ENERGY
Ending Oil Dependence
The Brookings Institute – Position Paper and Fact Sheet – March 2007
http://www.opportunity08.org/Issues/OurWorld/32/r1/Default.aspx
“Oil use continues to climb in the United States and around the world, creating national security, environmental and economic problems. Yet new technologies and an emerging political consensus bring solutions within reach. David Sandalow present options for ending the United States’ oil dependence.”
First in a Series of Hearings on Energy and Tax Policy
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - February 28, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=529
“In announcing the hearing, Chairman Rangel said, “Climate change and global warming will have a tremendous impact on the quality of life here in America and around the world. The Federal government needs a better understanding of what contributes to global warming so that we may play a significant role in preventing further damage.” This hearing will focus on a scientific discussion of the factors contributing to global warming and the effects of such changes on climate changes.”
Challenges Remain for Developing and Deploying Advanced Energy Technologies to Meet Future Needs
Jim Wells House Committee on Appropriations, GAO-07-550T – February 28, 2007 – 15 pages
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-550T
This report “examined the (1) R&D funding trends and strategies for developing advanced energy technologies; (2) key barriers to developing and deploying advanced energy technologies; and (3) efforts of the states and six selected countries to develop and deploy advanced energy technologies. GAO reviewed DOE R&D budget data and strategic plans and obtained the views of experts in DOE, industry, and academia, as well as state and foreign government officials.”
Advanced Energy Technologies
Senate – Committee on Energy and Natural Resources – Hearing – March 7, 2007
http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=1612
“The purpose of the hearing is to investigate market constraints on large investments in advanced energy technologies and investigate ways to stimulate additional private-sector investment in the deployment of these technologies.”
Public Transportation and Petroleum Savings in the U.S.: Reducing Dependence on Oil
Linda BaileyICF International for the American Public Transportation Association - January 2007 – 35 pages
http://www.apta.com/research/info/online/documents/apta_public_transportation_fuel_savings_final_010807.pdf
This analysis looks at what public transportation could save in gasoline consumption both individually and nationally, and it explores the possible future benefits of more Americans using public transportation. The study found that public transportation usage reduces gasoline consumption by 1.4 billion gallons each year--based on current public transportation usage. It also found that this savings amounts to 108 million fewer cars on the road; 34 fewer supertankers leaving the Middle East; over 140,000 fewer tanker trucks making deliveries; and a cumulative saving of 3.9 million gallons of gas each day.
California’s Electricity Market: A Post-Crisis Progress Report
Carl Pechman Public Policy Institute of California – Report - January 2007 - 21 pages
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/cep/EP_107CPEP.pdf
“California's electric power crisis of 2000-2001 raised the blood pressure of millions of state residents. It also pushed a major utility into bankruptcy, and cost the state billions of dollars in lost productivity and expensive spot-market power. Most experts point the blame at the flawed way California deregulated its electric power markets in the late 1990s. This issue of CEP provides a progress report on the problems and successes of the state's post-crisis re-regulation strategies. These seek to balance consumer costs, environmental protection, and competition in the power marketplace.”
The Ethanol Mandate Should Not Be Expanded
Ben LiebermanThe Heritage Foundation - Backgrounder #2020 - M arch 28, 2007
http://www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/bg2020.cfm
“The new ethanol mandate is perhaps the most disappointing program in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Since taking effect in 2006, this measure has increased energy and food prices while doing little to reduce oil imports or improve the environment.”
vendredi 13 avril 2007
US TRADE 2007
GLOBALIZATION
Hearing on Trade and Globalization
House - Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - January 30, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=512
“During the hearing, Members hope to elicit responses from witnesses on the following: (1) the philosophy that more trade is always better, no matter its terms or contents; (2) whether the benefits of globalization are being spread broadly to working people, farmers, businesses and consumers in the United States, and if not, what specific changes to U.S. trade policy and international trading rules should be recommended to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs of globalization; and (3) what have been some of the most important successes of U.S. trade policy in the recent past in terms of maximizing the benefits of globalization and minimizing its costs.”
Robert L. Thompson
Globalization and the Benefits of Trade
Chicago Fed Letter - March 2007 (Number 236) Essays On Issues – 4 pages
http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/fedletter/cflmarch2007_236.pdf
“Globalization involves increasing integration of economies around the world, from the national to the most local levels, thereby promoting international trade in goods and services and cross-border movement of information, technology, people, and investments. This article examines the benefits and costs to the U.S. and other countries.”
Pan A. Yotopoulos
The Asymmetric Benefits of Globalization
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research - Policy Brief – March 2007 – 6 pages
http://siepr.stanford.edu/papers/briefs/policybrief_mar07.html
“Although this brief has focused on the risk that globalization becomes the epitaph of growth in the third world, the increasing divide between the rich and the poor within countries, be they developed or developing, may prove even more ominous for the future of globalization itself. Unless the gains from free trade are shared more equally between rich and poor countries, and among the rich and the poor within them, the future of this second globalization may be short-lived.”
Jeff Faux
Globalization That Works for Working Americans
Economic Policy Institute - Briefing Paper - January 11, 2007 – 22 pages
http://www.sharedprosperity.org/bp179/bp179.pdf
The author advocates for better management of globalization through better international trade and investment agreements and policies. The author states that the present system rewards those at the top of the income ladder while working families suffer from stagnant wages and benefits. He further writes that over the last two decades, the mismanagement of trade policies has damaged the U.S.’s competitiveness and has caused trade deficits to soar. The paper offers a new, comprehensive strategy to change these imbalances.
Lee Hudson Teslik
The Global Auto Industry
Council on Foreign Relations – Backgrounder - March 2, 2007
www.cfr.org/publication/12764/global_auto_industry.html
“In February 2007, DaimlerChrysler executives announced a plan to restructure Chrysler's operations. As part of the restructuring, the company will cut thirteen thousand jobs, reduce its total production capacity, and consider divesting the Chrysler brand altogether. The announcement, analysts said, could mark the beginning of the end for an unhappy nine-year marriage between the companies, a merger celebrated in its time… Regardless of what happens to Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler’s woes highlight the shifting realities of the global auto industry. As Detroit’s automakers have struggled, Japan’s Toyota is commanding increased influence. A handful of Chinese manufacturers are also elbowing for global significance, especially in the auto-parts market.”
_______________________________________________________________
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
U.S. Trade Agenda
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - February 14, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=526
The hearing will examine the direction and content of U.S. trade policy, including:
(1) the status of the WTO Doha Round negotiations and the role U.S. positions on agriculture, services, and industrial market access (including non-tariff barriers) have played in the talks; (2) the status of signed and yet-to-be-completed U.S. FTAs, including a review of open issues; (3) the U.S. policy responses to the U.S. trade deficit and debt… (4) the operation of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body…; (5) the status of Russia’s, and other countries’, accession to the WTO; (6) whether U.S. preference programs are effective in promoting growth and economic development, particularly in low-income and least developed countries, including Haiti; (7) issues related to extension of presidential trade negotiating authority; and (7) other issues.
