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Labor Market Policy Research Reports, January 5 – January 25, 2013CEPR and / January 25, 2013
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Testimony on Return Assumptions on New Mexico Pension PlansJanuary 23, 2013, Joint Session of the Labor and Education Committees New Mexico State Legislature
Dean Baker / January 25, 2013
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Debt to China: Budget Deficits and Trade DeficitsMuch of the concerns about the budget deficit often relates to the fact that we owe a substantial portion of the debt to China. Linking the debt to China with the budget deficit reflects a mistaken understanding of the economy. In a post for the Roosevelt Institute's Econobytes, economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research argues there is no direct tie between the size of the budget deficit and our debt to China.
The debt to China is in fact far more dependent on the trade deficit, which should be the main concern for those troubled by this debt.
There is no special importance to the fact that China’s government is buying government bonds, as opposed to any other asset.
Dean Baker / January 25, 2013
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Workers Earning More and Less than the Social Security Payroll Tax CapJanuary 25, 2013
CEPR / January 25, 2013
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State Union Membership, 2012John Schmitt, Janelle Jones and / January 25, 2013
report informe
State Union Membership, 2012CEPR, , and / January 25, 2013
report informe
Raising the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap: How Many Workers Would Pay More?John Schmitt, Janelle Jones and / January 24, 2013
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The U.S. State Department’s Uninspiring Report to CongressThe Office of the Haiti Special Coordinator under the U.S. State Department has issued a new report to the U.S. Congress as required under the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010. The new report covers the period of 180 days up to September 30 last year. While there are some noteworthy accomplishments, these are unfortunately few, and it is important to keep in mind the greater context of money raised, committed, disbursed and spent, as well as the urgent needs at hand. The report notes that of $2.35 billion committed to Haiti since 2010, only about 50 percent has actually been spent. Excluding debt relief, of the $900 million made available in the 2010 supplemental appropriations bill as part of the New York donor conference pledge, just 32.9 percent has been spent [PDF]. It’s also noteworthy that of the nearly $300 million committed in 2012, only about a third was even obligated.
Considering that some 360,000 people are still estimated to be living in IDP camps three years after the earthquake, the report of “over 900 seismic and hurricane resistant houses under construction in Caracol, Northern Haiti and in Cabaret north of Port-au-Prince” seems relatively insignificant, not to mention the figure of “227 Haitian beneficiaries…selected to receive housing” “to date.” This is even less impressive considering that the sprawling U.S. Embassy compound in Port-au-Prince “consists of 107 new [three to five bedroom] townhouse units and a new Deputy Chief of Mission residence, along with support facilities, including a recreation center with an outdoor pool and courts, for two separate compounds,” according to the architectural firm that the State Department contracted to design it.
The report similarly mentions “250 LPG commercial stoves were sold to large charcoal users (street food vendors and schools) in Port-au-Prince” and four “Haitian small- and medium-size enterprises” that “won matching grants” in a “business plan competition.”
The report is also notable for what it does not mention: cholera, for example. This is a word and topic that does not appear once in the report, despite the ongoing epidemic and despite that “Health and Other Basic Services” is “Pillar C” of USAID’s “Haiti Rebuilding and Development Strategy.” Pillar C is allotted three paragraphs of the report; cholera is arguably Haiti’s most urgent humanitarian crisis, killing more people every day.
Jake Johnston / January 24, 2013
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Latin America and the Caribbean
Jamaica and the IMF: How Not to Learn From Past MistakesJake Johnston / January 24, 2013
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Latin America and the Caribbean
The Man Who Ousted the President is Now Running for PresidentCEPR and / January 24, 2013
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What Does an $850 Million Loss in Annual Tax Revenue Mean to Kansas?Dean Baker / January 24, 2013
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Republicans Want to "CUT" Social Security and Medicare not "Change" ThemDean Baker / January 24, 2013
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The Real Reason for the Decline of American UnionsKris Warner
Echoes (Bloomberg View), January 23, 2013
CEPR and / January 23, 2013
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Japan’s Fiscal Stimulus: Yes, There Is Such a Thing as a Free LunchMark Weisbrot / January 22, 2013
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Aaron Swartz, Financial Fraud, and the Justice DepartmentDean Baker
Truthout, January 21, 2013
Dean Baker / January 22, 2013
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Four More Years of 'It Could Have Been Worse'Dean Baker
Al Jazeera English, January 22, 2013
Dean Baker / January 22, 2013