PUBLIC AFFAIRS - American Embassy
Sylvie VACHERET Tel: 01 43 12 48 97 E‑Mail: vacheretsr@state.gov
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Will Fast Productivity Growth Persist?
FRB San Francisco - Economic Letter - April 6, 2007 – 4 pages
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2007/el2007-09.html
“This Letter begins to answer the title question by focusing on the factors that underlay the most recent productivity boom and what they may portend for the future.”
The U.S. Productivity Acceleration and the Current Account Deficit
FRB San Francisco - Economic Letter - March 30, 2007 – 4 pages
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2007/el2007-08.html
“This Letter reviews the current facts about the current account deficit and its determinants and describes the channels through which it is affected by an increase in trend labor productivity growth.”
David C. Wheelock
Housing Slump Could Lean Heavily on Economy
FRB St. Louis - Regional Economist - April 2007
http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/2007/b/pages/slump.html
“Just because there was a boom in the housing market doesn't mean there will be a bust. But if the decline in prices that has hit some markets spreads across the country, the overall economy could suffer on multiple levels.”
After the Boom, Housing Affordability a Growing Challenge
FRB Atlanta – EconSouth - First Quarter 2007
http://www.frbatlanta.org/invoke.cfm?objectid=8F7F362A-5056-9F12-124168F1446F1678&method=display_body
“As Americans' rate of home ownership nears historical highs, home prices have risen simultaneously. Ensuring a supply of affordable housing for those aspiring to their share of the American dream remains a challenge in many areas, including the Southeast.”
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Repairing the Economic Ladder: A Transformative Investment Strategy to Reduce Poverty and Expand America’s Middle Class
Conference of Mayors - Taskforce on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity - Findings and Recommendations – January 24, 2007 – 28 pages
http://www.preschoolcalifornia.org/assets/US-Conf-Mayors-Poverty-Work-and-Opp-Task-Force-Jan-2007.pdf
How can the United States work to alleviate poverty and create work opportunities for its residents? This report draws on the observations of mayors around the country and their colleagues. The report notes that there are a number of opportunities, such as the fact that the globalization of trade and commerce has spurred demand for highly skilled labor and accountability in the educational systems of large cities. The document also spells out three primary investment strategies for the short and long term, including making substantial investments in the life-long education and skills development of tomorrow’s workers.
The Role of Public Investment in Promoting Economic Growth
House Financial Services Committee – Hearing - March 23, 2007
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/ht032307.shtml
Witness List & Prepared Testimony:
Ambassador Felix Rohatyn, Rohatyn Associates; Dr. Michael Drake, Chancellor University of California, Irvine; Cliff Winston, Senior Fellow of Economic Studies, Brookings Institution; Miles Rapoport, President Demos; Andrew F. Haughwout, Research and Statistics Group, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
An Education Strategy to Promote Opportunity, Prosperity, and Growth
The Hamilton Project, The Brookings Institution - Strategy Paper - February 20, 2007 – 25 pages
http://www1.hamiltonproject.org/views/papers/200702education.pdf
This paper offers a framework for educational policy from early childhood to post-secondary education. Evidence shows that education is critical to economic growth and an investment in education returns benefits to society and individuals. America’s educational system is not in crisis nor is it reaching its full potential. This paper outlines a strategy for new investments in early education and suggests structural reforms such as a teacher tenure system. A proposed early educational program for disadvantaged children and federally-funded student financial aid systems are also addressed.
TAX AND FISCAL POLICIES
Curtis S. Dubay
State and Local Tax Burdens Hit 25-Year High
Tax Foundation - Special Report No. 153 - April 6, 2007 – 12 pages
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr153.pdf
“State and local taxes will consume a record-setting 11 percent of the nation's income in 2007. Since 1986, the state-local tax burden had never fallen below 10 percent or risen above 10.9 percent. This estimate of state-local tax burdens at an all-time high comes at a time when personal and corporate incomes have risen for almost four consecutive years, sometimes at a remarkable pace. Along with low unemployment, these rising incomes have boosted tax collections substantially and helped most states meet their revenue expectations with ease since 2004.”
Growing Number of States Considering a Key Corporate Tax Reform
Center on Budget and Policy - Priorities – April 7, 2007 – 9 pages
http://www.cbpp.org/4-5-07sfp.htm
“A growing number of states are giving serious consideration to a major reform in their corporate income taxes long advocated by state tax experts. The governors of six states - Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania - all recommended this year that their states implement this policy, which is known as "combined reporting." New York enacted combined reporting legislation on April 1 as part of the state's budget bill for FY2007-08.”
