Following the electoral earthquake in November 2012, the prospects for immigration reform are looking favorable.1 Republicans are increasingly concerned about alienating America’s biggest and most rapidly growing minority group while Democrats feel obligated to deliver the goods to the Hispanic voters who have been part of a loyal electoral bloc in the two last presidential [...]

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Industrial policy, in which governments seek to support certain industrial sectors, has made a comeback. It has attracted new respectability with the economic rise of China. Justin Lin, the recently departed World Bank chief economist, has made the intellectual and empirical case for industrial policy. The essence of his industrial policy is to identify comparative [...]

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Despite its remarkable success in promoting US exports, the US Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) is never far from controversy. Earlier this year, its authorization was renewed by Congress, but only after lawmakers overrode a barrage of criticism from the Tea Party and others opposed to government involvement in the economy. The reauthorization was a wise and [...]

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Hardly a day goes by without a reminder of the high youth unemployment rates in Greece, Spain, Italy, and other parts of the European periphery, which are in excess of 50 percent. Sometimes the reminders are in the form of rants by economists or pundits about the moral deficiency of euro area demands for austerity [...]

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Just when the outsourcing debate seemed to reach bottom, it fell into the basement. Pandering started with Obama’s attack ads on Bain Capital, and by extension, Romney in his career as a maestro of private equity. The Washington Post contributed to the silliness with a long article dissecting Bain’s record in creating and eliminating jobs, [...]

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Reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank is stalled in Congress because of opposition from odd bedfellows. The issue has been addressed previously in this forum, but in this posting a solution to the impasse is offered that could clear the way for funding a vital federal program. Before we get to that drama, it’s worth considering [...]

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After an arduous year of Congressional hearings, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) was reauthorized—almost. But in the last days of December 2011, the Bank was sideswiped by an ill-advised lawsuit promoted by Delta Airlines and brought by the Air Transport Association of America (now known as Airlines for America), the trade [...]

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The Washington branch of Occupy Wall Street has moved in recent days to block the structurally deficient Key Bridge, arguing that rebuilding bridges is the right way to create jobs for hundreds of thousands of unemployed construction workers. The Tea Party violently objects to deficit spending and higher taxes. These political poles should unite on [...]

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US policymakers are running out of options to solve our massive unemployment problem and get the economy growing again. The Administration’s jobs bill faces resistance in Congress. The best option that can be implemented without a vote of Congress is to work through the market that started this mess in the first place—housing. The Administration [...]

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By taking three steps to improve the United States’ trade imbalance and boost exports, President Obama and Congress can create three to four million jobs at no cost to the Federal Budget. First, the United States must, in effect, weaken the dollar by 10 to 20 percent—an action that would by itself produce one million [...]

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