Perspectives on the 2007 Trade Agenda
Senate – Committee on Finance – Hearing - March 8, 2007
http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing030807.htm
Testimonies by:
Larry Summers, Harvard University
Fred Smith, CEO, Federal Express, Washington, DC
Bob Baugh, Executive Director, Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO, Washington, DC
Craig Lang, President, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, West Des Moines, IA
Andy Warlick, President, Parkdale Mills, Inc., Gastonia, NC
Daniella Markheim
Renew Trade Promotion Authority
The Heritage Foundation - Backgrounder #2014 - March 2007
http://www.heritage.org/Research/TradeandForeignAid/bg2014.cfm
“Congress should renew TPA as it is without adding new conditions that open the door to protectionist policies that undermine America's ability to remain a dynamic and dominant player in the global economy. Current TPA rules support the development and protection of effective labor and other economic policies without forcing unrealistic and detrimental regulations on developing economies.”
Robert Z. Lawrence
The United States and the WTO Dispute Settlement System
Council on Foreign Relations – Report – March 2007 - 56 pages
http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/WTO_CSR25.pdf
“In this Council Special Report, Professor Lawrence addresses the critics of the dispute settlement mechanism—both those who think it should be tougher on countries that violate trade rules and those who think it is already so tough as to violate sovereignty. He points out the successes of the WTO since its creation in 1995 and argues that radical changes to the system are ill-advised. Lawrence nonetheless suggests several areas for reform, from steps that require multilateral negotiations, such as improving opportunities for nonstate actor participation in and enhancing transparency of the process, to changes the United States could make in its own behavior.”
C. Fred Bergsten
Toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific
Peterson Institute - Policy Brief – February 2007 – 13 pages
http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/pb/pb07-2.pdf
“At their latest annual summit in Vietnam in November 2006, the leaders of the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum agreed to “seriously consider” negotiating a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). The FTAAP initiative may well turn out to be the best, or perhaps only, way to catalyze a substantively successful Doha Round. If it cannot do that, an FTAAP can still offer a Plan B to restore the momentum of trade liberalization, prevent further proliferation of bilateral and subregional preferential trade arrangements, avoid renewed risk of ”drawing a line down the middle of the Pacific,“ channel the US-China economic conflict into a more constructive, less confrontational context, and revitalize APEC itself.”
__________________________________________________________________
U.S-CHINA ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Trade with China
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - February 15, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=525
“This hearing is the first in a series on U.S.-China economic and trade relations. The hearings will focus on the impact of U.S.-China trade on jobs, wages, prices, manufacturing competitiveness, and other aspects of the U.S. economy; the causes of the U.S. trade deficit with China; China’s compliance with its WTO commitments; and China’s role in the world economy. This hearing will be divided into two panels. The first panel will focus on the role and effect of subsidies in the Chinese market and their impact on competition with U.S. products in China. The other panel will focus on China’s enforcement of intellectual property rights.”
C. Fred Bergsten
China and Economic Integration in East Asia: Implications for the United States
Peterson Institute - Policy Brief – March 2007 – 10 pages
http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/pb/pb07-3.pdf
“An essential pillar of a US strategy toward East Asian integration is acceptance of the legitimacy and desirability of that process. US acceptance of the economic integration of Europe is the model. Further, the United States—as well as Canada and Mexico—should seek to nest any new Pacific-Asia trade arrangements in a broader Asia-Pacific framework: Creation of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) would embed Pacific Asia in the Asia Pacific. Another part of the US strategy should be to strengthen the substantive capabilities and political legitimacy of the global economic institutions, especially the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, to minimize the need for (and appeal of) new Asia-only regional compacts.”
Craig K. Elwell
Chinese Economic Growth: How Will It Affect the U.S. Gains from Trade?
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress Report - December 6, 2006 – 19 pages
http://opencrs.cdt.org/rpts/RL33744_20061206.pdf
The size and source of the U.S. gains from trade with emerging markets like China are not static--economic growth and economic circumstances change constantly. “China’s main impact on the U.S. terms of trade over the last decade has been through the falling price of U.S. imports from China, transmitting a favorable impulse to the U.S. terms of trade. It also seems likely that the impact of the economic growth of China on the U.S. terms of trade over the near term will continue to be dominated by the favorable effects of a falling price for imports from China.” Several factors point to a favorable outcome for the U.S over the long term.
___________________________________________________________________
Hearing on Trade and Globalization
House - Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - January 30, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=512
“During the hearing, Members hope to elicit responses from witnesses on the following: (1) the philosophy that more trade is always better, no matter its terms or contents; (2) whether the benefits of globalization are being spread broadly to working people, farmers, businesses and consumers in the United States, and if not, what specific changes to U.S. trade policy and international trading rules should be recommended to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs of globalization; and (3) what have been some of the most important successes of U.S. trade policy in the recent past in terms of maximizing the benefits of globalization and minimizing its costs.”
Robert L. Thompson
Globalization and the Benefits of Trade
Chicago Fed Letter - March 2007 (Number 236) Essays On Issues – 4 pages
http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/fedletter/cflmarch2007_236.pdf
“Globalization involves increasing integration of economies around the world, from the national to the most local levels, thereby promoting international trade in goods and services and cross-border movement of information, technology, people, and investments. This article examines the benefits and costs to the U.S. and other countries.”
Pan A. Yotopoulos
The Asymmetric Benefits of Globalization
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research - Policy Brief – March 2007 – 6 pages
http://siepr.stanford.edu/papers/briefs/policybrief_mar07.html
“Although this brief has focused on the risk that globalization becomes the epitaph of growth in the third world, the increasing divide between the rich and the poor within countries, be they developed or developing, may prove even more ominous for the future of globalization itself. Unless the gains from free trade are shared more equally between rich and poor countries, and among the rich and the poor within them, the future of this second globalization may be short-lived.”
Jeff Faux
Globalization That Works for Working Americans
Economic Policy Institute - Briefing Paper - January 11, 2007 – 22 pages
http://www.sharedprosperity.org/bp179/bp179.pdf
The author advocates for better management of globalization through better international trade and investment agreements and policies. The author states that the present system rewards those at the top of the income ladder while working families suffer from stagnant wages and benefits. He further writes that over the last two decades, the mismanagement of trade policies has damaged the U.S.’s competitiveness and has caused trade deficits to soar. The paper offers a new, comprehensive strategy to change these imbalances.
Lee Hudson Teslik
The Global Auto Industry
Council on Foreign Relations – Backgrounder - March 2, 2007
www.cfr.org/publication/12764/global_auto_industry.html
“In February 2007, DaimlerChrysler executives announced a plan to restructure Chrysler's operations. As part of the restructuring, the company will cut thirteen thousand jobs, reduce its total production capacity, and consider divesting the Chrysler brand altogether. The announcement, analysts said, could mark the beginning of the end for an unhappy nine-year marriage between the companies, a merger celebrated in its time… Regardless of what happens to Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler’s woes highlight the shifting realities of the global auto industry. As Detroit’s automakers have struggled, Japan’s Toyota is commanding increased influence. A handful of Chinese manufacturers are also elbowing for global significance, especially in the auto-parts market.”