Alice M. Rivlin and Joseph R. Antos, editors
Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2007: The Health Spending Challenge
Brookings Institution Press. Web posted March 26, 2007. 252 pages
http://www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/es/research/projects/budget/fiscalsanity/2007full.pdf
“This book examines the health spending crisis and calls for a broad agenda of experimentation and reform to slow health care spending growth.” The authors provide suggestions to reform federal health care programs that could reduce the growth in spending, increase efficiency and effectiveness of care, and enhance health outcomes. The authors see this proposal as a “catalyst for improvements of the whole health system.”
MONETARY POLICY
William Poole
Understanding Inflation
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis – Remarks to NABE - April 2, 2007
http://www.stlouisfed.org/news/speeches/2007/04_02_07.html
“The causes of our current prosperity will be studied by economists for some time. Today, I wish to discuss one of those: our improved understanding of how price stability contributes to overall economic stability. That understanding is reflected in the Federal Reserve’s commitment to maintaining a low, stable rate of inflation. Efforts to improve communications and increase the transparency of policymaking are essential aspects of that commitment.”
Governor Frederic S. Mishkin
Monetary Policy and the Dual Mandate
FRB – Remarks at Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Virginia. April 10, 2007
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2007/20070410/default.htm
“The Federal Reserve's mandate is "to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates." Because long-term interest rates can remain low only in a stable macroeconomic environment, these goals are often referred to as the dual mandate; that is, the Federal Reserve seeks to promote the two coequal objectives of maximum employment and price stability.”
Ben S. Bernanke
Globalization and Monetary Policy
Federal Reserve Board - Remarks At the Fourth Economic Summit, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford, California - March 2, 2007
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2007/20070302/default.htm
“At the broadest level, globalization influences the conduct of monetary policy through its powerful effects on the economic and financial environment in which monetary policy must operate… Consequently, one direct effect of globalization on Federal Reserve operations has been to increase the time and attention that policymakers and staff must devote to following and understanding developments in other economies, in the world trading system, and in world capital markets.”
A Falling Dollar: Good or Bad News?
FRB Atlanta – EconSouth - First Quarter 2007
http://www.frbatlanta.org/invoke.cfm?objectid=8FBC5CFC-5056-9F12-12DEE2A422FA9E30&method=display_body
“While no consensus exists about the timing or speed of the adjustment to the value of the dollar, the natural correction mechanisms appear to be in place. As long as the current situation of strong global growth and impressive macroeconomic stability continues, the United States should be able to correct its external deficits smoothly, without enduring significant hardships.”
Edwin M. Truman, Peterson Institute
The Role of US and EU Financial Markets in the Global Economy
Remarks at the conference "The Euro and the Dollar: Pillars in Global Finance"- FRB New York - April 17, 2007
www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=728
“Europe and the United States have huge stakes and responsibilities for the stability of the international economy and financial system. They should promote healthy, and minimize unhealthy, competition between the euro and the dollar. Their collaboration in the IMF just completed multilateral consultation process has been disappointing because of the absence of new policy commitments and any mention of exchange rates. Nevertheless, the euro area and the United States should cooperate in other areas to achieve substantial IMF governance reform, manage the international diversification of foreign exchange reserves through increased transparency, and discourage international money laundering.”
FINANCE
A Special Focus on Safe and Sound Banking: Past, Present, and Future
FRB Atlanta – First and Second Quarters 2007
http://www.frbatlanta.org/invoke.cfm?objectid=0F644CED-5056-9F12-128C9A6CA5296F50&method=display_body
“This issue of the Economic Review presents the papers, commentaries, and discussions from an August 2006 conference that assessed the legislative and regulatory changes in the banking industry during the past two decades and discussed the challenges still ahead.”
Financial Innovations and the Real Economy: Conference Summary
FRB San Francisco - Economic Letter - March 2, 2007
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2007/el2007-05.html
“This Letter summarizes the papers presented at the conference "Financial Innovations and the Real Economy" held by the Bank's Center for the Study of Innovation and Productivity (CSIP) in November 2006.” It includes links to conference papers.
