Americans’ confidence in the economy is sitting at its lowest point since March 2009, and in every state in the country, a vast majority of Americans see the economy as getting worse. Meanwhile, the number of people claiming new jobless benefits rose again last week. Under those circumstances, it’s no wonder the …
Correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation, but some disturbing correlations are evident in the nation’s economic woes. Take Illinois. If you take a look at the chart below, you can see a startling picture. In Illinois, employment numbers increased steadily until January 2011, at which point they took a sharp dip …
Contrary to tradition, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today released its mid-year assessment of the budget and economic situation. Traditionally, CBO releases its mid-year assessment after the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) releases its statutorily required Mid-Session Review (MSR). The law requires the MSR to be produced …
Yesterday, the White House announced that President Obama would once again be giving a “major jobs speech” in September after his Martha’s Vineyard vacation. If spending three years delivering identical speeches created jobs, President Obama would be taking credit for 4% unemployment today. Alas, they do not. In fact, President …
America’s bleak jobs picture would be even worse if not for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the U.S. economy. FDI in U.S. factories and property offers firms a source of new technologies, capital, products, and organizational skills, and it fuels economic growth. Most importantly, FDI creates jobs. According to the …
It’s being billed as a listening tour—a three-state journey across the Midwest where President Barack Obama will hear directly from Americans about the economy and talk about his ideas for job growth. Instead, though, it has the characteristics of a political campaign swing, and the rhetoric the President has brought along for …
In the 1993 comedy Dave, a small-town presidential impersonator is called on to pretend to be the actual President of the United States when the commander in chief takes ill. Dave steps into the White House, takes his new role too far, and with wide-eyed innocence promises America, “I’m initiating …