_______________________________________________________________
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
U.S. Trade Agenda
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - February 14, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=526
The hearing will examine the direction and content of U.S. trade policy, including:
(1) the status of the WTO Doha Round negotiations and the role U.S. positions on agriculture, services, and industrial market access (including non-tariff barriers) have played in the talks; (2) the status of signed and yet-to-be-completed U.S. FTAs, including a review of open issues; (3) the U.S. policy responses to the U.S. trade deficit and debt… (4) the operation of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body…; (5) the status of Russia’s, and other countries’, accession to the WTO; (6) whether U.S. preference programs are effective in promoting growth and economic development, particularly in low-income and least developed countries, including Haiti; (7) issues related to extension of presidential trade negotiating authority; and (7) other issues.
Perspectives on the 2007 Trade Agenda
Senate – Committee on Finance – Hearing - March 8, 2007
http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing030807.htm
Testimonies by:
Larry Summers, Harvard University
Fred Smith, CEO, Federal Express, Washington, DC
Bob Baugh, Executive Director, Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO, Washington, DC
Craig Lang, President, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, West Des Moines, IA
Andy Warlick, President, Parkdale Mills, Inc., Gastonia, NC
Daniella Markheim
Renew Trade Promotion Authority
The Heritage Foundation - Backgrounder #2014 - March 2007
http://www.heritage.org/Research/TradeandForeignAid/bg2014.cfm
“Congress should renew TPA as it is without adding new conditions that open the door to protectionist policies that undermine America's ability to remain a dynamic and dominant player in the global economy. Current TPA rules support the development and protection of effective labor and other economic policies without forcing unrealistic and detrimental regulations on developing economies.”
Robert Z. Lawrence
The United States and the WTO Dispute Settlement System
Council on Foreign Relations – Report – March 2007 - 56 pages
http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/WTO_CSR25.pdf
“In this Council Special Report, Professor Lawrence addresses the critics of the dispute settlement mechanism—both those who think it should be tougher on countries that violate trade rules and those who think it is already so tough as to violate sovereignty. He points out the successes of the WTO since its creation in 1995 and argues that radical changes to the system are ill-advised. Lawrence nonetheless suggests several areas for reform, from steps that require multilateral negotiations, such as improving opportunities for nonstate actor participation in and enhancing transparency of the process, to changes the United States could make in its own behavior.”
C. Fred Bergsten
Toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific
Peterson Institute - Policy Brief – February 2007 – 13 pages
http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/pb/pb07-2.pdf
“At their latest annual summit in Vietnam in November 2006, the leaders of the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum agreed to “seriously consider” negotiating a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). The FTAAP initiative may well turn out to be the best, or perhaps only, way to catalyze a substantively successful Doha Round. If it cannot do that, an FTAAP can still offer a Plan B to restore the momentum of trade liberalization, prevent further proliferation of bilateral and subregional preferential trade arrangements, avoid renewed risk of ”drawing a line down the middle of the Pacific,“ channel the US-China economic conflict into a more constructive, less confrontational context, and revitalize APEC itself.”
__________________________________________________________________
U.S-CHINA ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Trade with China
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - February 15, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=525
“This hearing is the first in a series on U.S.-China economic and trade relations. The hearings will focus on the impact of U.S.-China trade on jobs, wages, prices, manufacturing competitiveness, and other aspects of the U.S. economy; the causes of the U.S. trade deficit with China; China’s compliance with its WTO commitments; and China’s role in the world economy. This hearing will be divided into two panels. The first panel will focus on the role and effect of subsidies in the Chinese market and their impact on competition with U.S. products in China. The other panel will focus on China’s enforcement of intellectual property rights.”
C. Fred Bergsten
China and Economic Integration in East Asia: Implications for the United States
Peterson Institute - Policy Brief – March 2007 – 10 pages
http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/pb/pb07-3.pdf
“An essential pillar of a US strategy toward East Asian integration is acceptance of the legitimacy and desirability of that process. US acceptance of the economic integration of Europe is the model. Further, the United States—as well as Canada and Mexico—should seek to nest any new Pacific-Asia trade arrangements in a broader Asia-Pacific framework: Creation of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) would embed Pacific Asia in the Asia Pacific. Another part of the US strategy should be to strengthen the substantive capabilities and political legitimacy of the global economic institutions, especially the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, to minimize the need for (and appeal of) new Asia-only regional compacts.”
Craig K. Elwell
Chinese Economic Growth: How Will It Affect the U.S. Gains from Trade?
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress Report - December 6, 2006 – 19 pages
http://opencrs.cdt.org/rpts/RL33744_20061206.pdf
The size and source of the U.S. gains from trade with emerging markets like China are not static--economic growth and economic circumstances change constantly. “China’s main impact on the U.S. terms of trade over the last decade has been through the falling price of U.S. imports from China, transmitting a favorable impulse to the U.S. terms of trade. It also seems likely that the impact of the economic growth of China on the U.S. terms of trade over the near term will continue to be dominated by the favorable effects of a falling price for imports from China.” Several factors point to a favorable outcome for the U.S over the long term.
___________________________________________________________________
US SOCIETY 2007
Source: PUBLIC AFFAIRS - American Embassy
Sylvie VACHERET
Tel: 01 43 12 48 97
E Mail: vacheretsr@state.gov
ECONOMICS AND POVERTY
Economic and Societal Costs of Poverty
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - January 24, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=508
“There are 37 million Americans living in poverty, an increase of over 5 million since the year 2000 (after prior years of steady decline)… Poor Americans suffer various hardships, including reduced access to economic and educational opportunities, substandard housing, inadequate diet, greater levels of crime victimization, and diminished health. Less recognized, however, are the costs poverty exacts on society as a whole. Nevertheless, studies indicate that poverty reduces our nation’s economic growth and directly increases crime, health and other expenses absorbed by all Americans. The Committee’s hearing will examine the nature and extent of these costs.”
Economic Opportunity and Poverty in America
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - February 13, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=524
In announcing the hearing, Chairman McDermott stated, “We need to work to ensure the American dream can become a reality. Today, too many of our fellow citizens see that dream slipping away. Those in poverty feel trapped and the countless millions living paycheck to paycheck feel they could slip into poverty at any time. I hope this hearing and others to follow will illustrate the need for change.” The hearing will focus on the extent and nature of economic opportunity and poverty in America.
Poverty: Rewarding Work, Supporting Families
The Brookings Institute – Position Paper and Fact Sheet – March 2007
http://www.opportunity08.org/Issues/OurSociety/31/r1/Default.aspx
“The nation’s poverty rate is higher now than it was in the 1970s, but no President since Lyndon Johnson has made fighting poverty a major administration goal. The time has come for a reinvigorated fight against inequality and despair. Brookings scholars Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins offer a plan that focuses on supporting education, work, and marriage.”
_________________________________________________________________
AGING
The Aging Workforce: What does it Mean for Businesses and the Economy?
Senate – Special Committee on Aging – Hearing - February 28, 2007
http://aging.senate.gov/hearing_detail.cfm?id=270004&
“Today, people over the age of 65 make up about 12 percent of the population, but they will make up almost 20 percent in the next 25 years. That means one out of every five Americans will be a senior by the year 2030. Experts are talking about what this demographic wave will mean for Social Security, Medicare, and long-term care. But as we will hear today, we must address another piece of the puzzle: how the retirement of the Baby Boomers will impact the strength of our nation’s businesses and economy.”
Why Population Aging Matters: A Global Perspective
Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services - National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health – Report - March 13, 2007 – 32 pages
http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/or/81537.htm
“Despite the weight of scientific evidence, the significance of population aging and its global implications have yet to be fully appreciated. There is a need to raise awareness about not only global aging issues but also the importance of rigorous cross-national scientific research and policy dialogue that will help us address the challenges and opportunities of an aging world. Preparing financially for longer lives and finding ways to reduce aging-related disability should become national and global priorities. Experience shows that for nations, as for individuals, it is critical to address problems sooner rather than later. Waiting significantly increases the costs and difficulties of addressing these challenges. This report paints a compelling picture of the impact of population aging on nations.”
John R. Gist
Population Aging, Entitlement Growth, and the Economy
AARP Public Policy Institute, AARP. Report - January 2007 – 64 pages
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/2007_01_security.pdf
Demographic aging is changing the age structure of the U.S population. The age 65 and older group will increase from 12 percent to nearly 20 percent of the population. This change will have a profound effect on the federal budget, American families, and economic growth. This report takes a long-term perspective of the aging population; examines the historical experience of the entitlement programs, and compiles projections to 2050. The paper also offers some policy solutions to achieve economic security for the aging population while maintaining a strong economy.
James C. Capretta
Global Aging and the Sustainability of Public Pension Systems: An Assessment of Reform Efforts in Twelve Developed Countries: A Report of the Aging Vulnerability Index Project
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) - Web posted January 3, 2007 – 57 pages
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/pension_profile.pdf
This study chronicles the efforts of twelve developed countries’ attempts to reform their public pension systems. Public benefit systems have been reformed in recent years, but in most developed countries, the pension systems remain unsustainable with the possible exception of Australia. This study supplements the CSIS Aging Vulnerability Index (AVI) published in March 2003.
_______________________________________________________________
EMPLOYMENT
Lynn A. Karoly
Forces Shaping the Future U.S. Workforce and Workplace: Implications for 21st Century Work
RAND Corporation - Testimony presented before the House Education and Labor Committee on February 7, 2007 – 14 pages
http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/2007/RAND_CT273.pdf
“While the consequences of the current state of the economy on the fortunes of middle class families are one area for potential concern, there are a number of longer-term issues that are equally relevant in terms of their potential effects on U.S. workers and employers. Thus, I would like to focus my testimony on the forces that are shaping the world of work and the implications of those trends for the U.S. workforce and workplace.
Understanding these forces is critical for shaping policies that can serve to foster a strong and secure middle class well into the 21st century.”
Increasing Economic Security for American Workers
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - March 15, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=540
Robert Reich, J.D., Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
Thea Lee, Assistant Director of Public Policy, AFL-CIO
Howard Rosen, Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Maurice Emsellem, Policy Director, National Employment Law Project
Douglas J. Holmes, President, UWC – Strategic Services on Unemployment and Worker’s Compensation
Christopher H. Wheeler
Trends in Neighborhood-Level Unemployment in the United States: 1980 to 2000
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, March/April 2007, 89(2), pp. 123-142
http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/07/03/Wheeler.pdf
“Although the average rate of unemployment across U.S. metropolitan areas declined between 1980 and 2000, the geographic concentration of the unemployed rose sharply over this period. That is, residential neighborhoods throughout the nation’s metropolitan areas became increasingly divided into high- and low-unemployment areas. This paper documents this trend using data on more than 165,000 U.S. Census block groups (neighborhoods) in 361 metropolitan areas over the years 1980, 1990, and 2000; it also examines three potential explanations: (i) urban decentralization, (ii) industrial shifts and declining unionization, and (iii) increasing segregation by income and education.”
Giovanni Peri
How Immigrants Affect California Employment and Wages
Public Policy Institute of California - California Counts - February 2007 - 20 pp.
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/cacounts/CC_207GPCC.pdf
“This issue examines the effects of the arrival of immigrants between 1960 and 2004 on the employment, population, and wages of U.S. natives in California. Among the study’s principal findings: 1) There is no evidence that the influx of immigrants over the past four decades has worsened the employment opportunities of natives with similar education and experience, 2) There is no association between the influx of immigrants and the out-migration of natives within the same education and age group, 3) Immigration induced a 4 percent real wage increase for the average native worker between 1990 and 2004, 4) Recent immigrants did lower the wages of previous immigrants.”
Lael Brainard
The Case for Wage Insurance
Joint Economic Committee Hearing, February 28, 2007
http://www.brookings.edu/views/testimony/brainard20070228.htm
“A new wave of globalization has reached our shores. Although the individual elements feel familiar, the combined contours are unprecedented – in scope, speed and scale… Wage insurance could provide an important tool in a broader set of policies designed to help American middle class families insure against disruptive income fluctuations, while preserving the benefits of a dynamic economy.”
Highlights of a GAO Forum: Engaging and Retaining Older Workers
GAO-07-438SP - February 28, 2007 – 25 pages
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-438SP
“GAO convened this forum to address the issues surrounding engaging and retaining older workers. Participants included experts representing employers, business and union groups, advocates, researchers, actuaries, and federal agencies.”
MISCELLANEOUS
Health Care Capital Spending
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – Fedgazette – January 2007
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/07-01/
“Data on health care capital spending are not particularly neat and tidy, but what are available show strong recent growth. Nationally, data from the U.S. Census Bureau's construction survey show steady upward growth in the 1990s, with a bit of a slowdown in the latter part of the decade. But spending took a decided upturn about 2001.”
Ray Fisman, Geoffrey Heal, and Vinay B. Nair
A Model of Corporate Philanthropy
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania - Web posted January 11, 2007 – 23 pages
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/papers/1331.pdf
“Our separating equilibrium is built on the assumption that entrepreneurs can be of two types—they are either purely profit motivated or they care about both profits and the externalities they impose. This difference in entrepreneurs’ preferences makes corporate philanthropy more expensive for profit-maximizing entrepreneurs than it is for ‘socially-minded’ entrepreneurs, who gain some warm glow from charity.” The authors’ preliminary tests support the framework that “corporate philanthropy and profits are positively related only in industries with high advertising intensity and high competition.”
Sylvie VACHERET
Tel: 01 43 12 48 97
E Mail: vacheretsr@state.gov
ECONOMICS AND POVERTY
Economic and Societal Costs of Poverty
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - January 24, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=508
“There are 37 million Americans living in poverty, an increase of over 5 million since the year 2000 (after prior years of steady decline)… Poor Americans suffer various hardships, including reduced access to economic and educational opportunities, substandard housing, inadequate diet, greater levels of crime victimization, and diminished health. Less recognized, however, are the costs poverty exacts on society as a whole. Nevertheless, studies indicate that poverty reduces our nation’s economic growth and directly increases crime, health and other expenses absorbed by all Americans. The Committee’s hearing will examine the nature and extent of these costs.”
Economic Opportunity and Poverty in America
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - February 13, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=524
In announcing the hearing, Chairman McDermott stated, “We need to work to ensure the American dream can become a reality. Today, too many of our fellow citizens see that dream slipping away. Those in poverty feel trapped and the countless millions living paycheck to paycheck feel they could slip into poverty at any time. I hope this hearing and others to follow will illustrate the need for change.” The hearing will focus on the extent and nature of economic opportunity and poverty in America.
