Usually the release of Congressional Budget Office economic and budget projections is as dull as that phrase makes it sound. But not these economic and budget projections, released today by the CBO. The main takeaway is that if we go over the fiscal cliff — that is, if we let the Bush tax cuts and…
Tag: gdp
Romney’s budget plan is a fantasy
Consider what Romney has promised. By 2016, he says federal spending will be below 20 percent of GDP, and at least 4 percent of that will be defense spending. At that point, he will cap federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, meaning it can never rise above that level. All that’s hard enough. Romney…
FAQ: How Paul Ryan Proposes To Change Medicare
Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s choice for vice president, has provoked consternation from Democrats and anxiety among some congressional Republicans with his proposals to reshape Medicare. The Republican-controlled House, along party lines, twice approved his proposals to overhaul the popular social insurance program for the elderly and disabled by giving beneficiaries…
Romney: Israel’s Superior Economy To Palestinians Result Of ‘Culture,’ ‘Providence’
Romney at no point mentioned that the Palestinian territories have for decades been occupied without sovereign control, where residents face significant restrictions on movement and employment. “It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,” Saeb Erakat, a senior Palestinian…
Republican Resistance Is Holding Back Economy [graph]
Technically, we won’t hit the fiscal cliff — Washington’s preferred term for the near-simultaneous triggering of more than $600 billion tax increases and spending cuts, as well as the predicted point at which we once again hit the debt ceiling — until after the election. But the effects could be felt long before. The 2011…
Austerity Is Hammering State Economies
Public spending cuts, while on the rise worldwide, are bad for the U.S. economy. U.S. states provide a good illustration of this principle. Since the start of the Great Recession 20 states have cut public spending while 30 states expanded spending. Those that cut spending have fared worse economically than those that expanded spending. The…
CHART OF THE DAY: US Vs. UK Growth
Now the first thing to note is that the US has recovered WAY better than either the Eurozone or the UK. So if you think Obama has been a disaster, you might first acknowledge that the US has performed better than all its major Western peers. But beyond that, check out the UK line. The…
By 2025, three of the world’s richest cities will be in China
The McKinsey Global Institute explains what the new world order will look like in 2025: Just 600 cities will be responsible for about 60 percent of global GDP growth. And while urban centers in the United States, Europe*, and Japan are still dominant, cities in China and India, in particular, will have an outsized role…
Economic Snapshot for March 2012
The nation’s economy and labor market are gradually gaining strength. Job creation is up and the unemployment rate keeps falling. But American families need more months of much-stronger job creation to eliminate the massive economic pain that the crisis and its aftermath brought. Substantial trouble spots remain in the economy and in households’ economic security….
Clean energy economy is alive and well on the West Coast
With a regional GDP contribution of $47 billion and over half a million jobs created in 2010, the clean energy economy is alive and well on the West Coast. And the potential for continued growth in jobs and investment is enormous with more regional collaboration, according to a report released last week by members of…
ANALYSIS: The Real World Debunks The GOP’s ‘Austerity Now’ Ideology
In Britain, a large package of budget cuts and austerity measures which rolled out in 2010 has not unleashed the proverbial job creators in the private market. Instead, the country is still shackled with an economic growth trend that’s even worse that what it suffered in the aftermath of the Great Depression. In the Eurozone…
Did Obama make the economy worse? Not according to most statistics
For example, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that the economic stimulus Obama signed into law added — in the 4th quarter of 2009 — between 1 million and 2 million employed workers and boosted the GDP between 1.5% to 3.5% higher than it would have been without the stimulus. In addition, a more recent…
GDP Grew At 2.5 Percent In The Third Quarter
According to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy grew by 2.5 percent in the third quarter, an improvement over last quarter’s 1.3 percent growth. This quarter’s growth is right in line with analysts’ expectations. via GDP Grew At 2.5 Percent In The Third Quarter | ThinkProgress.