Ben S. Bernanke
Financial Regulation and the Invisible Hand
Federal Reserve Board – Remarks at the New York University Law School - April 11, 2007
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2007/20070411/default.htm
“Although the market system is the principal source of America’s economic dynamism, economic theory and practice both suggest that targeted government regulation and intervention can sometimes benefit the economy. In the particular case of financial markets, for example, government regulation helps to promote general financial stability and to protect investors and consumers against fraud. Of course, the benefits of regulation come with direct and indirect costs.”
Financial Market Regulation: Agencies Engaged in Consolidated Supervision Can Strengthen Performance Measurement and Collaboration
U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) - Web posted March 15, 2007 - 86 pages
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07154.pdf
Financial institutions are increasingly operating globally; consequently, supervision of these institutions on a consolidated basis has become a necessity. The General Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the policies and management of these programs at the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The GAO recommends that the heads of all three agencies develop clearer and more consistent objectives and performance measurements specific to consolidated supervision. The GAO also advises these agencies to collaborate more systematically.
Jeffrey Fankel
Responding To Financial Crises
Faculty Research Working Paper Series, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. February 14, 2007 – 13 pages
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP07-010/$File/rwp_07_010_frankel.pdf
Most financial analysts agree there is a need for a Lender of Last Resort in the event of banking panics or disruptions, but crises should not be the basis for public policy. “The response must be appropriate and careful. It must be informed by the longer term perspective offered in the lessons of historical precedent. . .” This paper details lessons learned from past crises such as inflation, stock market crashes, housing crashes, and various international crises.
Bank Deregulation Helps Small Business
FRB St. Louis - Regional Economist - April 2007
http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/2007/b/pages/deregulation.html
“Once banking markets were opened up to geographic diversity and competition, more banks were in a better position to lend money to small businesses—even in tough times.”
Timothy Clark, Astrid Dick, Beverly Hirtle, Kevin Stiroh, and Robard Williams
The Role of Retail Banking in the U.S. Banking Industry: Risk, Return, and Industry Structure
FRB New York - Economic Policy Review, forthcoming – 18 pages
http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/epr/forthcoming/0703hirt.pdf
The U.S. banking industry is experiencing a renewed interest in retail banking, broadly defined as the range of products and services provided to consumers and small businesses. This article documents the “return to retail” in the U.S. banking industry and offers some insight into why the shift has occurred. At the bank level, the principal attraction of retail banking seems to be the belief that its revenues are stable and thus can offset volatility in nonretail businesses. At the industry level, the authors show that interest in retail activities fluctuates in rather predictable ways with the performance of nonretail banking and financial market activities.”
The Angel Investor Market in 2006: The Angel Market Continues Steady Growth
Center for Venture Research, University of New Hampshire - Web posted March 20, 2007 – 3 pages
http://unhinfo.unh.edu/news/docs/2006angelmarketanalysis.pdf
This report reports the growth in the angel investor market during 2006. The angel investor market totaled $25.6 billion in 2006, an increase of 10.8% over the previous year. Healthcare services accounted for the largest increase, followed by the software market and the biotech market. Angel investment also created 201,400 jobs in the U.S. in 2006, women angels accounted for 13.8% of the market, and women-owned ventures represented 12.9% of the entrepreneurs. Minority angels were 3.4% of the angel populations and minority-owned firms were 6.9% of the entrepreneurs.
Mortgage Market Turmoil: Causes and Consequences
US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs – Hearing – Mach 22, 2007
http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=254
“You cannot pick up a newspaper lately without seeing another story about the implosion of the subprime mortgage market. The checks and balances that we are told exist in the marketplace, and the oversight that the regulators are supposed to exercise, have been absent until recently.”
OTHER ECONOMIC POLICIES
Thomas M. Sullivan
Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act FY 2006: Annual Report of the Chief Counsel for Advocacy on Implementation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 13272
Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration - February 2007 – 77 pages
http://www.sba.gov/advo/laws/flex/06regflx.pdf
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires federal agencies “to review the potential impact of proposed regulations on small businesses and other small entities and to examine significant alternatives that minimize small entity impacts while still meeting the purpose of the regulation.” This annual report from the Small Business Administration measures the success of RFA during 2006.
