOTANS ON THE TOPICS THAT ARE COVERED IN OUR MAGAZINE, SO THAT LEGISLATORS AND OTHERS WILL KNOW WHAT MINNESOTANS THINK ON KEY ISSUES.THINKING MINNESOTA BROADLY ADVANCES THE POLICY GOALS ON WHICH AMERICAN EXPERIMENT IS WORKING. IT ALSO PROMOTES THE CENTER AND EXPOSES NEW POTENTIAL DONORS TO OUR WORK.

FORUMS:AMERICAN EXPERIMENT CONTINUES ITS TRADITION OF ADDRESSING IMPORTANT AND TIMELY TOPICS THROUGH PUBLIC FORUMS. IN 2021 WE HELD 46 EVENTS--40 IN-PERSON AND 6 VIRTUALLY. A LARGE PORTION OF OUR SUMMER EVENT PROGRAMMING WAS DEVOTED TO THE RAISE OUR STANDARDS TOUR. WE WENT ACROSS THE STATE OF MINNESOTA, PUTTING ON 22 PROGRAMS TO EDUCATE MINNESOTANS ON CRITICAL RACE THEORY, AND WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT IN OUR SCHOOLS. THE TOUR GAINED NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLICITY, BUT MORE IMPORTANT, IT WAS WIDELY COVERED IN THE COMMUNITIES WHERE WE HELD EVENTS.OVERALL, MORE THAN 7,000 MINNESOTANS ATTENDED OUR EVENTS IN 2021. TWENTY-SIX OF THE EVENTS TOOK PLACE IN GREATER MINNESOTA. IN 2022, AMERICAN EXPERIMENT HOSTED 45 EVENTS ACROSS THE STATE OF MINNESOTA AND IN NEIGHBORING STATES. FIFTEEN OF THESE EVENTS WERE IN THE GREATER MINNESOTA AREA AND IN A NUMBER OF OTHERS, WE COLLABORATED WITH ORGANIZATIONS IN WISCONSIN, IOWA AND NORTH DAKOTA TO BRING OUR ANTI-CRT TOUR CONTENT ACROSS THE MIDWEST. OVER 7,100 PEOPLE ATTENDED OUR EVENTS IN 2022. WE ALSO HOSTED FORUMS WITH OUR OWN POLICY EXPERTS, SCHOLARS, AUTHORS, ELECTED OFFICIALS, AND WELL-KNOWN COMMENTATORS. FORUM TOPICS COVERED EVERYTHING FROM ENERGY TO EDUCATION TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE. WE ARE PROUD TO BRING FACT-BASED EDUCATION ON IMPORTANT POLICY TOPICS TO MINNESOTA AND BEYOND.