When families and employers fall on hard financial times, they must make tough decisions. It’s time for Washington to follow suit.
When we borrow money and don’t pay it back, we pay interest on our interest, a practice called negative amortization. The federal government engages in negative amortization every singe day.
The president’s budget expands the government at the expense of American workers, families, and businesses.
The impact on U.S. markets from international events make it clear that we live in a global marketplace.
The outlook for the economy is solid but not spectacular. We are still not growing fast enough, and both businesses and households will have to adjust to higher taxes and the prospect of further uncertainty.
The deal passed by Congress fails to get us any closer to controlling our elevated levels of debt and historically large deficits.
Recent growth in the housing market has played a central role in the broader economic recovery. Expect residential investment to continue its rebound through 2013.
Is the most recent round of quantitative easing by the Fed the right prescription for growth and jobs?
The labor market participation rate is the lowest in 31 years.
To see sustained improvements in the labor market, the pace of economic growth must accelerate.
We must get spending under control and get the economy growing strongly again. Increased spending, especially entitlement spending, is the primary culprit in our fiscal mess and should bear the brunt of the solution.
The U.S. economy is facing a virtual fiscal cliff of tax increases, automatic spending cuts, and an impending breach of the debt ceiling that, if mishandled, could return this sputtering economy into an economic free fall.
Reforming only the corporate side of the code without addressing individual tax rates is “like putting sunscreen on half of your face and letting the other side burn.”
The facts behind the jobs numbers, income inequality, and who pays taxes.
More and more people are removing themselves from the workforce because they are discouraged over their inability to find work.
While the GDP numbers improved throughout last year and ended with the fourth quarter growing at 2.8% annual rate, the year as a whole could manage just 1.7% growth, well below the prior year’s 3.0%.
As we put 2011 behind us and embark on a new year, the question on everyone’s mind is, What will the pace of growth look like in 2012? Will it proceed at a brisk pace as it did in 2010 when the economy came back to life following the recession and grew 3.0% over the year? Or will growth more closely resemble the pace in 2011?
Leaders in Washington must work together to remove impediments to growth and job creation.
While the top-line number is weaker than some had expected, the underlining employment data indicates the economy is gradually improving and not slipping into a double-dip recession. But once again, growth isn't fast enough to create significant headway to put people back to work. Job creation
The jobs report this month provides a bit of good news but it’s kind-of like pulling a tie out of a game you thought you were losing. While the numbers indicate a much lower probability of a double dip, they continue to show an economy that isn’t growing fast enough to create enough jobs to driv
The Bureau for Labor Statistics announced today that zero net new jobs were created in August, the prior two months were revised down by 58,000 jobs, and both earnings and the average workweek fell.
These abysmally weak jobs numbers today demonstrate just how desperate this economy is for real pr
Focus on Growth
Recently many reporters have pointed out the slow growth in jobs and labeled it an anomaly. Actually, the anomaly is not job growth but rather weak economic growth. The relationship between job growth and economic growth has been relatively stable for decades. Thus focusing on
With positive revisions to the last couple of months and underlying numbers on the workweek and earnings a bit stronger than anticipated, these numbers suggest that while we are not out of the woods, we are not already in a recession.
Make no mistake, the economy is still very weak, but it appear
Revisions to the GDP report over the past 3 years paint a significantly worse picture with a deeper recession and a more anemic recovery than originally thought. The recovery is clearly on a lower trajectory and it will likely be some time before the economy rebounds to the point it will create mu
Today’s jobs report is deeply disappointing—only 18,000 jobs created in June, downward revisions in the numbers from the previous two months, and an uptick in the unemployment rate to 9.2%.
These abysmal numbers underscore the fact that current economic policies are not working. We urgently need
The excitement over April’s jobs report was tempered a bit this morning when the Labor Department reported only 54,000 new jobs were created in May. We don’t want to make too much out of one data point, but this is a clear indication that the economy has hit a slow patch.
It’s clear that the econ
Feeling glum on this Tax Day thinking about how much of your income last year went to Uncle Sam? Here’s an even gloomier thought: if the president has his way, successful small businesses and individuals that save and invest will see their tax bill go up by almost $1 trillion over the next decade.
The USA Today has released their list of "Top economists, based on last year's forecasts, and their predictions for 2009." The U.S. Chamber's Dr. Martin Regalia made the list, coming in at number 10. If you like predictions, you can watch Dr. Regalia's "Short Term Economic Outlook" from a few week
A confederacy of intellects takes a look at this Paul Krugman piece. Here is Marty Regalia's piece:
It isn’t often that I agree with Paul Krugman, but I find myself in general agreement with his recent article on stimulus and the deficit. In these unusual times, a significant stimulus package is n
As mentioned last night, Dr. Martin Regalia was on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning:Regalia talked about the business community response to the House vote on the financial markets bill, and what impact the bill's failure may have on the business community. The Chamber of Commerce lobbied ex
In the Dear44 series today Dr. Marty Regalia explains corporate taxes. In case you missed it, read his debunking of the GAO report and his thoughts on what effective policies for our economic future might look like.
The Dear44 column is a continuation on these themes, so check it out. And also s
Kevin posted on this Wall Street Journal article earlier, but there is another section I believe is worth noting:The export boom doesn't always translate into more jobs at local plants. The businesses that thrive in competitive global markets tend to be the most efficient and rely on productivity-i
Once again, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued its report on corporate tax liabilities (Comparison of the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign- and U.S.-Controlled Corporations, 1998-2005, GAO-08-957). And once again, its data has been twisted and misinterpreted by those seeking t
Yesterday the Department of the Treasury released two papers on the anniversary the 2003 tax relief (h/t TaxProf). The papers are here, some key findings (from the release):
In "Topics Related to the President's Tax Relief," Treasury analyzes how the 2001 and 2003 tax relief, along with other tax
