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The Jobs Report, and Why the Recovery Has Stalled by Robert B. Reich, robertreich.org | February 1, 2013
We are in the most anemic recovery in modern history, yet our political leaders in Washington aren’t doing squat about it. In fact, apart from the Fed – which continues to hold interest rates down in the quixotic hope that banks will begin lending again to average people – the government is heading in exactly the wrong direction: raising taxes on the middle class, and cutting spending. read more »New Poll: America's Workers Soundly Reject Social Security Benefit Cuts by Jackie Tortora, aflcio.org | February 1, 2013
The "chained" CPI is a Social Security benefit cut (not an innocuous "adjustment"), and the majority of voters understand this, with 55% opposing this policy proposal. A new poll, Strengthening Social Security: What Do Americans Want? from the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), highlights working people's opposition to benefit cuts, including the "chained" CPI, which reduces the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). A large majority, 64%, thought the COLA should be increased to better protect seniors and other beneficiaries from inflation and rising prices of food, utilities and other necessities. read more »Looking for Mister Goodpain by Paul Krugman, The New York Times | February 1, 2013
Three years ago, a terrible thing happened to economic policy, both here and in Europe. Although the worst of the financial crisis was over, economies on both sides of the Atlantic remained deeply depressed, with very high unemployment. Yet the Western world’s policy elite somehow decided en masse that unemployment was no longer a crucial concern, and that reducing budget deficits should be the overriding priority. In recent columns, I’ve argued that worries about the deficit are, in fact, greatly exaggerated. Today, however, I’d like to talk about a different but related kind of desperation: the frantic effort to find some example, somewhere, of austerity policies that succeeded. For the advocates of fiscal austerity — the austerians — made promises as well as threats: austerity, they claimed, would both avert crisis and lead to prosperity. And let nobody accuse the austerians of lacking a sense of romance; in fact, they’ve spent years looking for Mr. Goodpain. read more »Good News On Jobs: Growth Was Steady To Start The Year, And 2012 Was Better Than First Thought by Neil Irwin, The Washington Post | February 1, 2013
The economy began the year with solid job creation, and the labor market was much stronger at the end of 2012 than previously thought, according to new data out Friday that indicated surprising momentum in the economy in the new year. Employers added 157,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department said, which was right in line with analyst expectations. The brightest news, though, was that revised estimates showed much higher job creation at the end of last year than first reported. The nation added a whopping 247,000 jobs in November and 196,000 in December, a combined 127,000 jobs above earlier estimates. read more »Jobs on Jobs on Jobs on Jobs by Jamelle Bouie, prospect.org | February 1, 2013
According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy created 157,000 jobs in January, a solid number, though behind what we need to see a robust recovery. More important, as always, are the revisions. November’s job growth was revised to 247,000 (up from 161,000) and December’s was revised to 196,000 (up from 155,000). These are big revisions, and when analyzed as part of a trend, it’s clear that the government was been underestimating job growth for most of 2012, to the tune of 28,000 jobs a month. read more »At This Pace, The U.S. Won't Get Back To Full Employment Until 2022 by Brad Plumer, The Washington Post | February 1, 2013
The jobs numbers have been crunched and re-crunched, and it turns out that the U.S. economy added an average of 181,000 jobs per month in 2012. That’s a faster rate than in previous years. But it’s also relatively sluggish, given the deep, deep hole the economy is still in. If the United States keeps adding 181,000 jobs per month, then it will take nine years and three months to get back to full employment, according to the Hamilton Project’s jobs calculator. read more »The Idiocy of Sequestration by Matthew Yglesias, slate.com | January 31, 2013
With all feel-good talk about immigration reform, fans of conflict and dysfunction may fear the arrival of genuine bipartisanship in Washington. Not to worry! Another budget crisis is almost upon us! This time it’s not the dread fiscal cliff or the debt ceiling, but rather the “sequester”—the extremely crude cutting mechanism that essentially nobody favors but that seems likely to happen anyway. It’ll drag down the economy, impair the functioning of the government across the board, and do nothing to improve America’s fiscal sustainability over the long run. Here’s what you need to know. read more »Government Is Hurting The Economy — By Spending Too Little by Ezra Klein, The Washington Post | January 31, 2013
