Nothing seems to frustrate the White House and the Republican leadership more than their abysmal poll numbers on the economy at a time of booming GDP and a resurgent job market. It is, they claim, all about the war. But as I wrote in the "Bush League Economy," the issue for the President and the […]
Category: Economy
I tend to agree with Kevin Drum over at the Washington Monthly that the Dubai port deal is not necessarily the grave and gathering security risk its opponents decry. (The shocking political tone-deafness is another matter altogether.) But it certainly smells bad, in no small part because of the cronyism and close ties the Bush […]
Larry Summers may be out at Harvard, but it appears Perrspectives is in. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my recent piece, "GM and the War on Labor," was on the required reading list for Economics 1812, a class on the U.S. labor market. The class, not surprisingly called "The U.S. Labor Market," also […]
Faced with negative polls and a pessimistic American nation, President Bush's just completed 2006 State of the Union Address naturally focused on the theme of "the Hopeful Society." But like the stillborn "Ownership Society" vision before it, Bush's 2006 SOTU will be remembered not for its policy program, but for its partisan political purposes. The […]
Signs of China's rapid growth into an economic superpower are everywhere. The latest indicator comes in a report from the China National Bureau of Statistics announcing a staggering 9.9% rise in Chinese GDP in 2005. With its $2.26 trillion economy, China has leap-frogged the UK, France and Italy to become the fourth largest in the […]
The American manufacturing sector took another body blow today as Ford announced massive layoffs beginning in 2007. As many as 30,000 employees at 14 Ford plants in North America, up to 21% of the company's hourly workforce of 82,000, could be impacted by 2012. The announcement by the #2 American automaker comes within weeks of […]
To kick-off his 2006 campaign for permanent - and dangerously irresponsible - tax cuts, President Bush crowed on Friday about his economic stewardship. "The American economy," Bush boasted, "heads into 2006 with a full head of steam." New economic data released on the same day, however, suggests that the American economic locomotive may be experiencing […]
As I wrote recently, the White House is increasingly frustrated by Americans' continued pessimism with the President's handling of the economy. Perhaps President Bush can find some solace that he seems to draw his greatest support in precisely those states where conditions are the worst for American workers. That would appear to be the central […]
Nothing, apparently not even the growing opposition to the war in Iraq, frustrates President Bush and the Republican Party more than Americans' consistently negative view of the economy. Despite 215,000 new jobs in November, stout 4.3% Q3 GDP growth and a whopping 4.7% gain in productivity, only 37% of Americans approve of Bush's handling of […]
Voters across the nation dealt a major defeat to the radical anti-government movement. In state after state, the people rejected the starvation tax policies of the Norquistas and reaffirmed their shared commitment to investment in essential public services. Looking ahead to 2006, this augurs well for good government Democrats and represents a stern warning to […]