I offer up some other ways to look at the scale of the problem of unemployment claims in North Dakota in the hopes of helping policy discussions.
Different Looks at Initial Claims in ND
Public Land & Prices
I tire of the political arguments in either side of this specific issue when I think a fundamental economic issue gets little attention. Those called the “left” oppose this happening at any price. Those on the “right” want the leases available but tend to think the price should be low for unintelligible reasons.
Taxes and Employment
With the debt ceiling issue shelved (temporarily, I mean three months is no time at all) most eyes turn towards tax policy now. There are enough games played regarding language right now, “Tax reform” v. “Tax relief” v. “Tax cuts”, that it would seem we are in for an extended debate, or a really long argument. With leadership apparently content to draft plans outside of the committee process there seems to be little chance to quell discontent from within their own party.
Why population?
The three frequent readers of my blog over the last several months probably noticed a repeating theme to my posts: population. A logical question to ask would be, why this focus? Quite frankly, and this is my opinion, population is the root of economic activity and the very economic actors we attempt to model.
Policy Paralysis
This is not a rant about healthcare legislation, or a lack thereof. It is not even about the ill-conceived sequencing of healthcare legislation and tax reform. My take is that tax reform was more important, would give a chance to generate some bipartisan efforts that could be exploited going forward. I will admit I did not anticipate a leadership crafting bills in secrecy from even their own rank and file.