Really nice post by Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution about the Ferguson report and the findings about the police department.
Marginal Revolution on Ferguson Report
How to Track U.S. Oil Industry
The latest, greatest way to track performance in the U.S. oil industry is to look at the rig count released by Baker Hughes (see this Bloomberg article for a bit of discussion and links). The rig count was down 64 as U.S. oil companies continued retrenching in the face of lower oil prices.
Grand Forks Economic Development, Round 2
I will make some comparisons between communities later, but I looked at location quotients (LQ) for Grand Forks employment by sector compared to the national average. It may not come as a surprise to others, but it did surprise me, that the Grand Forks metropolitan statistical area does not have high LQs, typical of an exporting firm and part of the regional economic base, in many sectors.
Grand Forks Economic Development, Round 1
I get many questions about local economic development these days. The specific geography is usually either Grand Forks, city, county or metropolitan area, or the counties in northeast North Dakota. These questions come on the radio, from newspaper reporters, and general conversations from the public. The basic form of the question is, “What can or should Grand Forks do to grow and develop?”
Cato Institute: Towards Free Trade in Sugar
Readers interested in the structure of the North Dakota economy and various policies should take a look at this Cato article about sugar price supports. Great explanation of the mechanisms, history, and consequences.