To see what influence YR's have in the upcoming governor's debate, one need look no further than the campaign of Pat Anderson.  In a recently posted article to her "Issues" section, Anderson maps out what she calls “365 Days, 365 Ways to a Better Minnesota.”  The article contains 365 ideas she has to improve Minnesota ranging from broad simple notions like "Respect Individual Liberty" to very specific remedies like "Reform Occupational Licensing."  The article is a work in process - a new idea is added every day for the next year.

Number 19, written on November 20, 2009, contains a quote from YR John Spry.  Spry is an economics professor at the University of St. Thomas' Opus College of Business.  His research interests include public finance, industrial organization, the economics of education, and organizational governance and architecture. He is currently a member of the Governor's 21st Century Tax Commission.

The excerpt from the article is below:

(19) Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 — Face Economic Reality

The first rule of overcoming an addiction is admitting that one has a problem. Minnesota has a “big government” problem that is making us non-competitive with surrounding states, states across the nation and in the global economy. It’s time to face up to economic realities.

This is not the Minnesota of the 1970s where economically what was done in Minnesota stayed in Minnesota; nonetheless, Minnesota legislators continue to labor under the assumption that our state is immune from influence outside its borders and the assumption that economic policies passed by the Legislature can operate independently of national and global economic trends and fundamental economic principles. This head-in-the-sand approach is the political equivalent of addictive denial.

Case in point: In Minnesota the biennial argument engendered by the Tax Incidence Report issued by the Department of Revenue is whether Minnesota has a progressive or regressive tax system and whether or not the “wealthy” are paying their fair share. Never is it considered that the average 10.2 percent of their incomes Minnesotans pay in state and local taxes ranks 12^th in the nation. Our Legislature is so concerned than poor Sven and wealthy Ole are treated equally they ignore the more salient fact that both Sven and Ole are over-taxed compared to the rest of the nation and the world. Extracting a few more tax dollars from Ole isn’t going to make a better Minnesota for Sven.

St. Thomas economist and member of the Governor’s 21^st Century Tax Reform Commission John Spry notes that Minnesota accounts for just 0.08 percent of the world’s population and about 0.33 percent of world GDP. The Minnesota Legislature is not going to drive the world economy. We need to compare our economic policies globally because capital is highly mobile today as is highly skilled labor. Wealthy Ole has the wherewithal to pick up his capital, his personal wealth and his business ventures, and move his capital to where it can be put to its most effective use and produce its highest return. That does not bode well for poor Sven who is left swirling around the drain in the economic spiral of a tax and spend government-driven economy.

Minnesota government has structural problems, not with equality but with national and international competitiveness. A stagnant Minnesota focuses on dividing up a diminishing pie. A better Minnesota is an economically vibrant Minnesota that breeds jobs and grows opportunity. Minnesota must adopt policies that make us more competitive for jobs and capital. The path to a better Minnesota begins by admitting we have a problem.