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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The author participated in the PIIE conference on Jan. 7 on “Ethics and Globalization: the Tradeoffs Underlying Our Policy Choices.” In Session III: “Expecting Ethical Duties from Private Actors,” Ms. Elliott addressed the subject of this posting as a panelist. On Jan. 8, the US Trade Representative issued a call for comments on a petition [...]

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It looks like the Great Recession did indeed produce the much-anticipated V-shaped recovery—although not the way some economists predicted. US corporations experienced the V shaped recovery, while US workers experienced virtually no recovery (see the circled areas in figures 1 and 2). The ratio of corporate profits to private industry income is at its highest [...]

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Addressing a rally at the obsolete Brent Spruce Bridge connecting Kentucky and Ohio, President Obama recently challenged Republican leaders to pass his American Jobs Act: “Mr. Boehner, Mr. McConnell, help us rebuild this bridge. Help us rebuild America. … Pass this bill.” Good political theater, perhaps, but not effective economics. Neither House Speaker John Boehner [...]

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As Americans observe Labor Day, and the latest numbers released by the US government show disappointing job growth, the US labor market faces several major problems: First, although private employment has been increasing, it remains below what it was at the outset of the Great Recession. Total private employment has increased by 1.7 million (or [...]

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Despite the claim that last week’s jobs numbers were “better than expected,” they were in fact an abysmal indictment of US economic policy over the past two years. The unemployment rate has remained near or above 9 percent for 28 consecutive months, a policy failure not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Unfortunately, [...]

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A rancorous debate is taking place over whether to link reauthorization and reform of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)—which provides assistance to workers, farmers, fishermen, and firms adversely affected by increased import competition and offshore shifts in production—to other legislation moving through Congress. Given TAA’s small size, the issue isn’t whether to link it or not, [...]

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I Introduction As the impact of the Great Recession gradually recedes on both sides of the Atlantic, political and economic attention will invariably shift toward prospects for renewed job creation. This paper will show how, in contrast to the outcome of earlier recessions, European labor markets have weathered the effects of the Great Recession noticeably better [...]

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World leaders are calling for Hosni Mubarak to either resign or to institute “political and economic” reform that will meet the demands of the demonstrators. Such calls show a large degree of ignorance about the needed economic reforms and the fact that increasing political participation may pose obstacles to reforms. While the maintenance of deeply [...]

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Whoever emerges on top of the unfolding political crisis in Egypt, there is little doubt that the country is in need of fresh economic policies as well as fresh leadership. One year ago, we argued in Reengaging Egypt: Options for US-Egypt Economic Relations that the United States should pursue programs that help Egypt "create a better [...]

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