Latest Economic and Trade Policy Posts

Brief #106—Economics
By Rosalind Gottfried
State and local government budgets provide the bread and butter of fiscal life and, because of the pandemic costs, require a federal infusion of aid to accomplish maintenance of essential services.  State and local governments provide major funding for infrastructure, services, and education.  They outspend the federal government on goods and services and account for 15% of the GDP.  They contribute more than 90% of the moneys for education and 80% of transportation spending.  State Medicaid costs have been on the rise, especially in Republican states that did not take advantage of federal extensions of benefits to states. State and local entities employ more people than domestic manufacturing and and  have lost 1.3 million jobs since March, representing the smallest workforce since 2001.  These are budgetary elements which impact the availability of goods and services which contribute to quality of life, such as police, fire, and waste services. 

Brief #104—Economic
By Rosalind Gottfried
President elect Joe Biden’s 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus plan provides a comprehensive assault on what ails America and reinstates some of the controversial elements rejected by Republicans in the $900 billion December plan.  Most notable is a reinstatement of 350 billion dollars to bolster state and local budgets suffering shortfalls largely attributable to the pandemic crisis.  It also includes 400 billion dollars of pandemic aid to vaccinate Americans and open schools.  Biden set a goal to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. 

Brief #103—Economic Policy
By Linda F. Hersey
Whether it is culture, policy or innovation, the nation’s most populous state has long been a frontier for change and a reliable predictor of trends for the rest of the U.S. and around the globe.

Brief #102—Economics
By Rosalind Gottfried
A sustained disparity in the goals of Congressional Democrats and Republicans has ended in a compromise bill which leaves many Americans still vulnerable to the effects of the corona virus economy while providing a stopgap measure to avoid the worst case scenario.

Brief #101—Economics
By Rosalind Gottfried
The pandemic has exacerbated troubling trends in higher education.  College enrollment fell by 11% from 2011-2019.

Brief #100—Economic Policy
By Rosalind Gottfried
As winter recess approaches the Congress remains at an impasse regarding a new stimulus package which is likely to fall by the wayside as it turns its attention to passing legislation to avert a December 11th federal shutdown.

Brief #99—Economics
By Rosalind Gottfried
The term minimum wage actually refers to several different things.  There is the federal minimum wage which is the lowest wage that employers can pay their workers unless they are in an exempt category of tipped workers.

Brief #98—Economic Policy
By Rosalind Gottfried
The inability of  Congress to reach an agreement on a second stimulus package has impacted both the rate of disease and the economic recovery in the country.

Brief #97—Economics
By Rosalind Gottfried
There are several ways in which older Americans will be impacted as a consequence of the Covid epidemic.