Poverty: Rewarding Work, Supporting Families
The Brookings Institute – Position Paper and Fact Sheet – March 2007
http://www.opportunity08.org/Issues/OurSociety/31/r1/Default.aspx
“The nation’s poverty rate is higher now than it was in the 1970s, but no President since Lyndon Johnson has made fighting poverty a major administration goal. The time has come for a reinvigorated fight against inequality and despair. Brookings scholars Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins offer a plan that focuses on supporting education, work, and marriage.”
_________________________________________________________________
AGING
The Aging Workforce: What does it Mean for Businesses and the Economy?
Senate – Special Committee on Aging – Hearing - February 28, 2007
http://aging.senate.gov/hearing_detail.cfm?id=270004&
“Today, people over the age of 65 make up about 12 percent of the population, but they will make up almost 20 percent in the next 25 years. That means one out of every five Americans will be a senior by the year 2030. Experts are talking about what this demographic wave will mean for Social Security, Medicare, and long-term care. But as we will hear today, we must address another piece of the puzzle: how the retirement of the Baby Boomers will impact the strength of our nation’s businesses and economy.”
Why Population Aging Matters: A Global Perspective
Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services - National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health – Report - March 13, 2007 – 32 pages
http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/or/81537.htm
“Despite the weight of scientific evidence, the significance of population aging and its global implications have yet to be fully appreciated. There is a need to raise awareness about not only global aging issues but also the importance of rigorous cross-national scientific research and policy dialogue that will help us address the challenges and opportunities of an aging world. Preparing financially for longer lives and finding ways to reduce aging-related disability should become national and global priorities. Experience shows that for nations, as for individuals, it is critical to address problems sooner rather than later. Waiting significantly increases the costs and difficulties of addressing these challenges. This report paints a compelling picture of the impact of population aging on nations.”
John R. Gist
Population Aging, Entitlement Growth, and the Economy
AARP Public Policy Institute, AARP. Report - January 2007 – 64 pages
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/2007_01_security.pdf
Demographic aging is changing the age structure of the U.S population. The age 65 and older group will increase from 12 percent to nearly 20 percent of the population. This change will have a profound effect on the federal budget, American families, and economic growth. This report takes a long-term perspective of the aging population; examines the historical experience of the entitlement programs, and compiles projections to 2050. The paper also offers some policy solutions to achieve economic security for the aging population while maintaining a strong economy.
James C. Capretta
Global Aging and the Sustainability of Public Pension Systems: An Assessment of Reform Efforts in Twelve Developed Countries: A Report of the Aging Vulnerability Index Project
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) - Web posted January 3, 2007 – 57 pages
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/pension_profile.pdf
This study chronicles the efforts of twelve developed countries’ attempts to reform their public pension systems. Public benefit systems have been reformed in recent years, but in most developed countries, the pension systems remain unsustainable with the possible exception of Australia. This study supplements the CSIS Aging Vulnerability Index (AVI) published in March 2003.
_______________________________________________________________
EMPLOYMENT
Lynn A. Karoly
Forces Shaping the Future U.S. Workforce and Workplace: Implications for 21st Century Work
RAND Corporation - Testimony presented before the House Education and Labor Committee on February 7, 2007 – 14 pages
http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/2007/RAND_CT273.pdf
“While the consequences of the current state of the economy on the fortunes of middle class families are one area for potential concern, there are a number of longer-term issues that are equally relevant in terms of their potential effects on U.S. workers and employers. Thus, I would like to focus my testimony on the forces that are shaping the world of work and the implications of those trends for the U.S. workforce and workplace.
Understanding these forces is critical for shaping policies that can serve to foster a strong and secure middle class well into the 21st century.”
Increasing Economic Security for American Workers
House Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - March 15, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=540
Robert Reich, J.D., Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
Thea Lee, Assistant Director of Public Policy, AFL-CIO
Howard Rosen, Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Maurice Emsellem, Policy Director, National Employment Law Project
Douglas J. Holmes, President, UWC – Strategic Services on Unemployment and Worker’s Compensation
Christopher H. Wheeler
Trends in Neighborhood-Level Unemployment in the United States: 1980 to 2000
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, March/April 2007, 89(2), pp. 123-142
http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/07/03/Wheeler.pdf
“Although the average rate of unemployment across U.S. metropolitan areas declined between 1980 and 2000, the geographic concentration of the unemployed rose sharply over this period. That is, residential neighborhoods throughout the nation’s metropolitan areas became increasingly divided into high- and low-unemployment areas. This paper documents this trend using data on more than 165,000 U.S. Census block groups (neighborhoods) in 361 metropolitan areas over the years 1980, 1990, and 2000; it also examines three potential explanations: (i) urban decentralization, (ii) industrial shifts and declining unionization, and (iii) increasing segregation by income and education.”
Giovanni Peri
How Immigrants Affect California Employment and Wages
Public Policy Institute of California - California Counts - February 2007 - 20 pp.
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/cacounts/CC_207GPCC.pdf
“This issue examines the effects of the arrival of immigrants between 1960 and 2004 on the employment, population, and wages of U.S. natives in California. Among the study’s principal findings: 1) There is no evidence that the influx of immigrants over the past four decades has worsened the employment opportunities of natives with similar education and experience, 2) There is no association between the influx of immigrants and the out-migration of natives within the same education and age group, 3) Immigration induced a 4 percent real wage increase for the average native worker between 1990 and 2004, 4) Recent immigrants did lower the wages of previous immigrants.”
Lael Brainard
The Case for Wage Insurance
Joint Economic Committee Hearing, February 28, 2007
http://www.brookings.edu/views/testimony/brainard20070228.htm
“A new wave of globalization has reached our shores. Although the individual elements feel familiar, the combined contours are unprecedented – in scope, speed and scale… Wage insurance could provide an important tool in a broader set of policies designed to help American middle class families insure against disruptive income fluctuations, while preserving the benefits of a dynamic economy.”
Highlights of a GAO Forum: Engaging and Retaining Older Workers
GAO-07-438SP - February 28, 2007 – 25 pages
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-438SP
“GAO convened this forum to address the issues surrounding engaging and retaining older workers. Participants included experts representing employers, business and union groups, advocates, researchers, actuaries, and federal agencies.”
MISCELLANEOUS
Health Care Capital Spending
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – Fedgazette – January 2007
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/07-01/
“Data on health care capital spending are not particularly neat and tidy, but what are available show strong recent growth. Nationally, data from the U.S. Census Bureau's construction survey show steady upward growth in the 1990s, with a bit of a slowdown in the latter part of the decade. But spending took a decided upturn about 2001.”
Ray Fisman, Geoffrey Heal, and Vinay B. Nair
A Model of Corporate Philanthropy
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania - Web posted January 11, 2007 – 23 pages
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/papers/1331.pdf
“Our separating equilibrium is built on the assumption that entrepreneurs can be of two types—they are either purely profit motivated or they care about both profits and the externalities they impose. This difference in entrepreneurs’ preferences makes corporate philanthropy more expensive for profit-maximizing entrepreneurs than it is for ‘socially-minded’ entrepreneurs, who gain some warm glow from charity.” The authors’ preliminary tests support the framework that “corporate philanthropy and profits are positively related only in industries with high advertising intensity and high competition.”
