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 2018 WE PUBLISHED A STUDY OF MINNESOTA'S ESTATE TAX, WHICH SHOWED THAT MINNESOTA COULD ABOLISH ITS ESTATE TAX WITHOUT LOSING ANY SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF NET TAX REVENUE, AND MIGHT ACTUALLY GAIN TAX REVENUE. IN 2019 WE PUBLISHED AN IMPORTANT STUDY ON MINNESOTA'S WORKFORCE. THOUGH MINNESOTA HAS A HIGH LABOR PARTICIPATION RATE AND, THEREFORE, RELATIVELY HIGH GDP PER CAPITA, CONCERNS ON THE HORIZON INCLUDE BELOW AVERAGE LABOR PRODUCTIVITY, HIGHER MINIMUM WAGES, AND A RISE IN OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING HURDLES.IN 2020 WE PUBLISHED A PAPER IN WHICH WE USED COMPARISONS BETWEEN BORDER COUNTIES TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF STATE POLICY ON A VARIETY OF ECONOMIC OUTCOMES. WE FOUND THAT, AS THE EXISTING EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS, HIGHER TAXES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH WORSE ECONOMIC OUTCOMES. ALSO IN 2020 WE PUBLISHED A STUDY RECOMMENDING SPENDING CUTS AND NOT TAX HIKES AS A SOLUTION TO CLOSING MINNESOTA'S BUDGET DEFICIT. OUR FINDINGS SHOW THAT MINNESOTA IS ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY TAXED STATES IN THE NATION AND IS ALSO SPENDING MORE NOW THAN AT ANY OTHER POINT IN HISTORY -- BOTH PER CAPITA AND INFLATION-ADJUSTED TERMS. FURTHERMORE, TAX HIKES HURT ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THEY DO NOT INCREASE REVENUE. IN 2021, WE PUBLISHED A STUDY ON HOW TAXES AFFECT MIGRATION. THE STUDY SHOWED THAT MINNESOTA LOSES HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE RESIDENTS TO LOW-TAX STATES. FOR EXAMPLE, WHILE OUR STATE HAS SEEN NET INFLOWS OF DOMESTIC MIGRANTS IN EVERY INCOME CATEGORY BELOW $25,000 EVERY YEAR BETWEEN 2011 AND 2018, IT HAS SEEN NET OUTFLOWS AT EVERY INCOME LEVEL ABOVE $50,000. ADDITIONALLY, MINNESOTA FAILS TO ATTRACT RESIDENTS FROM OTHER STATES DUE TO HIGH TAXES. WE ALSO PUBLISHED TWO OTHER REPORTS, ONE SHOWING THAT TOBACCO TAXES HAVE LITTLE TO NO EFFECT ON TOBACCO USE BUT THEY ENCOURAGE SMUGGLING AND HURT THE POOR, WHO GENERALLY USE TOBACCO AT HIGHER RATES COMPARED TO HIGH-INCOME INDIVIDUALS. THE OTHER REPORT PRESENTED EVIDENCE SHOWING THAT RENT CONTROL HAS ONLY MANAGED TO BRING DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES IN PLACES WHERE IT HAS BEEN USED. 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 PROMOTING PENSION TRANSPARENCY AND REFORM. OTHER CENTER PROJECTS WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO A STRONGER MINNESOTA ECONOMY.

THINKING MINNESOTA MAGAZINE: THINKING MINNESOTA IS AN IMPORTANT COMMUNICATIONS VEHICLE FOR THE CENTER, WITH A BASE 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.IN 2018 WE ADDED A TOP-NOTCH, PROFESSIONAL POLL TO OUR MAGAZINE CONDUCTED BY MEETING STREET RESEARCH. FOR EACH ISSUE WE SURVEY ISSUES THAT ARE COVERED IN OUR MAGAZINE SO LEGISLATORS AND OPINION LEADERS WILL KNOW WHAT MINNESOTANS THINK ON KEY ISSUES.THINKING MINNESOTA BROADLY ADVANCES THE POLICY GOALS ON WHICH THE CENTER IS WORKING. IT ALSO PROMOTES THE CENTER AND EXPOSES NEW POTENTIAL DONORS TO OUR WORK.THINKING MINNESOTA BROADLY ADVANCES THE POLICY GOALS ON WHICH THE CENTER 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. ONE OF THESE VIRTUAL EVENTS WAS A FORUM WITH CONGRESSMAN TOM EMMER. THE OTHERS WERE ON EDUCATION, ENERGY, REGULATIONS, TAXATION, AND MORE. IN THE SUMMER WE HOSTED A TWO EVENT FORUM WITH ISAAC ORR AND NATIONAL ENERGY EXPERT ROBERT BRYCE. THIS INCLUDED A LUNCH IN ALBERT LEA AND AN EVENING EVENT IN GOLDEN VALLEY. THESE WERE BOTH VERY SUCCESSFUL EVENTS, ATTENDED BY 300+ PEOPLE ALTOGETHER. A LARGE PORTION OF SUMMER EVENT PROGRAMMING WAS SPENT ON THE RAISE OUR STANDARDS TOUR. WE WENT ACROSS THE ENTIRE STATE, PUTTING ON 22 PROGRAMS TO EDUCATE MINNESOTANS ON CRITICAL RACE THEORY, AND WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT IN OUR SCHOOLS. FOUR OF THESE STOPS WERE IN THE SUBURBAN TWIN CITIES, HITTING THE NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST. IN SEPTEMBER WE ADDED SHOREVIEW AND CHASKA TO THE TOUR, AND 3 STOPS IN GREATER MINNESOTA.OVERALL MORE THAN 7,000 MINNESOTANS ATTENDED OUR EVENTS IN 2021. 26 OF THE EVENTS TOOK PLACE IN GREATER MINNESOTA. WE SPECIFICALLY REACHED OUT TO YOUNG PEOPLE AGAIN THROUGH OUR YLC PROGRAM FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A FEW YEARS. WE PARTNERED WITH OTHER GROUPS, SET FOOT OUTSIDE THE STATE AGAIN, AND CONTINUED TO CHOOSE SPEAKERS AND TOPICS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO OUR AUDIENCE.