The liberal magazine The Nation has come out with a policy prescription that, they claim, would lead to the creation of 18 million jobs by 2012.
The article, written by Robert Pollin, notes, "This can be done by combining two broad types of initiatives: measures to buttress the economy's floor and thereby prevent another 2008-type collapse, and measures to inject job-generating investments into the economy. If such initiatives are successful, the official unemployment rate will stand at around 4 percent when Obama runs for re-election in November 2012."
The article argues that 200 billion dollars is needed right now to create more jobs.
Here is a video from The Nation on their analysis:
The focus of this video is on the creation of green jobs. Here is one of Pollin's publications on the viability of green jobs.
Here is the full report from The Nation: 18 Million Jobs by 2012
We will be sure to analyze this huge report in a little bit more detail in upcoming posts/analysis.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Senate Moves Foward to Debate Jobs Bill
Today the Senate voted (62-30) to get a 15 billion dollar job creation bill on to the floor of the Senate for debate.
Republican Senators Scott Brown (MA), Susan Collins (ME), Olympia Snowe (ME), George F. Voinovich (OH) and Christopher Bond (MO) all voted for the measure, creating somewhat of a bipartisan coalition.
Senator Barbra Boxer of California noted, "Today, jobs triumphed over politics."
In addition to a payroll tax exemption, the bill extends tax breaks to small businesses that originated from the stimulus.
Is this the beginning of bipartisan action on jobs policy?
The short answer: no.
Even for a minuscule job creation bill that includes mostly tax cuts for small businesses only garnered five Republican votes. After this vote, conservative pundits/potential 2010 Republican candidates (Rush Limbaugh, Marco Rubio etc..) are likely to scold the Republicans who voted for the measure.
Republican Senators Scott Brown (MA), Susan Collins (ME), Olympia Snowe (ME), George F. Voinovich (OH) and Christopher Bond (MO) all voted for the measure, creating somewhat of a bipartisan coalition.
Senator Barbra Boxer of California noted, "Today, jobs triumphed over politics."
In addition to a payroll tax exemption, the bill extends tax breaks to small businesses that originated from the stimulus.
Is this the beginning of bipartisan action on jobs policy?
The short answer: no.
Even for a minuscule job creation bill that includes mostly tax cuts for small businesses only garnered five Republican votes. After this vote, conservative pundits/potential 2010 Republican candidates (Rush Limbaugh, Marco Rubio etc..) are likely to scold the Republicans who voted for the measure.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
One Year After the Stimulus: Its Effect on the Job Market.
Today was the one year anniversary of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which allocated 787 billion dollars for infrastructure and tax cuts.
Today, the White House argued that the Stimulus created 2 million new jobs and kept the United Sates from falling into another depression.
Here is an video of President Obama discussing the impact of the stimulus in more detail:
Obama uses stories of small businesses that have been able to add jobs because of the Recovery Act in developing his argument. He also acknowledges that the current "recovery" doesn't feel like much of a recovery because unemployment still remains at 9.7%.
In a later segment, we will examine, in depth, where our money would be best utilized in creating new jobs.
Stay tuned!
Today, the White House argued that the Stimulus created 2 million new jobs and kept the United Sates from falling into another depression.
Here is an video of President Obama discussing the impact of the stimulus in more detail:
Obama uses stories of small businesses that have been able to add jobs because of the Recovery Act in developing his argument. He also acknowledges that the current "recovery" doesn't feel like much of a recovery because unemployment still remains at 9.7%.
In a later segment, we will examine, in depth, where our money would be best utilized in creating new jobs.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Bipartisan Jobs Bill Scrapped
Last Thursday, the Senate revealed its bipartisan, $85 billion jobs bill that has taken weeks of negotiation to draft, primarily through the efforts of Senators Max Baucus (D Montana) and Chuck Grassley (R Iowa). However, majority leader Harry Reid scrapped the bill just hours later and replaced it with a much smaller $15 billion version that includes watered-down tax credits and small business assistance. Reid plans to unveil a series of similar small measures to help job creation and unemployment. He hopes his strategy will “force Republicans to take a series of tough votes against generally popular measures like the tax cuts, extension of unemployment and health benefits, and popular business tax credits originally included in Baucus and Grassley's plan."
Source: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1964397,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0fjMV67p8
Additionally, Reid hopes to banish unrelated provisions from his new bills; the original jobs bill included disaster relief for several states and an extension of the Patriot Act. The unrelated provisions were considered by many to be essential in gaining the support of influential Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee.
Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/11/business/la-fi-obama-economy12-2010feb12
Stay tuned for more info on jobs and commentary on Reid's efforts in the Senate!
Source: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1964397,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0fjMV67p8
Additionally, Reid hopes to banish unrelated provisions from his new bills; the original jobs bill included disaster relief for several states and an extension of the Patriot Act. The unrelated provisions were considered by many to be essential in gaining the support of influential Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee.
Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/11/business/la-fi-obama-economy12-2010feb12
Stay tuned for more info on jobs and commentary on Reid's efforts in the Senate!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Obama open to 'incremental steps' on job growth
A recent CNN article highlights the ongoing struggle in Washingtion right now, over what is the best way to reduce unemployment in the United States. This morning President Obama sat down with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, to discuss the possibility of breaking down the log jam in Washington and working together in the future on a jobs bill.
In the article , the President noted that he is confident "we should be able to come together" on a job-creation measure.
To boil things down, here are some of the proposals being debated in Washington right now:
1) President Obama would like to give 30 billion in TARP money to banks to boost small buisness lending as well as providing firms with a 5,000 dollar tax credit for each addition to their payroll.
2) A bill promoted by Charles Schumer (D - NY) and Orrin Hatch (R - Utah) would reward employers who hire a worker who has been unemployed for at least 60 days. They would be relivied of the social security payroll tax for that employee for the rest of 2010. Employers who keep that worker for more then a year would receive a 1,000 dollar tax credit in 2011.
3) A 85 billion dollar measure being considered in the Senate that would do three things a) extend a tax credit to employers who hire b) increase spending on infrastructure and c) extend unemployment benefits. Though unrelated to job creation, it is worth noting that this bill includes provisions to reauthorize the PATRIOT ACT. The wording for this provision can be found here, on page 125 section 645.
There are a lot of ideas being thrown around right now, and a lot of partisan divide. For the most part, Republicans would rather see more tax cuts, especially for small businesses, while Democrats support increased spending on infrastructure to promote job growth.
Stay tuned for our upcoming video, in which we will examine the most effective methods of jump starting job growth.
In the article , the President noted that he is confident "we should be able to come together" on a job-creation measure.
To boil things down, here are some of the proposals being debated in Washington right now:
1) President Obama would like to give 30 billion in TARP money to banks to boost small buisness lending as well as providing firms with a 5,000 dollar tax credit for each addition to their payroll.
2) A bill promoted by Charles Schumer (D - NY) and Orrin Hatch (R - Utah) would reward employers who hire a worker who has been unemployed for at least 60 days. They would be relivied of the social security payroll tax for that employee for the rest of 2010. Employers who keep that worker for more then a year would receive a 1,000 dollar tax credit in 2011.
3) A 85 billion dollar measure being considered in the Senate that would do three things a) extend a tax credit to employers who hire b) increase spending on infrastructure and c) extend unemployment benefits. Though unrelated to job creation, it is worth noting that this bill includes provisions to reauthorize the PATRIOT ACT. The wording for this provision can be found here, on page 125 section 645.
There are a lot of ideas being thrown around right now, and a lot of partisan divide. For the most part, Republicans would rather see more tax cuts, especially for small businesses, while Democrats support increased spending on infrastructure to promote job growth.
Stay tuned for our upcoming video, in which we will examine the most effective methods of jump starting job growth.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Reminder: The Recession Started with Bush
President Obama ran for election knowing he would have to address--and attempt to fix--the problems that began to surface under the Bush administration. But correcting the ills of the Bush legacy is not easy task, and the end of public outrage seems nowhere in sight.
This graph, however, illustrates that job loss has been on the decline--granted, it's from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Pelosi Office, so take it with a grain of salt!
It was also the "Chart of the Day" on The Business Insider website.
A Jobless Recovery? 20,000 Jobs lost in January
Today new statictics were published by the Government that showed that the U.S. lost 20,000 jobs in January despite economic growth of 5.7% at the end of last year. As the article mentions, this has huge policy implications. This new data will generate media discussion, resulting in a stronger push by the public to get jobs on the agenda in Washington. As the article notes, "The January data will increase the pressure on the Sentate to pass a jobs bill."
In what could be considered a small sliver of hope, the actual unemployment rate in the U.S decreased from 10% to 9.7%. Even though this decrease is miniscuel, and possibly due to discrepancies in data, it does indicate that unemployment is no longer rising.
The article also explores some of the specific policy proposals by the Obama administration, we will surley examine those specific aspects of any bill in the coming weeks.
Source: Economist
Finally, here is a interesting metric to follow in regards to the job market:
This Gallup feature should illustrate the extremely broad trends that are occuring in the job market today. It gives us a inside look at the dynamics of the employment trends through the perspecitve of an objectively polled employee.
Source: Gallup U.S. Job Market
In what could be considered a small sliver of hope, the actual unemployment rate in the U.S decreased from 10% to 9.7%. Even though this decrease is miniscuel, and possibly due to discrepancies in data, it does indicate that unemployment is no longer rising.
The article also explores some of the specific policy proposals by the Obama administration, we will surley examine those specific aspects of any bill in the coming weeks.
Source: Economist
Finally, here is a interesting metric to follow in regards to the job market:
This Gallup feature should illustrate the extremely broad trends that are occuring in the job market today. It gives us a inside look at the dynamics of the employment trends through the perspecitve of an objectively polled employee.
Source: Gallup U.S. Job Market
Job Creation Nation's first video, featuring commentary by analyst Sunil Damle.
http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15409505
http://forecasts.org/unemploy.htm
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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