Jonathan Baker
Beyond Schumpeter vs. Arrow: How Antitrust Fosters Innovation
AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies - Related Publication - Feb 2007 – 23 pages
http://www.aei-brookings.org/admin/authorpdfs/page.php?id=1369&PHPSESSID=ef380882adcd0e633019b25beca20a0f
“The modern economic learning about the connection between competition and innovation helps clarify the types of firm conduct and industry settings where antitrust interventions are most likely to foster innovation. Measured against this standard, contemporary competition policy holds up well. Today’s antitrust institutions support innovation by targeting types of industries and practices where antitrust enforcement would enhance research and development incentives the most. It is time to move beyond the “on-the-one-hand Schumpeter, on-the-other-hand Arrow” debate and embrace antitrust as essential for fostering innovation.”
LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/
“The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development was started in 1987 by Professors Stephen Cornell and Joseph P. Kalt. The Project’s primary goal is “to understand and foster the conditions under which sustained, self-determined social and economic development is achieved among American Indian nations.” To accomplish this goal, the Project has sponsored a number of conferences and events, and as also offered advisory services to interested persons and tribal leaders. The “Publications” area is a good way to take a look at the fruits of their labors, as it includes the archives of the Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs and a variety of field reports, such as “Renewing Beauty: Options for Navajo Land Management and Decision Making”.
Rural Sprawl
FRB Minneapolis - FedGazette – Focus - March 2007
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/07-03/
“As city dwellers seek bucolic bliss, sprawl is spreading to the countryside. Problem, or opportunity?”
BUSINESS
Florida Drives the National Auto Market
FRB Atlanta – EconSouth - First Quarter 2007
http://www.frbatlanta.org/invoke.cfm?objectid=8FB9D7D3-5056-9F12-1273D72F6DECA3AF&method=display_body
“The Sunshine State represents the nation's second-largest car market. Changes in the marketplace—from sagging fleet sales to strong import performance—reverberate from Florida to Detroit and beyond.”
The Best of All Worlds—Globalizing the Knowledge Economy
FRB Dallas – Annual Report – Essay – April 2007
http://www.dallasfed.org/fed/annual/2006/index.cfm
“The conquest of physical distance to deliver medical services testifies to the benefits of globalizing the Knowledge Economy. Our greatly expanded capacity to calculate, communicate and coordinate has toppled barriers that for centuries constrained so many economic activities. It has led to immensely increased productivity, thus lowering costs and raising living standards in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. We're only beginning to fathom the consequences.”
Options on the Outs
FRB Richmond - Region Focus - Winter 2007 – 7 pages
http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/economic_research/region_focus/winter_2007/pdf/cover_story.pdf
“Today, granting options is no longer painless: 2006 is the first year that public companies are being required to subtract the cost of stock options from their income. The change, which was years in the making, came about in large part because of clamoring for corporate governance reforms. Accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom gave the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) support for a long-proposed rule to make stock option expensing mandatory, instead of something that since 1995 was relegated to footnotes in annual company filings…Across the nation, this one small accounting change is affecting the use of employee stock options in a significant way.”
David de Ferranti and Anthony J. Ody
Beyond Microfinance: Getting Capital to Small and Medium Enterprises to Fuel Faster Development
The Brookings Institution - Policy Brief - Web posted March 26, 2007 – 10 pages
http://www3.brookings.edu/comm/policybriefs/pb159.pdf
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are those that employ between 10 and 250 workers. SMEs are the backbone of modern economies and are the “seedbeds of innovation.” In the developing world, SMEs are “under-represented, stifled by perverse regulatory climates, and poor access to inputs.” The authors provide two new governmental options to promote SMEs: (1) remove artificial policies and regulatory obstacles; and (2) stimulate competition and develop credit information systems. The authors argue that SMEs need more attention to build more dynamic competitive economies in developing countries.
ENERGY
Annual Energy Outlook 2007: With Projections to 2030
Energy Information Administration - U.S. Department of Energy - February 2007 - 242 pages
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/index.html
This report presents a long-term projection of energy supply, demand, and prices through 2030. It provides a summary of referenced cases; discusses evolving legislation and regulation issues including an update of key provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT2005); and supplies a summary of sunset provisions in selected fuel taxes and tax credits.
State of the Markets Report: 2006
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), U.S. Department of Energy. Web posted February 20, 2007 – 59 pages
http://www.ferc.gov/market-oversight/st-mkt-ovr/som-rpt-2006.pdf
“In 2005 and 2006, electric and natural gas markets in the United States proved sufficiently robust to successfully meet various supply- and demand-related challenges with no major failures of service. While these markets continued to produce evidence of long-term developmental trends, the most striking forces affecting these markets since late 2005 were short term.” These forces were disruption of natural gas supplies by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a glut of natural gas because of mild weather, and heat waves drove new peak electric loads. However, short-term supply and demand disruptions caused challenges to energy market oversight efforts.
