After dreadfully low growth in the last quarter of 2012—just 0.4 percent—gross domestic product (GDP) returned to a healthier rate of growth of 2.5 percent in the first three months of 2013. The autumn’s drop in private inventories was reversed as companies stockpiled more goods in anticipation of future consumer …
Congressman Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) budget outline calls for federal employees to contribute more to their pensions, but the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is none too happy about it. In noting that total federal employee compensation is currently excessive, Ryan is on solid empirical ground. But instead of trying …
The polling firm Rasmussen offers some interesting data on the work effort of government employees compared to private-sector workers. In five separate surveys this past year, Rasmussen asked a representative sample of American adults, “Who works harder?” The choices were government workers, private-sector employees, and “not sure.” The table below …
Federal employees—who work on average a month less than private-sector workers and get paid more—are lobbying for higher pay. Government unions know that Congress is looking for ways to nip and tuck the federal budget, and they’re counting on being left out of the deal. “The Federal-Postal Coalition—a group representing …
A new Heritage Foundation study shows that government employees work around three hours less per week and roughly one month less per year than private-sector workers. Substantial differences in work time persist even after controlling for occupational and skill differences between sectors. The “underworked” government employee should obviously be of …
By her own admission, U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius committed a clear violation of the Hatch Act when she traveled to North Carolina—at taxpayer expense—and gave a speech to an organization that represents gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals. In that speech, she urged the attendees …
“Unthinkable and intolerable.” So President Franklin Delano Roosevelt considered strikes by government employees. Karen Lewis, the president of the Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU), has a different view. She called a strike to block Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s (D) education reforms. Chicago Public Schools have a 40 percent dropout rate. Emanuel considers …