You’ve heard this before: The government is holding the economy back. And it’s true. But exactly what the government is doing to hold the economy back might surprise you. Typically, when people say the government is hurting the recovery, they mean that deficits are too high and uncertainty over future policy is scaring businesses. But there’s little evidence of that. It’s not because government is spending too much, or because of concerns over future policy. It’s because government, at all levels, is spending and investing too little. Despite the stimulus and various other policies we’ve passed to help the recovery, and despite the large deficits the government has been running, government spending and investment have, at all levels, been contractionary since 2010. read more »Report: Nearly Half of Americans Have No Safety Net to Keep Them Out of Poverty by Lauren Kelley, alternet.org | January 31, 2013
A new report reveals a fact that too many Americans are familiar with first-hand: nearly half of the nation's residents have no safety net to protect them from falling into poverty in the event of a layoff or other financial misfortune. The recently published Assets & Opportunities Scorecard from the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) shows that "[n]early 44 percent of Americans don't have enough savings or other liquid assets to stay out of poverty for more than three months if they lose their income," as NPR summarized. At the same time, nearly a third of Americans live with no savings account at all. read more »Why Consumers are Bummed Out by Robert B. Reich , robertreich.org | January 30, 2013
The Conference Board reported Tuesday that the preliminary January figure for consumer confidence in the United States fell to its lowest level in more than a year. The last time consumers were this bummed out was October 2011, when there was widespread talk of a double-dip recession. But this time business news is buoyant. The stock market is bullish. The housing market seems to have rebounded a bit. So why are consumers so glum? Because they’re deeply worried about their jobs and their incomes – as they have every right to be. The job situation is still lousy. We’ll know more this coming Friday about what happened to jobs in January. But we know over 20 million people are still unemployed or underemployed. read more »
The Latest
U.S. Economic Growth Slowed to 2.4% Rate in 2nd Quarter, The New York Times | July 30, 2010
The United States economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the second quarter, after expanding 3.7 percent in the previous three months, the Commerce Department reported on Friday. more »
Obama to Tout Auto Turnaround, Politico | July 29, 2010
When the president travels to Michigan on Friday, he’ll tout the revival of General Motors and Chrysler since the auto companies received billions in federal aid and government-assisted bankruptcies. more »
Job Subsidies Also Provide Help to Private Sector, The New York Times | July 29, 2010
States are putting hundreds of thousands of people directly into jobs through programs reminiscent of the more ambitious work projects of the Great Depression.
But the new efforts have a twist: While the wages are being paid by the government, most of the participants are working for private companies. more »
Obama Trumpets Democrats’ Small-Business Bona Fides, The New York Times | July 29, 2010
At the core of some of the major policy fights in Washington these days is a ferocious competition between Republicans and Democrats over which party is the champion of America’s small businesses — a mantle that each side views as crucial to shaping economic policy and winning the November elections.
Conrad: ‘I Don’t Think This Is The Moment’ To Allow The Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy To Expire , wonkroom.thinkprogress.org | July 29, 2010
Last week, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, called for a temporary extension of all the Bush tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest two percent of Americans, which the Obama administration would like to see expire. more »
Dodd, Frank Plan Congressional Hearings on Basel Bank-Capital Regulations, bloomberg.com | July 29, 2010
Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank, authors of the U.S. financial overhaul, plan hearings on the status of global talks to revise bank-capital standards amid worries that proposed rules are being watered down. more »
GE finds itself on wrong side of Obama's defense agenda, The Washington Post | July 27, 2010
For more than a year, General Electric has been notable among U.S. corporations for enjoying generally friendly relations with the White House. The company was broadly supportive of President Obama's stimulus efforts, and its chairman, Jeffrey Immelt, sits on a White House economic advisory board. more »
Panel Seen Approving F-35 Engine, Risking Veto, The New York Times | July 27, 2010
Despite increasing calls from lawmakers for deficit reduction, one military program opposed by the White House and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates — an alternate engine for the joint strike fighter — so far refuses to die. more »
Biden Touts Stimulus Projects in National Parks, salon.com | July 27, 2010
Hundreds of stimulus-funded projects under way in national parks across the U.S. are long-overdue upgrades to the country's neglected "national jewels," Vice President Joe Biden said Monday. more »
Basel Committee Reaches Agreement on Bank Rules, The Washington Post | July 27, 2010
A panel of world financial officials has reached "broad agreement" on new rules to govern the global banking system but has postponed some key elements for as long as seven years while the impact is studied, the Switzerland-based group said Monday. more »