International Perspectives on Alternative Energy Policy: Incentives and Mandates and their Impacts
Senate - Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure – Hearing - April 12, 2007
http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing041207a.htm
“The system we have developed to provide incentives to achieve it is not a simple system. Perhaps as a result, we have had many discussions about the manner in which the current law tax incentives have helped, and sometimes hurt, the development of alternative energy production in this country. So as we prepare to address the issue of energy policy and energy taxes again this year, we want to identify those energy tax provisions that have helped us achieve our energy policy goals, apply these successful concepts to promising new markets, and look to successful markets for new ideas.”
Eugene Gholz and Daryl G. Press
Energy Alarmism: The Myths That Make Americans Worry about Oil
Cato Institute - Policy Analysis no. 589 - April 5, 2007 – 24 pages
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa589.pdf
“Our overarching message is simply that market forces, modified by the cartel behavior of OPEC, determine most of the key factors that affect oil supply and prices. The United States does not need to be militarily active or confrontational to allow the oil market to function, to allow oil to get to consumers, or to ensure access in coming decades.”
The Future of Coal
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
http://web.mit.edu/coal/
Senate – Energy and natural Resources Committee – Hearing – March 22, 2007
http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=1617
“This report, the future of coal in a carbon-constrained world, evaluates the technologies and costs associated with the generation of electricity from coal along with those associated with the capture and sequestration of the carbon dioxide produced coal-based power generation.”
Crude Oil: Uncertainty about Future Oil Supply Makes It Important to Develop a Strategy for Addressing a Peak and Decline in Oil Production
GAO – Report - February 28, 2007 – 82 pages
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-283
“GAO (1) examined when oil production could peak, (2) assessed the potential for transportation technologies to mitigate the consequences of a peak in oil production, and (3) examined federal agency efforts that could reduce uncertainty about the timing of a peak or mitigate the consequences. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed studies, convened an expert panel, and consulted agency officials.”
Energy Innovation
Senate - Science, Technology, and Innovation – Hearing - March 20, 2007
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=1832
Mr. Bill Prindle, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Mr. Michael Eckhart, American Council on Renewable Energy
Dr. Jim Katzer, MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment
Dr. K.R. Sridhar, Bloom Energy
Dr. Francis R. Preli, Jr., UTC Power, LLC Bruce Stokes
Amy Abel
Electric Transmission: Approaches for Energizing a Sagging Industry
Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress - February 12, 2007 – 26 pages
http://opencrs.cdt.org/rpts/RL33875_20070212.pdf
This report provides background information on the regulatory structure of the electric utility industry and its transmission systems at both the federal and state levels. Some of the issues covered are congested transmission systems, security of physical assets, transmission line locations, cost implications, pricing of new projects, and funding.
AGRICULTURE
Investing in Our Nation's Future through Agricultural Research
Senate - Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee – Hearing - March 7, 2007
http://agriculture.senate.gov/Hearings/hearings.cfm?hearingId=2583
“While there has been excellent success in the past we must look to not only immediate scientific needs, but build an even stronger foundation to maintain our world leadership in agriculture. This is imperative if this nation’s agriculture system is to continue as a world leader and not be severely crippled by the ever increasing disease threats, changing world market competition, and drought and other natural impacts.”
