The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy added 115,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate declined to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent. However, further declines in the percentage of Americans in the labor force explain this slightly lower unemployment rate. Indeed, the labor force participation rate dipped…
Testimony Before the Committee on Finance United States Senate Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Hatch,…
Abstract: Japan’s “lost decade” has turned into two; and Japan is not alone. Staggering amounts of public debt and stagnant economies have become a problem from the EU to the U.S. Despite twenty years of evidence to the contrary, the belief persists that deficit…
Abstract: America needs jobs. A government committed to free enterprise, limited government, and individual freedom, and not to more borrowing and spending, can properly help. To help unleash the private sector to invest and create jobs, Congress should promptly take five specific actions: enact…
From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. …
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy created 80,000 total jobs in October, and the unemployment rate had a slight decline to 9 percent. The private sector added 104,000 jobs, while government jobs fell by 24,000. The labor market is adding jobs and holding steady but not…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September employment report finds a stalled labor market. The unemployment rate remained flat at 9.1 percent. After accounting for the end of the Verizon strike, private-sector employers created a net 92,000 new jobs. While government employment fell by 34,000 jobs, government employees continue to enjoy…
The August jobs report showing exactly zero net job creation and an unemployment rate hovering above 9 percent have reinforced the imperative among Washington policymakers to focus on job creation policies in the waning months of 2011. The focus is certainly right, but most of the policies under consideration would…
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Congress wants to help the unemployed, but extending the duration of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits slightly harms the economy. Raising benefits to 99 weeks has increased the unemployment rate by 0.5 to 1.5 percentage points.[1] …
As is apparent from President Obama’s declining approval ratings, the majority of Americans have lost confidence in the ability of Washington’s leadership to get the economy moving again. More to the point, many now recognize that the $814 billion in spending authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)…
Abstract: Despite decades of repeated failure, President Obama and Congress continue to promote the myth that government can spend its way out of recession. Heritage Foundation economic policy expert Brian Riedl dispels the stimulus myth, lays out the evidence that government spending does not end recessions--and…
Revised and updated July 06, 2011. Washington’s reckless spending spree of the past several years and unwillingness to confront the mountains of debt coming soon from unreformed federal entitlement programs threaten the economic and social…
Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) provides substantial government benefits to American workers who lose their jobs because of foreign trade. The 2009 stimulus bill expanded TAA coverage and increased TAA benefits. However, very few workers lose their jobs because of foreign trade, and the Department of Labor’s Dislocated Workers Program already…
The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) published a report on the economic effects of the Administration’s economic stimulus plan.[1] The report claims that the stimulus legislation boosted gross domestic product (GDP) and employment above what they otherwise would have been. That is, the real results…
Still Losing Jobs …
Judging by the accounts published to date, the “jobs” plan President Obama proposes Thursday night will likely include the typical set of infrastructure spending, school construction, aid for teachers, unemployment benefits, “targeted” tax breaks, and the like.[1] In other words, the President will call for more of the…
On June 28, Senator Max Baucus (D–MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, announced that he would hold a “mock” mark up of the South Korea, Colombia, and Panama free trade agreements (FTAs). Unfortunately, the legislation authorizing the South Korea FTA includes a reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)…
When President Obama visits Ireland on May 23–24, he is expected to visit Moneygall in County Offaly, the ancestral home of his mother’s family. While finding Irish ancestors is a favorite electoral sport of American leaders, the President would be better advised to spend his time studying the Irish financial…
Every day, America waits for a brighter future to arrive -- the promise of change that President Barack Obama made in...…
A financially troubled green energy company has seen its stock prices plummet to below a dollar per share (UPDATE: see...…
When insurance giant AIG paid lucrative bonuses to top executives after receiving federal support, President Obama...…
The Energy Department has yet to comply with a congressional request for information on a stimulus-backed company under...…
New research suggests that legislators should cut spending and enact growth-inducing policies. The reasoning?...…
Do bank robbers stimulate economic growth? If you employ the logic used by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory...…
A little over three years ago, President Barack Obama's advisers released a chart that purported to predict the future....…
The final part of a three-part series. As Scribe noted in part two of our series on Ecotality, a company spokeswoman...…
Part two of a three-part series. Ecotality “is a great example of the stimulus act doing what it was supposed to do,”...…
Part one of a three-part series. Scribe has obtained a copy of a Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena sent to...…
Director, Center for Data Analysis and Lazof Family Fellow
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy
Assistant Director, Center for Data Analysis and Research Fellow
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions
Grover M. Hermann Senior Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs