Modest Growth Amid Fiscal And Monetary Contraction

U.S. Macroeconomic Outlook The U.S. economy continues to grow at a steady, moderate pace. But, important changes underlie this growth. Federal discretionary spending is contracting while the private economy is growing and continuing its transformation and recovery. A transformation is occurring towards an economy with larger energy and technology sectors and growing manufacturing and agricultural exports. There is also a recovery in the housing sector. This recovery is driving growth in construction employment, household durable goods sales, the home improvement market, the real estate sector and the financial services sector. Steady employment growth and recent improvements in hourly wages also are supporting modest expansion in overall consumer spending. Further, nascent recovery in the European economy will encourage renewed growth in business investment over the next few years. Yet, a variety of public policy issues are holding back even faster private sector growth. Bond purchases by the Federal Reserve Bank will be curtailed late this year as the federal government completes fiscal contraction via its Sequester budget cuts. Declining bond purchases will replace the current fiscal drag with a monetary drag on growth. Both efforts are required for long-term macroeconomic stability and investor confidence but will provide a modest drag on current growth. Construction and Mining Employment Manufacturing Transportation and Utilities Information Wholesale Trade Financial Services Retail Trade Services Personal Income Government Nonfarm Personal Income Farm Income Net Taxable Retail Sales Our Thanks

Nebraska Responds to the National Economic Recovery

Evidence mounts that the nation has already begun its recovery from one of the mildest recessions on record. The first quarter GDP estimates report a spectacular gain. Not all signals are that clear. The recession itself has been labeled a manufacturing recession. Manufactu ring output fell longer and farther than it had in the 1990-1991 recession. The impact of the recent manufacturing recession was spotty. Even within manufacturing, some sectors were hit hard, generally those in the durables area. Others, generally in the nondurables portion, remained unaffected. The services sector held up well with only a small decrease in total activity; however, the impact of the downturn was spotty within the sector, as well. Services related to travel were hard hit, while health care services were virtually unscathed. Difficulties in internet-based businesses negatively impacted the business services area. Nebraska weathered the national recession well. As a whole, the state did not experience a downturn, but did see a decrease in overall economic growth rates. Total nonfarm employment in 2001 remained at the 2000 level. Nonfarm personal income grew 3.4 percent and net taxable retail sales increased 2.9 percent-small increases overthe inflation rate as measured by the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI). Net farm income increased 21 percent over a dreary performance in 2000, adding to Nebraska\u27s economic stability. Employment Construction and Mining Transportation, Communication, and Utilities (TCU) Retail Trade Wholesale Trade Services Government Farm Income Net Taxable Retail Sale

Real estate in the U.S. economy

Industrial Asset Management Council Convention, St. Louis, Oct. 9, 2007Economic conditions ; Real estate investment

The Business Consortium Fund: working capital for MBEs

The New England Minority Purchasing Council offers minority business enterprises (MBEs) help in obtaining short-term working capital.Commercial loans - New England ; Small business - New England ; Minority business enterprises - New England

Strong Economic Growth Will Continue for the Next Two Years

The year-end analysis shows the state\u27s economy growing rapidly with prospects for continued growth over the next two years. Total nonfarm employment will grow 2.2 percent in 1997 and just under that rate in 1998 and 1999 (Figure 1 and Table 1). Total nonfarm personal income will grow 6.3 percent in both 1997 and 1998, and 6.2 percent in 1999. Despite snow in the middle of the harvest season in parts of eastern Nebraska, net farm income will reach $2.3 billion in 1997, just under$2.5 billion in 1998, and $2.5 billion in 1999. Total net taxable retail sales will grow 5.4 percent in 1997, 5.3 percent in 1998, and 5.6 percent in 1999. Both the sales and income forecasts rely on a slight uptick in inflation in 1999. Nonfarm Employment Nonfarm Personal Income Farm Income Net Taxable Retail Sale

Strong Economic Growth Will Continue for the Next Two Years

The year-end analysis shows the state\u27s economy growing rapidly with prospects for continued growth over the next two years. Total nonfarm employment will grow 2.2 percent in 1997 and just under that rate in 1998 and 1999 (Figure 1 and Table 1). Total nonfarm personal income will grow 6.3 percent in both 1997 and 1998, and 6.2 percent in 1999. Despite snow in the middle of the harvest season in parts of eastern Nebraska, net farm income will reach $2.3 billion in 1997, just under$2.5 billion in 1998, and $2.5 billion in 1999. Total net taxable retail sales will grow 5.4 percent in 1997, 5.3 percent in 1998, and 5.6 percent in 1999. Both the sales and income forecasts rely on a slight uptick in inflation in 1999. Nonfarm Employment Nonfarm Personal Income Farm Income Net Taxable Retail Sale

Ten years after: What are the effects of business method patents in financial services?

In recent years, the courts have determined that business methods can be patented, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted some 12,000 patents of this sort. Has the availability of patents for business methods increased the rate of innovation in the U.S. financial sector? The available evidence suggests that there has been no significant change in the aggregate trend of R&D investments made by financial firms. In "Ten Years After: What Are the Effects of Business Method Patents in Financial Services?," Bob Hunt discusses how recent court decisions and proposed federal legislation may change how firms enforce their patents. In addition, he outlines some of the remaining challenges that business method patents pose for financial companies.Patents

Clean Jobs New York

On May 10, E2 and our partners released Clean Jobs New York. Our partners included the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, NYS Sustainable Business Council and New Yorkers for Clean Power. The study found that more than 85,000 New Yorkers work in the clean energy industry at 5,500 business establishments across all 62 counties in the state

Job Stability Among U.S. University Presidents

This paper examines job duration among U.S. university presidents from 2001 to 2006. Using data from the American Council of Education’s Survey of American College Presidents, this analysis finds that public university presidents are approximately 50 percent more likely to leave office than are their private university counterparts. This turnover translates into average job spells that are approximately 20 percent shorter for public university presidents. This job instability appears primarily to be driven by the higher propensity for public university presidents to leave one institution to become president at another institution

Small Businesses, Public Health, and Scientific Integrity

This report examines the activities of an independent office within the Small Business Administration: the Office of Advocacy. The Office of Advocacy has responsibility for ensuring that federal agencies evaluate the small business impacts of the rules they adopt. Scientific assessments are not "rules" and do not regulate small business, yet the Office of Advocacy decided to comment on technical, scientific assessments of the cancer risks of formaldehyde, styrene, and chromium. By its own admission, Advocacy lacks the scientific expertise to evaluate the merits of such assessments.The report analyzes correspondence and materials received through a Freedom of Information Act request made by staff at the Center for Effective Government. Our inquiry was driven by two questions: Why did the Office of Advocacy get involved in the debate over scientific assessments that do not regulate small business? Whose interests does the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration actually serve?We found that the Office of Advocacy's comments on these assessments raised no issues of specific concern to small business and relied almost exclusively on talking points provided by trade associations dominated by big chemical companies. Between 2005 and 2012, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and its members spent over $333 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies on, among other things, a protracted campaign to prevent government agencies from designating formaldehyde, styrene, and chromium as carcinogens. The Formaldehyde Council, Styrene Industry Research Council, and Chrome Coalition spent millions more. These groups asked the Office of Advocacy for assistance, and the Office became their willing partner.We conclude that the Office of Advocacy's decision to comment on scientific assessments of the cancer risks of certain chemicals constitutes a significant and unwarranted expansion of its role and reach beyond its statutory responsibilities. We recommend that Congress ask the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the Office of Advocacy and exert morerigorous oversight of its activities to ensure its work does not undermine the efforts of other federal agencies to fulfill the goals Congress has assigned them