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Article Artículo

Economic Growth

Government

Labor Market Policy Research Reports, February 2 – 8, 2013

Here are the latest labor market policy research reports from the past week:


Center for American Progress

Inclusive Economic Growth: Increasing Connectivity, Expanding Opportunity, and Reducing Vulnerability
John Podesta

Our Working Nation in 2013
Heather Boushey, Ann O'Leary, and Sarah Jane Glynn


Center for Economic and Policy Research

Reduced Work Hours as a Means of Slowing Climate Change
David Rosnick


Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Introduction to Unemployment Insurance
Chad Stone and William Chen

Testimony of Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow, Before the House Education and Workforce Committee
Jared Bernstein

CEPR and Will Kimball / February 08, 2013

Article Artículo

Latin America and the Caribbean

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Implicated in Corruption Investigation

A front-page article in the print edition of today’s Washington Post details how New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez twice approached federal health-care officials about Dr. Solomon Melgen’s outstanding $8.9 million debt to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which the doctor claims was the result of being overbilled. Melgen, personally and through his ophthalmology company, has made major contributions to Menendez’s political campaigns.

This is the latest news to follow reports that on Wednesday, January 30, the FBI raided Melgen’s offices, soon after which the senator’s office described the doctor as “a friend and political supporter of Senator Menendez for many years.” Two days later, following John Kerry’s resignation from his seat as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to become Secretary of State, Menendez took over the position, one of the most powerful and prestigious in Congress.

Menendez, who is Cuban American, has taken a hard line against easing travel restrictions to Cuba and has been described as “fiercely pro-embargo.” The New Jersey Democrat has also worked closely with lawmakers across the aisle on policy towards Iran, including his co-authorship of sanctions legislation with Republican Senator Mark Kirk last year.

Early reports of the FBI’s search focused on allegations that in 2010 Senator Menendez accepted free flights to the Dominican Republic from Dr. Solomon Melgen and had sex with prostitutes during these trips, a claim he has vehemently denied. It was also noted that Menendez is not married, and that prostitution is legal in the Caribbean nation. The Senate Ethics Committee is investigating the senator, who in January of this year wrote a $58,000 personal check to reimburse Melgen for two trips.

CEPR and Arthur Phillips / February 07, 2013

Article Artículo

When Did CBO Stop Being Wrong About the Economy: Robert Samuelson Edition

Robert Samuelson is looking at the latest projections for the budget and the economy from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and struggling with their implications for the deficit. He presents the three reasons that CBO gives for reducing the debt from the projected levels:

1) fear of financial crises;

2) crowding out of investment;

3) we may need to borrow more in the future to cover the costs of a war or natural disaster.

It's worth briefly addressing these concerns, but first we need to note that CBO's track record on the economy in recent years has been nothing short of abysmal. If you want some cheap fun, take a look at CBO's projections for the economy from Janaury of 2008 (Table E-1). Get a load of that 4.8 percent unemployment rate that we are supposed be enjoying right now following three years in which GDP growth averaged 3.3 percent (and that's with no recession in 2008-2009).

CBO's predictive ability had not improved much a year later when the economy was in the middle of the free fall following the collapse of Lehman. Its projections from March of 2009 hugely underestimated the severity of the downturn and projected that the economy would have largely bounced back to full employment by the end of 2011, even if there was no stimulus from the government or extraordinary measures taken by the Federal Reserve Board.

These projections were about as wrong as they could possibly be. We would have done every bit as well finding a drunk person on the street and asking him for his economic forecasts for the next five years.

Dean Baker / February 07, 2013