On March 14, the National Bureau of Economic Research published a working paper that reviewed two options for creating jobs: subsidies to employers to hire workers, and subsidies to the unemployed to find work.
Also on March 14, the Center for American Progress published a study on the origins and evolution of progressive economics.
On March 10, the Federal Reserve released the latest edition of its quarterly flow of funds report. It shows that the net worth of households rose by more than $2 trillion in the 4th quarter of 2010.
Also on March 10, the International Monetary Fund published a working paper which finds that the impact of fiscal stimulus is severely limited by openness to trade, flexible exchange rates, and heavy indebtedness.
A March 9 commentary by Moody’s Analytics concluded that the Recovery Act had approximately the impact on reducing unemployment that the Obama administration expected it to have. The problem is that the recession was deeper than expected.
In a March 9 commentary, University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan complains that too much emphasis has been placed on stimulating consumer spending and not enough on stimulating investment spending.
In a March 9 blog post, George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen listed 10 common errors committed by right-wing/market-oriented economists.
On March 9, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on whether federal workers are overpaid.
That same day, the committee also held a hearing on the impact of government regulation on U.S. manufacturers.
On March 8, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a report on women in the economy. That same day, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a study which found that women do more unpaid work than men in every country studied.
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. 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, Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).