On August 19, the Congressional Budget Office released its mid-session budget review. CBO director Doug Elmendorf summarizes the results in an August 19 blog post. Economist Diane Rogers also commented.
On August 18, PIMCO’s Bob Greer posted a commentary discussing NAIRU (the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment). He believes that this rate has risen due to an increase in structural unemployment—unemployment that will still remain even after economic growth returns to normal.
In an August 17 post, NYU economist William Easterly is critical of the argument that China has anything useful to tell the U.S. about how to increase economic growth.
On August 12, Gallup released a new poll on the popularity of labor unions. Although their approval has gone up slightly, it remains far below historical levels. This mainly result from the decline in private sector unions and the perception that unionized government workers are a prime cause of state and local government budget problems.
An August 11 report from the International Labor Organization examined the growing worldwide problem of youth unemployment.
On August 8, former National Economic Council director Keith Hennessey posted an excellent description of the roles and interactions among the White House economic agencies.
On August 6, Gallup published data on the distribution of federal workers.
An August 5 study from the Small Business Administration found that those exposed to self-employment early in their careers were more likely to be self-employed later.
An August 3 staff report from the Joint Economic Committee of Congress argued that manufacturing growth is a bright spot in the economic picture.
In August, a group of international trade economists submitted a report to the American Economic Association on the quality of U.S. trade statistics. They believe that modest funding increases would greatly improve the quality of such data for research and policy analysis.
On July 22 the United Nations released its World Investment Report for 2010. It provides extensive data on foreign direct investment worldwide.
A NBER working paper from July examined the nature of financial risk. It finds that a high degree of risk is inherent in the financial system because one of its key purposes is to transform illiquid assets into liquid assets.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Read his most recent column here. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).