U.S. ECO ONLINE February/March 2007
U.S. ECO ONLINE
A SELECTION OF DOCUMENTS RECENTLY PUBLISHED ON THE WEB
No 91 – February/March 2007
Source: PUBLIC AFFAIRS - American Embassy
Sylvie VACHERET
Tel: 01 43 12 48 97
E Mail: vacheretsr@state.gov
_________________________________________________________________
GENERAL INTEREST
Can Higher Education Foster Economic Growth?—A Conference Summary
Chicago Fed Letter – Special Issue - March 2007 – 4 pages
http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/fedletter/cflmarch2007_236a.pdf
“While higher education is being asked to perform more roles in the local economy, specific pathways for influencing local and regional economic transformation are still being identified. On October 30, 2006, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Midwest Higher Education Compact held a conference on higher education and economic growth.”
Economic Report of the President
February 12, 2007
http://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/pubs.html
U.S. Economy Outperforms Peer Group from 2001 to 2006
Joint Economic Committee - Report – March 2007 – 2 pages
http://www.house.gov/jec/publications/110/rr110-3.pdf
“From 2001 to 2006, the U.S. economy has generally outperformed the other large developed economies of Canada, the European Union (EU), and Japan. On balance, the U.S. economy compares favorably with its peer group in terms of real GDP growth, real investment in fixed assets, industrial production, employment, labor productivity, and price stability.”
Irwin Kirsch, Henry Braun, Kentaro Yamamoto, and Andrew Sum
America’s Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation’s Future
Educational Testing Service - Policy Information Report - January 2007- 34 pages
http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/AmericasPerfectStorm.pdf
The three forces comprising this “perfect storm” are divergent skill distributions, the changing economy and demographic trends. First, there is a wide disparity in literacy and math skills among school-age and adult populations. These groups do not have “sufficient literacy and numeracy skills to fully participate in an increasingly competitive work environment.” Secondly, there have been huge changes in the economy primarily driven by technology and globalization resulting in a shift between capital and labor. Consequently, the shift in “composition of jobs in our country has been increasing economic returns to schooling and skills.” Lastly, there will be sweeping demographic changes where the labor force is projected to grow more slowly over the next 20 years and none of the predicted growth will come from native-born workers—more than half of these immigrants lack a high school diploma. The authors believe that our overall levels of learning and skills must be increased to overcome these disparities.
Hearing on Economic Challenges Facing Middle Class Families
House - Committee on Ways and Means – Hearing - January 31, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=514
“In recent years, middle-class families have found their economic circumstances increasingly precarious. Many workers face wage stagnation, or even prolonged unemployment, and fewer workers have guaranteed pension benefit plans, causing many to worry about retirement. All of this uncertainty comes at a time when families face increasing costs for education, health care, and energy. This hearing will examine these challenges and related pressures facing middle-class families and their economic future.”
See also: House Committee on Education and Labor hearings:
http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/fc013107.shtml
http://edworkforce.house.gov/committee/hearings.shtml
William H. Gates- Chairman, Microsoft Corporation
Strengthening American Competitiveness for the 21st Century
Written Testimony before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions - March 7, 2007 – 14 pages
http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2007_03_07/2007_03_07.html
“When I reflect on the state of American competitiveness today, my immediate feeling is not only one of pride, but also of deep anxiety. Too often, we as a society are sacrificing the long-term good of our country in the interests of short-term gain. Too often, we lack the political will to take the steps necessary to ensure that America remains a technology and innovation leader. In too many areas, we are content to live off the investments that previous generations made for us – in education, in health care, in basic scientific research – but are unwilling to invest equal energy and resources into building on this legacy to ensure that America’s future is as bright and prosperous as its present. America simply cannot continue along this course…”
Matthew Higgins, Thomas Klitgaard, and Cedric Tille
Borrowing without Debt? Understanding the U.S. International Investment Position
Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Staff Report no. 271 - December 2006 – 19 pages
http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr271.pdf
“Sustained large U.S. current account deficits have led some economists and policymakers to worry that future current account adjustment could occur through a sudden and disruptive depreciation of the dollar and a sharp drop in U.S. consumption. Two factors that, to date, have cast doubt on such concerns are the stability of U.S. net external liabilities and the minimal net income payments made by the United States on these liabilities. Higgins, Klitgaard, and Tille show that the stability of the external position reflects sizable capital gains stemming from strong foreign equity markets and a weaker dollar--conditions that could be reversed in the future.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
PRODUCTIVITY
Jonathan L. Willis and Julie Wroblewski
What Happened to the Gains From Strong Productivity Growth?
Economic Review, FRB Kansas City - First Quarter 2007 - 19 pages
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/econrev/PDF/1q07will.pdf
“Over the past decade, the United States economy has experienced strong economic growth due in large part to a resurgence in productivity growth. Little attention has been paid, however, to examining how the gains from this growth have been distributed… Willis and Wroblewski examine how the gains from increased productivity growth have been distributed. Their analysis focuses on two questions: Has the increase in productivity growth led to a change in the income shares for capital and labor? And, has the strong productivity growth over the past decade led to a change in the distribution of income across households?”
Dale W. Jorgenson, Mun S. Ho, and Kevin J. Stiroh
A Retrospective Look at the U.S. Productivity Growth Resurgence
Federal Reserve Bank of New York – Report - February 2007 - 37 pages
http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr277.pdf
“It is now widely recognized that information technology (IT) was critical to the dramatic acceleration of U.S. labor productivity growth in the mid-1990s. This paper traces the evolution of productivity estimates to document how and when this perception emerged. Early studies concluded that IT was relatively unimportant. It was only after the massive IT investment boom of the late 1990s that this investment and underlying productivity increases in the IT-producing sectors were identified as important sources of growth. Although IT has diminished in significance since the dot-com crash of 2000, the authors project that private sector productivity growth will average around 2.5 percent per year for the next decade, a pace that is only moderately below the average for the 1995-2005 period.”
Dean Baker
Behind the Gap between Productivity and Wage Growth
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) - . Issue Brief - February 2007 – 6 pages
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/0702_productivity.pdf
From early 2001 to the second quarter of 2006, productivity growth increased by 17.9 percent; however, real wages barely moved over this same period. The author explains that the gap has been created by (1) the “redistribution from wages to capital income (primarily profits plus interest),” and (2) the fact that productivity is measured against gross output while income is derived from net output.
___________________________________________________________________
SAVINGS
William Poole
U. S. Saving
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis – Remarks - Feb. 15, 2007
http://www.stlouisfed.org/news/speeches/2007/02_15_07.html
“My subject is an important, and puzzling, one. The puzzle is nicely illustrated by recent newspaper stories reporting that the U.S. saving rate is at the lowest level in 73 years—that is, since 1933, the bleakest year of the Great Depression. But let me ask five questions: Are there signs of distress all around, as there were 73 years ago? Has there been a tremendous surge of bankruptcies? Has the United States become a nation of profligate spenders? Are the data wrong? Are the data screwy? My answers to these five questions are no, no, no, no and no. But there are some puzzles to explain, and that is what my remarks are about.”
We Try Hard. We Fall Short. Americans Assess Their Saving Habits
Pew Research Center – Report - January 24, 2007
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/325/we-try-hard-we-fall-short-americans-assess-their-saving-habits
“At a time when the personal savings rate in this country has fallen into negative territory for the first time in modern history, more than three-quarters (77%) of all Americans describe themselves as the kind of person who "always looks for ways to save money." This paradox is not as stark as it may seem, for nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans also acknowledge they don't save enough, and more than a third say that they often (11%) or sometimes (25%) spend more than they can afford.”
Retirement Savings: How Much Will Workers Have When They Retire?
Congressional Research Service – Report - January 29, 2007 – 41 pages
http://www.opencrs.com/document/RL33845/2007-01-29%2000:00:00
“Over the past 25 years, an important change has occurred in the structure of employer-sponsored retirement plans in the private sector. Although the percentage of the workforce who participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans has remained relatively stable at approximately half of all workers, the type of plan by which most workers are covered has changed from defined benefit (DB) pensions to defined contribution (DC) plans… As a result of the shift from DB plans to DC plans, workers today bear more responsibility for preparing for their financial security in retirement.”
___________________________________________________________________________________
FISCAL POLICY
Ben S. Bernanke
Fiscal Challenges and the Economy in the Long Term
U.S. House of Representatives - Committee on the Budget – Statement - February 28, 2007
http://budget.house.gov/08Bernanke_testimony.pdf
“To summarize, because of demographic changes and rising medical costs, federal expenditures for entitlement programs are projected to rise sharply over the next few decades. Dealing with the resulting fiscal strains will pose difficult choices for the Congress, the Administration, and the American people. However, if early and meaningful action is not taken, the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened, with future generations bearing much of the cost. The decisions the Congress will face will not be easy or simple, but the benefits of placing the budget on a path that is both sustainable and meets the nation’s long-run needs would be substantial.”
GAO Report: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07510r.pdf
2008 Budget
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
On February 5, 2007, the President transmitted to the Congress the FY 2008 Budget, which reduces deficits each year and balances the budget by 2012.
Why Deficits Matter
House – Committee on the Budget – Hearing – January 23, 2007
The Honorable David M. Walker - Comptroller General of the United States, GAO
http://budget.house.gov/hearings/2007/Walker070123.pdf
Dr. Edward M. Gramlich - Richard B. Fisher Senior Fellow, Urban Institute
http://budget.house.gov/hearings/2007/Gramlich070123.pdf
Dr. Edwin M. Truman - Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
http://budget.house.gov/hearings/2007/Truman070123.pdf
_________________________________________________________________________________
MONETARY POLICY
Monetary Policy Report to the Congress
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System - February 14, 2007 – 31 pages
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/htmpr021507.pdf
“The U.S. economy turned in another solid performance in 2006, although the pattern of growth was uneven… The monetary policy decisions of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in 2006 were intended to foster sustainable economic expansion and to promote a return to low and stable inflation.”
The State of the Economy, the State of the Labor Market, and the Conduct of Monetary Policy
House – Committee on Financial Services – Hearing - February 15 &16, 2007
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr021507.shtml
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/ht021607.shtml
Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Jared Bernstein, Economic Policy Institute;. Ronald Blackwell, AFL-CIO; Rebecca Blank, The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan; James Grant, GRANT'S Interest Rate Observerness list.
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
Central Banking and Bank Supervision in the United States
FED - Remarks - January 5, 2007
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2007/20070105/default.htm
“The Federal Reserve, like many central banks, is engaged in a wide range of activities beyond the making of monetary policy. For example, the Fed plays a critical role in the U.S. payments system…; it has substantial responsibilities in the area of consumer protection, including rule-writing and enforcement; it promotes financial stability; and, together with other agencies, it supervises both large and small banking organizations. In this talk I will consider the case for one of these activities--namely, the supervision of the banking system--being conducted, at least in part, by the U.S. central bank.”
Michael D. Bordo and David C.Wheelock
Stock Market Booms and Monetary Policy in the Twentieth Century
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, March/April 2007, 89(2), pp. 91-122
http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/07/03/BordoWheelock.pdf
“This article examines the association between stock market booms and monetary policy in the U.S. and nine other developed countries during the 20th century. The authors find, as was true of the U.S. stock market boom of 1994-2000, that booms typically arose during periods of above-average growth of real output and below-average inflation, suggesting that booms reflected both real macroeconomic phenomena and monetary policy. They find little evidence that booms were fueled by excessive liquidity. Booms often ended within a few months of an increase in inflation and consequent monetary policy tightening. They find few differences across the different monetary policy regimes of the century.”
George A. Kahn
Communicating a Policy Path: The Next Frontier in Central Bank Transparency?
Economic Review, FRB Kansas City - First Quarter 2007 - 27 pages
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/econrev/PDF/1q07kahn.pdf
“In the last two decades, central banks have taken a variety of steps to increase the transparency of monetary policy. Today, many economists are suggesting ways to further increase transparency. One area of considerable interest is the outlook for the future path of the policy rate. The policy rate is the short-term, typically overnight, interest rate that central bankers use to adjust the stance of monetary policy. While central banks typically announce changes in the policy rate when they occur, very few central banks provide an explicit description of where the policy rate is likely to be set in the future.”
Ronald I. McKinnon
The Worth of the Dollar
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research - Policy Brief – February, 2007- 6 pages
http://siepr.stanford.edu/papers/briefs/policybrief_feb07.html
“Shouldn’t the market now discipline the world’s biggest debtor and bid the dollar down to reduce the trade deficit? Essentially, the answer is “no.”
The Treasury Department’s Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policy (IEERP) and the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue
US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs – Hearing – January 31, 2007
http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=247
Henry M. Paulson, Jr. , Secretary of the Treasury
Richard Trumka , Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO
Michael E. Campbell , Vice Chairman, National Association of Manufacturers
Albert Keidel , Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Fred Bergsten , Director, Peterson Institute for International Economics
___________________________________________________________________
FINANCE
Thomas Dichter
A Second Look at Microfinance: The Sequence of Growth and Credit in Economic History
Cato Institute – Development Policy Briefing Paper – February 15, 2007 – 16 pages
http://www.cato.org/pubs/dbp/dbp1.pdf
“There is no reason to believe that the nature and sequence of growth and mass credit are fundamentally different for poor countries today than they were in the past. We should not expect microfinance to noticeably affect growth or successful business development.”
Hedge Funds and Systemic Risk in the Financial Markets
House – Committee on Financial Services – Hearing - March, 13, 2007
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/ht031307.shtml
Witness List & Prepared Testimony:
E. Gerald Corrigan, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs & Company; and former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York • Kenneth D. Brody, Co-Founder and Principal, Taconic Capital Advisors LLC; Chairman, Investment Committee, University of Maryland • James S. Chanos; Founder and President, Kynikos Associates LP • George Hall, Founder and CEO, Clinton Group • Jeffrey L. Matthews; Ram Partners, LP • Andrew Golden, President, Princeton University Investment Company • Professor Stephen J. Brown, David S. Loeb Professor of Finance, New York University, Stern School of Business
___________________________________________________________________
OTHER ECONOMIC POLICIES
John D. Graham
The Evolving Role of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in Regulatory Policy
AEI/Brookings Joint Center on Regulation - Working Paper - Feb 2007 – 26 pages
“Since the early Reagan years, critics have argued that benefit-cost analysis is used by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a one-sided tool of deregulation to advance the interests of business. This article discloses a little-known fact: OMB also plays a powerful pro-regulation role when agency proposals address market failures and are supported by benefit-cost analysis. Drawing on four case studies from the George W. Bush Administration, the author examines how and why OMB encouraged regulatory initiatives while protecting some rulemakings from opposition by forces inside and outside of the executive branch.”