Economic Challenges and Opportunities Facing American Agricultural Producers Today
Senate – Committee on Agriculture – April 2007
Part 1 (livestock, poultry, and competition issues for the 2007 Farm Bill):
http://agriculture.senate.gov/Hearings/hearings.cfm?hearingId=2699
Part 2 (speciality crops, dairy, sugar, organic productoin and marketing, and honey issues for the 2007 Farm Bill): http://agriculture.senate.gov/Hearings/hearings.cfm?hearingId=2723
Part 3 (general farm and commodity-specific organizations):
http://agriculture.senate.gov/Hearings/hearings.cfm?hearingId=2724
EMPLOYMENT
Closing the Gap: Equal Pay for Women Workers
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions – Hearing - April 12, 2007
http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2007_04_12/2007_04_12.html
Witnesses:
-- Evelyn Murphy, Founder and President of The WAGE Project, Inc, Boston, MA
-- Jocelyn Samuels, Vice President for Education and Employment, National Women's Law Center, Washington, DC
-- Dr. Philip Cohen, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
-- Barbara Brown, Attorney, Paul Hastings, Washington, DC
Strengthening the Middle Class: Ensuring Equal Pay for Women
House – Committee on Education and Labor – Hearing - April 24, 2007
http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/fc042407.shtml
Witnesses
Catherine Hill, Research Director, American Association of University Women
Heather Boushey, Senior Economist, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Dedra Farmer, Plaintiff in the Walmart Sex-Discrimination Class Action Suit
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Director, Center for Employment Policy, Hudson Institute
Marie-Claire Guillard
A Chartbook of International Labor Comparisons: The Americas—Asia-Pacific—Europe
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. January 2007. 67 pages
http://www.dol.gov/asp/media/reports/chartbook/chartbook_jan07.pdf
This Chartbook provides a comparative labor market perspective of employment levels, jobless rates, hours worked, labor costs, and productivity trends of all advanced and emerging economies. It is a “snapshot of where the United States stands today in relation to key economies of the rest of the world.” The purpose of the Chartbook is to assist policy and decision makers in preparing the nation’s workforce for future challenges and opportunities.
Phoning It In
FRB Richmond - Region Focus - Winter 2007 – 5 pages
http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/economic_research/region_focus/winter_2007/pdf/feature1.pdf
“Telecommuting hasn't become the commonplace work alternative its advocates anticipated. Still, the flexibility it offers has helped a significant number of companies and employees.”
Increasing Economic Security for American Workers
Committee on Ways and Means - Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support – Hearing – March 15, 2007
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=540
Witnesses:
-- 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
Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
Offshoring, Outsourcing, and Production Relocation—Labor-Market Effects in the OECD Countries and Developing Asia
The Peterson Institute - Working Paper 07-2 – April 2007 – 51 pages
www.iie.com/publications/wp/wp07-2.pdf
Data for the United States, EU-15, and Japan indicate only a limited impact of offshoring/outsourcing on employment in the three regions. Correspondingly, developing Asia is unlikely to experience large employment gains as an offshoring/outsourcing destination region. The paper highlights the Indian information technology (IT) industry, where the majority of job creation has been in local Indian companies rather than foreign multinationals.
How Effective are Existing Programs in Helping Workers Impacted by International Trade?
House – Committee on Education and Labor – Hearing - March 26, 2007
http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/fc032607.shtml
“Today the Committee will begin its examination of U.S. trade policy and how it is affecting American workers. It is true that there have been many winners from free trade. In the U.S…Yet it is becoming ever clearer that the free trade process is at a standstill… too many workers are being hurt by international outsourcing and its resulting plant shutdowns… We are going to discuss the effectiveness of federal programs that are intended to assist dislocated workers, like unemployment insurance, trade adjustment assistance, COBRA health benefits, and the health care tax credit.”
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
William Poole
Changing World Demographics and Trade Imbalances
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis – Remarks at the American European Community Association (AECA) - April 16, 2007
http://www.stlouisfed.org/news/speeches/2007/04_16_07.html
“My analysis combines demographic and economics facts with economic theory to provide some insights into the connections between demographic changes and international trade. I hope that my comments will contribute at least in some small measure to increasing international understanding, especially given the critical importance of an open international trading system to improvements in economic growth in all our countries.”
2007 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers
U.S.T.R. – Report – April 2007
http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2007/2007_NTE_Report/Section_Index.html
“The 2007 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE) is the twenty-first in an annual series that surveys significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports. The report provides, where feasible, quantitative estimates of the impact of these foreign practices on the value of U.S. exports. Information is also included on actions taken to eliminate barriers.”
Pirating the American Dream: Intellectual Property Theft’s Impact on America’s Place in the Global Economy and Strategies for Improving Enforcement
Senate, Committee on Security and International Trade and Finance – Hearing – April 12, 2007
banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=255
Statements by:
Dr. Moises Naim, Editor in Chief, Foreign Policy Magazine
Dr. Loren Yager, Director of International Affairs and Trade, Government Accountability Office
Mr. Brad Huther, Senior Advisor for Intellectual Property Enforcement, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Mr. Tim Demarais, Vice President, ABRO Industries
Daniella Markheim
Why Free Trade Works for America
The Heritage Foundation - Backgrounder #2024 - April 16, 2007
http://www.heritage.org/Research/TradeandForeignAid/bg2024.cfm
“Armed with the facts, Congress should bolster itself against "free trade fatigue" and protectionist sentiment and revitalize the drive to promote economic growth and prosperity by eliminating international trade barriers. Renewing the President's trade promotion authority to facilitate the completion of new bilateral free trade agreements, reforming and reducing the scope of the U.S. farm bill to promote a successful conclusion to the WTO Doha Development Round, and generally guarding against populist, protectionist trade policy changes would go far toward expanding economic opportunity in the U.S. and around the world.”
