AFSCME Information Highway

Source: John Irons, Economic Policy Institute, Briefing Paper #217, April 29, 2008

The Agenda for Shared Prosperity's central aim is to articulate policy options that will spur growth, reduce economic insecurity, and provide broadly shared prosperity. A central component of achieving individual economic opportunity is ensuring that the economy is growing at a solid pace--both by smoothing the short-term dips and by promoting investments for long-term growth.

Public investments in the nation's infrastructure, which lay the foundation for long-term growth, have been insufficient in recent years. Visible catastrophic failures are evident in the breach of the levies in New Orleans, the collapse of a major bridge in Minneapolis, and power blackouts that flowed from the Mid-West to New York City. Less visible failures are evident in the slow seepage of sewers into our waterways and in the slow deployment of broadband Internet access.

In a time of economic weakness, public investments in the nation's infrastructure can provide short-term stimulus and build the foundation for long-term economic growth. Federal investments in infrastructure, including transportation, school buildings, and information networks, are required to address critical national needs and to create jobs and spur the economy.

Posted by Info Center at 3:05 PM in Economy | Infrastructure | Infrastructure (Economics) | Permalink

Source: U.S House of Representatives, Joint Economic Committee (Republicans), January 2008

This paper investigates the value of employment data as real-time recession indicators. Among popular monthly labor measures, the unemployment rate is the most useful as an indicator of recession, whereas two top measures of employment growth -payroll jobs and civilian employment -have little value. Two other series, the labor force participation rate and the employment-population ratio, also provide little or no value in anticipating a recession. The best pre-recession employment indicator is actually weekly claims for unemployment insurance (UI). The paper reviews a new technique for predicting recessions, and develops an employment recession probability index. The index indicates a 35.5 percent chance that the U.S. economy is in recession, sharply up from 10 percent last month.

Posted by Info Center at 5:35 PM in Economy | Infrastructure (Economics) | Unemployment | Permalink

Source: Elaine Maag, David Merriman, Urban Institute, January 30, 2008

Every state except Vermont operates under some sort of balanced budget requirement. That means that to serve the increased need of distressed populations during recessions, states must either increase revenue or reallocate resources dedicated to other programs. Similarly, when revenue declines, states must raise taxes or reallocate resources. This report examines the extent to which rainy day and general fund savings were a significant factor in helping states cope with fiscal stress during and after the 2001 recession, a possible explanation for the lower than expected legislated tax increases and social welfare cuts.

Posted by Info Center at 10:37 AM in Economy | Infrastructure (Economics) | State & Local Finance | Taxation | Permalink

Source: Eileen Appelbaum, Dean Baker And John Schmitt, Center for Economic and Policy Research/Center for Women and Work, January 2008

From press release:
An aggressive stimulus package is needed immediately to address the current weakness of the US economy, according to the latest report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University.

The Need For An Economic Stimulus Package, by economists Eileen Appelbaum, Dean Baker and John Schmitt, stresses the necessity for an immediate stimulus package equal to 1% of GDP to counteract the negative effects of the collapse of the housing bubble.

Several economic indicators point to a softening of the US economy. From the recent 0.3 percentage point rise in unemployment (a jump rarely seen outside of a recession), to a decline in consumption, the US economy is clearly in a down turn, if not entering a recession, spurred by the collapse of the housing market and the loss of trillions of dollars of wealth.

Posted by Info Center at 2:56 PM in Economy | Infrastructure (Economics) | Permalink

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, Press Release, BEA 07-45, September 26, 2007

Today, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released experimental measures of economic output produced in the Nation's metropolitan areas. GDP by metropolitan area is the measure of the market value of final goods and services produced within a metropolitan area in a particular period of time. GDP is BEA's preferred and most comprehensive measure of economic activity. Metropolitan (statistical) areas, defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, are standardized county-based areas having at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core, as measured by commuting ties.
See also:
•Real GDP by Metropolitan Area, 2001-2005 tables
•Highlights

Posted by Info Center at 11:03 AM in Infrastructure (Economics) | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Brookings Institution, Hamilton Project Roundtable, September 26, 2007

In recent months, problems with subprime mortgages have spilled over to the housing sector and financial markets more generally. These events have created widespread concerns about the hardships facing homeowners and potential risks to the overall economy. They have also raised near-term questions about how to best address economic risk, and provoked longer-term questions about the adequacy of current regulations and consumer protections.

On September 26th, The Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution will convene a roundtable discussion with experts to help frame the challenges currently facing housing and the financial markets- where we are, what it means for the U.S. economy, possible next steps for recovery, and ways to minimize future problems.

Posted by Info Center at 12:54 PM in Infrastructure (Economics) | Middle Class | Permalink