Center of the American Experiment

The Center of the American Experiment creates unique research, shares insightful commentaries, and commissions various studies. We organize public events that highlight both local and national experts, hold legislative discussions, and provide presentations for students and community groups. Every year, through these diverse activities, we reach a wide audience with the ideas and solutions that we think can positively shape Minnesota's future.

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Glitches postpone launch of DNR licensing app before fishing opener

5 days ago | americanexperiment.org | Tom Steward

The list of highly promoted rollouts of state government websites that have crashed and burned over the years runs long. The disastrous 2013 MNsure website debut cost the executive director her job, followed by the backlash against the years-late, $100 million over budget Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS), and last year’s meltdown within minutes of going live of the Department of Revenue website to give away taxpayer-funded e-bikes.
Tailwinds, headwinds, and social capital: A warning for Mississippi

6 days ago | americanexperiment.org | John Phelan

When I fly back to Britain, I know early on whether I will approach Heathrow by skipping along the south coasts of Ireland and Wales from the west or down through Scotland and the length of England from the north. If I fly out over Hudson, it’s the former; if I fly over Lake Elmo, it’s the latter. The small distance between Hudson and Lake Elmo turns into a distance of thousands of miles between different flight paths. The wind makes all the difference.
North Dakota set to ban ranked-choice and approval voting

1 week ago | americanexperiment.org | Tom Steward

Fargo became the first city in North Dakota to adopt so-called approval voting for local elections in 2018, and the way things look now, it will be the last. North Dakota lawmakers have overwhelmingly passed legislation banning approval voting and another alternative electoral system called ranked-choice voting in an effort to standardize and streamline the process statewide. Unlike his predecessor who vetoed a similar ban in 2023, Gov.
Minnesota’s Economic News - W/E 4/11/25

1 week ago | americanexperiment.org | John Phelan

Star Tribune: Minnesota stocks plummet as tariffs’ impact spooks consumers and companies Star Tribune: Minnesota company stocks tank amid larger market downturn Business Record: Economic indicators result in mixed reporting for Midwest region Star Tribune: Ramstad: Even if Trump pushes us into recession, Minnesota must keep working on its problems WCCO: Small businesses in Minnesota adjust amid Trump’s tariffs MPR News: ‘We’re already on thin margins’: Minnesota retailers react to the...
Accounting for Growth: Human capital and education

1 week ago | americanexperiment.org | John Phelan

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how the growth rate of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can be broken down into the shares that come from growth in human capital, physical capital, or Total Factor Productivity using a technique called “growth accounting.” That is what I do for the fifty states for the period 2008 to 2023 in our new report, “Accounting for Growth: Measuring the sources of per capita economic growth at the state level.” This matters because: Determining how a...
Another audit blasts Met Council’s management of disastrous SWLRT project

1 week ago | americanexperiment.org | John Phelan

We at Center of the American Experiment have long chronicled the disastrous Southwest Light Rail Transit (SWLRT) project. Indeed, this boondoggle – nine years behind schedule and a billion dollars overbudget – was the inaugural winner of our Golden Turkey Lifetime Achievement award in 2022. Monday saw the release of a report on the project from the Office of the Legislative Auditor.
‘We are all Americans’: Appomattox, 1865

2 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | John Phelan

On this day 160 years ago, Confederate General in Chief Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to the Union Army of the Potomac under the Commanding General of the United States Army, Ulysses S. Grant. The long national nightmare of the Civil War, which had raged for four years, was over.
A tale of two food halls

2 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | John Phelan

“Downtown is back,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced on March 25. The trigger for this euphoria was the news that a new food hall was coming to the space on the first floor of LaSalle Plaza formerly occupied by Rock Bottom Brewery, which closed in 2022. Developments around the corner on Nicollet might burst the mayor’s bubble.
Proposal requires grads to work in MN for each year of free tuition

2 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | Tom Steward

The Minnesota Office of Higher Education calls the free college tuition program initiated in 2024 to stave off the decline in admissions the North Star Promise. Not surprisingly, nearly 17,000 students from families with an adjusted gross income under $80,000 enrolled at Minnesota State, University of Minnesota and tribal campuses in the first year.
The Frozen North - Canada’s Economic Stagnation

2 weeks ago | americanexperiment.org | John Phelan

On March 24, Canada’s newly appointed Prime Minister Mark Carney called a snap election for April 28. If the economic record of his Liberal Party, which has been in office since Justin Trudeau’s victory in 2015, is a major factor in voters’ decisions, bookies would be giving you pretty long odds on them. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is a key metric of economic performance which tells us how much per person is available to be consumed, invested, or put to some other use.