Carolyn C. Smith
Trade Promotion Authority and Fast-Track Negotiating Authority for Trade Agreements: Major Votes
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Updated January 31, 2007. 6 pages
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/80216.pdf
This report identifies significant legislation from 1974 forward which authorized the use of the presidential Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) known as fast-track. It also identifies significant bills and resolutions that had floor votes as well as provides a list of floor votes on implementing legislation for trade agreements from 1979 forward.
Robert Z. Lawrence
The United States and the WTO Dispute Settlement System
The Bernard and Irene Schwartz Series on American Competitiveness, Council on Foreign Relations. Web posted March 30, 2007. 51 pages
http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/WTO_CSR25.pdf
The author reflects on the effectiveness of the World Trade Organization (WTO) especially the dispute settlement system. He argues that any radical change to the system could be detrimental. However, he offers some reforms in the multilateral negotiations sector such as enhancing transparency and improving steps for multilateral negotiations.
Steven Zahniser
NAFTA at 13: Implementation Nears Completion
Outlook Report, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture - Web posted March 29, 2007 - 49 pages
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/wrs0701/wrs0701.pdf
After 13 years, implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is drawing to a close-- transitional restrictions on agriculture will be removed next year. During this implementation period, the agricultural sectors in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada have become more integrated and have grown dramatically. This report on NAFTA’s effects on U.S. agriculture covers trade data through 2005 and economic and policy developments through 2006.
J.F. Hornbeck
U.S. Trade Policy and the Caribbean: From Trade Preferences to Free Trade Agreements
Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress - April 4, 2007 - 24 pages
http://www.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33951_20070404.pdf
The U.S. has relied on unilateral trade preferences to promote export-led development in poor countries. These trade preferences provide goods, duty-free or at tariffs below normal rates to selected developing countries. Over the past thirty years, the Caribbean region has benefited from these multiple preferential trade agreements. The 110th Congress faces a number of issues that challenge the U.S. trade policies in the Caribbean region. This report discusses these challenges and the “evolution of the U.S. trade policy toward the Caribbean, focusing on the implications of moving from unilateral tariff preferences to reciprocal FTAs [Free Trade Agreements].”
MISCELLANEOUS
Lisa Barrow Cecilia Elena Rouse
The Changing Value of Education
Chicago Fed Letter – April 2007 – 6 pages
http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/fedletter/cflapril2007_237.pdf
“Why has the economic value of education stopped rising over the past ten years? The most likely explanation seems to be that the booming economy of the late 1990s helped to increase the average earnings of all workers, including those at the low end of the skills distribution.”
J.P. Wieske
Understanding the Uninsured and What to Do About Them
Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI) - 2007 – 20 pages
http://www.cahi.org/cahi_contents/resources/pdf/UnderstandingTheUninsured0307.pdf
“Every year the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of uninsured has grown — reaching 46.6 million Americans in 2005. Of course, the primary reason the number is growing is that the U.S. population is growing. However, less reported is that the percentage of the population that is uninsured has been much more stable, averaging about 15 percent for the past 15 years. Before elected officials look for solutions, they need to understand who the uninsured are and why so many people lack coverage.”
David A. Wirth
Globalization and the Environment: Why All the Fuss?
Boston College Law School Faculty Papers, Boston College Law School - February 2007 – 10 pages
http://lsr.nellco.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1190&context=bc/bclsfp
The relationship between globalization and environmental policies is not just “free trader versus self-serving protectionists.” This report sets out a structural and analytical framework for addressing some of the major issues between these two views points. The author discusses unilateral trade-based measures to protect the environment, science-based tests applied through trade agreements, foreign investment disciplines that may have a “chilling” effect on environmental issues, and the relationship between free trade agreements and multilateral environmental agreements. U.S. domestic laws including federal administrative law and federal-state relations are also examined.
