9 results for tag: Economy

Growing old forests

Northern Wisconsin was once covered with extensive old growth forests.

Pitchfork Economics

Economics is not an exact science. The economy, and the way we carve up the economic pie, is a political and social process. It is not set in stone and can be improved.

The need for Goldilocks interest rates

Humans have engaged in economic activity for many thousands of years. Even hunting and gathering groups engaged in barter and trade.

Remote workers would offer much needed diversity to small cities

Recently, a bill aimed at saving two paper mills, one in Wisconsin Rapids and one in Park Falls, was passed in the Assembly. Three Democrats joined Republicans in passing the bill, which now will advance to the Senate.

Digging Holes and Thinking Outside the Pipe

As a nation we have dug ourselves into many holes. We may have thought we were digging foundations for progress, jobs, and economic growth.

Contaminated brownfields: how did it come to this in America?

The business is long gone, the buildings removed but the aftermath is not.  Left behind is a “brownfield,” a nice word for a site contaminated with deadly poisons, and no one left to pay for clean-up if that’s even possible. And what to do with it once it is cleaned up? Another industrial site, another fence line community in the poorer part of town where the people of color live. There are thousands of brownfields all over America. How did it come to this? No one intended to damage the Earth and make humans sick. We blundered into it.

Proven “pot-ential” for rural communities

Governor Evers’ 2021-23 budget will enable Wisconsinites to bounce back from the pandemic stronger than ever. His budget includes initiatives, like marijuana legalization, that will get our economy back on track and create new opportunities for our rural communities.

Still fighting for $15 minimum wage

Wisconsin has been at $7.25 an hour since 2010 when the state made the increase to keep up with federal minimum wage.

Wisconsin Becoming a Low-Wage Economy

By Jeanne Larson UW-Milwaukee Professor Marc Levine's October 2014 study for the Center for Economic Development, "Is Wisconsin Becoming a Low-Wage Economy? Employment Growth in Low, Middle, and High Wage Occupations: 2000-2013," uses Bureau of Labor Statistics data to illustrate a troubling long-term trend in Wisconsin: the number of low-wage jobs is growing much faster than middle- or high-wage occupations. Levine divided Wisconsin's 750 occupations into three tiers based on median wages, the midpoint where half the workers in the job are paid more, half are paid less: Low-wage           $12.50/hour or less Middle-wage     ...