Subsidies Enforcement Annual Report to the Congress
Office of the United States Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Web posted February 1, 2007 – 59 pages
http://ia.ita.doc.gov/esel/reports/seo2007/seo-annual-report-2007.pdf
Subsidies and other unfair trade-distorting practices continue to challenge the American workers and industries, but the U.S. government is committed to eliminating or neutralizing these practices. This report describes how the U.S. Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, and other agencies monitor foreign government subsidy practices.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The State of Economic Development
House Transportation and Infrastructure – Hearing - January 23, 2007
http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingdetail.aspx?NewsID=20
“The experts will provide testimony on the history of federal economic development programs, the role of the Federal Government in economic development, and suggestions for 21st century investment.”
Robert Atkinson and Howard Wial
The Implications of Service Offshoring for Metropolitan Economies
The Brookings Institution – Study – February 2007 – 28 pages
http://media.brookings.edu/mediaarchive/pubs/metro/pubs/20070131_offshoring.pdf
“An examination of service offshoring—the movement of service jobs overseas—forecasts higher than average job losses in twenty-eight U.S. metropolitan areas between 2004 and 2015. Information technology jobs, and the metropolitan areas where they are concentrated, will be hardest hit. To cushion the service offshoring blow, the paper urges federal, state, and local leaders to together pursue policies that boost productivity and innovation, assist workers who are harmed by offshoring, and modernize approaches to economic and workforce development.”
Wendell Cox and Ronald D. Utt
Housing Affordability: Smart Growth Abuses Are Creating a "Rent Belt" of High-Cost Areas
The Heritage Foundation - Backgrounder #1999 - January 22, 2007
http://www.heritage.org/Research/SmartGrowth/bg1999.cfm
“While the national data reveal that the housing affordability problem is limited to the metropolitan areas of a few states—principally those in coastal areas—these regional price differences could significantly affect public policy and shape future growth and prosperity in the United States.”
The Texas Economy: Almost a Boom
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas - Southwest Economy - January/February 2007
http://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2007/swe0701b.cfm
“The Texas economy turned in a robust performance in 2006. Initial estimates suggest employment increased 3.2 percent and output growth could approach 5 percent. For most any other state, an expansion this strong would constitute a boom. But everything is bigger in Texas, and so are the booms. Overall 2006 economic activity was not on par with the great bursts of growth ignited by construction and energy in the 1970s and 1980s or high tech in the 1990s. Still, the current expansion is impressive, even by Texas standards.”
Made in Texas: The Natural Selection of Manufacturing
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas - Southwest Economy - January/February 2007
http://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2007/swe0701c.cfm
“Texas has emerged as one of the nation’s fastest-growing manufacturing hubs. Between 1990 and 2005, a time frame long enough to encompass an entire business cycle, the state’s factory output grew an average of 5.8 percent a year, eclipsing all other major manufacturing states. A longer-run perspective shows that Texas’ share of the nation’s manufacturing base has been rising for at least four decades—with a particularly pronounced output jump in the past year or so.”
Jed Kolko and David Neumark
Are California’s Companies Shifting Their Employment to Other States?
Public Policy Institute of California – Occasional Paper - February 2007 - 54 pages
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/op/OP_207JKOP.pdf
“In this paper we examine the dynamics of businesses headquartered in California. In particular, we ask whether California companies are shifting their operations to other states—in terms of either the number of business establishments or the level of employment—through expansions and contractions of existing establishments, as well as births and deaths of establishments. These types of changes could be informative about the business climate in California—perhaps most importantly changes in births of new establishments, which may be most responsive to economic, regulatory, and other conditions that create variability in profitability across states.”
Rural Sprawl
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – Fedgazette – January 2007
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/07-03/
“As city dwellers seek bucolic bliss, sprawl is spreading to the countryside. Problem, or opportunity? Incentive-based tools to protect rural land from sprawl are increasingly popular, but some doubt their effectiveness… This fedgazette feature examines rural sprawl in the Ninth District, the conflicts it's causing, the economics behind it, and policies and programs being used to address it.”
Jason Henderson and Maria Akers
Will Energy Markets Refuel the Rural Economy?
Economic Review, FRB Kansas City - First Quarter 2007 - 22 pages
http://www.kc.frb.org/PUBLICAT/ECONREV/PDF/1q07hend.pdf
___________________________________________________________________AGRICULTURE – FOOD PRICES
Old Macdonald's Evolving Farm
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – Fedgazette – January 2007
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/07-01/livestock.cfm
“Looks like it might be time for Old MacDonald to add a few new animals to his farm—you know, just to keep up with the times. Unusual breeds might not be obvious yet in the pasture, but livestock farming is becoming more than just cattle, pigs and sheep. Though most alternative or niche livestock haven't hit commercial scale yet, some are poised to, and most of these herds are growing.”
Stephan Marette, Roxanne Clemens, and Bruce A. Babcock
The Recent International And Regulatory Decisions About Geographical Indications
Midwest Agribusiness Trade Research and Information Center (MATRIC), Iowa State University - January 2007 – 37 pages
http://www.card.iastate.edu/publications/DBS/PDFFiles/07mwp10.pdf
“As worldwide consumer demand for high-quality products and for information about these products increases, labels and geographical indications (GIs) can serve to signal quality traits to consumers. However, GI systems among countries are not homogeneous and can be used as trade barriers against competition. Philosophical differences between the European Union and the United States about how GIs should be registered and protected led to the formation of a WTO dispute settlement panel. In this paper we discuss the issues behind the dispute, the World Trade Organization (WTO) panel decision, and the EU response to the panel decision leading to the new Regulation 510/2006.”
Ephraim Leibtag
The Impact of Big-Box Stores on Retail Food Prices and the Consumer Price Index Economic Research Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture - December 2006 - 41 pages
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err33/err33.pdf
“Over the past 10 years, the growth of nontraditional retail food outlets has transformed the food market landscape, increasing the variety of shopping and food options available to consumers, as well as price variation in retail food market. This report focuses on these dynamics and how they affect food price variation across store format types.” Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), over the past 20 years food prices have increased on average of 3 percent annually, but food prices on similar products can vary by 10 percent or more across store formats.
__________________________________________________________________
Nanotechnology: The Future is Coming Sooner Than You Think
Joint Economic Committee - Study – March 2007 – 21 pages
http://www.house.gov/jec/publications/110/nanotechnology_03-22-07.pdf
“This paper discusses the range of sciences currently covered by nanotechnology. It begins with a description of what nanotechnology is and how it relates to previous scientific advances. It then describes the most likely future development of different technologies in a variety of fields. The paper also reviews the government’s current nanotechnology policy and makes some suggestions for improvement.”
Inscription à :
Articles (Atom)