RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
John C. Austin, November 04, 2009, The Brookings Institution
During a recent visit to Milwaukee, John Austin explored the economic revitalization of the Great Lakes region. Austin writes that these efforts have been given a major boost by President Obama, signing a bill that provided $475 million in Great Lakes cleanup dollars, a down-payment on a long term multi-billion dollar federal-state-local plan to clean water and reboot municipal waste systems. The empirical data shows that the clean up is creating jobs and is an economic engine throughout the Great Lakes region. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Karen Dynan, October 30, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Yesterday's GDP figures may show that growth has returned to the US economy, but 3.5 percent isn't a strong rebound compared to past recession bounce-backs, writes Karen Dynan. She says the recovery will likely be long, and that means the economy is unlikely to see full employment for many years. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
October 29, 2009, The Brookings Institution
The nation appears to have entered a fragile state of recovery, with the worst recession since the 1930s at an end. After four straight quarters of contracting economic activity, the Commerce Department reported this morning that the economy grew in the third quarter of 2009, fueled by government spending on cars and homes. Experts from around the halls of Brookings responded to this news. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Karen Dynan, October 29, 2009, Joint Economic Committee
How long will the economic recovery take? Karen Dynan testified before the Joint Economic Committee that there is a great deal of uncertainty about the strength and speed of the nation’s recovery, with gradual expansion being the most likely economic scenario. She says that consumer spending is likely to grow modestly over the next few years because of weak income growth, higher saving and lower borrowing. Policymakers have options to bolster the recovery but they should be mindful of the long-run costs, particularly in terms of the budget deficit, she says. Read More
VIDEO
Ron Haskins and Isabel V. Sawhill, October 19, 2009
Despite its status as one of the world’s leading economies, the United States is faced with high poverty rates and less economic opportunity than many other affluent countries. Senior Fellows Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins, argue that it will take a combination of personal responsibility along with smarter and better-targeted government policies to make the American Dream a reality for children and families now stuck at the bottom.
VIDEO
Ted Gayer, September 25, 2009
New U.S. home sales were flat in August and existing home sales fell, showing that the housing sector still remains weak. Ted Gayer, co-director of Economic Studies, says there has been some housing stabilization thanks to the Federal Reserve, but that there is still downside risk in the market. Costly tax incentives to encourage homeownership have long-term budget consequences.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Benjamin Orr, September 23, 2009, The Brookings Institution
Greater Washington Research at Brookings partnered with the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program to create the first MetroDCMonitor, a quarterly publication tracking indicators of economic recession and recovery in the Washington region and the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas. The report finds that the Washington area is weathering the recession comparatively well with a less volatile labor market than other metros and a healthy gross regional product. However, the housing market is weaker, and regional averages mask varying levels of economic distress throughout the area. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William G. Gale, September 22, 2009, The Brookings Institution
William Gale examines whether or not the stimulus is working, concluding that a number of key factors suggest that the stimulus is positively affecting the economy. Read More
VIDEO
Alan Berube, September 15, 2009
Alan Berube, research director of Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy program, says the second MetroMonitor shows an uneven recovery, that economic gains in some regions of the country have been offset by an increase of financial instability in others.
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jennifer S. Vey, September 15, 2009, The Brookings Institution
A supplement to the MetroMonitor, this first edition of the Great Lakes Monitor examines the 21 largest metros in the Great Lakes region on key indicators of economic performance. It illustrates that, although Great Lakes metros have for decades shared in the struggle to retool their economies, the recession has had highly varied impacts across the region. The findings help define where and how policy makers and regional stakeholders need to focus their energies to help ensure that recovery comes—if slowly—to all parts of this complex area. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Eswar Prasad, September 14, 2009, The Economic Times
A year after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing near collapse of the U.S. financial system, Eswar Prasad reflects on what led to these circumstances and urges for coordinated solutions to avoid further global imbalances. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Mark Muro and Robert E. Lang, September 08, 2009, University of Nevada Las Vegas
In speeches delivered at the Las Vegas roll-out of the Brookings Mountain West Initiative Mark Muro and nonresident senior fellow Robert Lang argue that Las Vegas presents an exaggerated version of America’s economic quandary. Muro declares that Las Vegas presents, in extreme form, some of the fundamental questions facing the whole country as it faces a major economic “reset” while Lang contends it can still emerge as America’s next true world city. Read More
PAST EVENT
Thursday, September 03, 2009
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Washington, DC
On Day 200 of the American Recovery and Renewal Act, Brookings hosted Vice President Joe Biden. As the chief administration official entrusted with the implementation of the stimulus plan, he offered a working perspective on the program’s accomplishments and challenges. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
William A. Galston, September 01, 2009, The Brookings Institution
We are likely to enter a period of new normality marked by lower household debt, higher personal savings, and less consumption as a share of GDP, writes William Galston. Despite these positive trends, we still need a new era of public restraint, not just private thrift. Once economic growth has become self-sustaining and the private sector’s need for capital returns to more normal levels, Congress and the administration will have to turn their attention to the difficult fiscal questions they have long evaded. Read More
VIDEO
Douglas J. Elliott, August 10, 2009
The world recession that began in the U.S. is hitting Germany much harder than us, due to a collapse in world trade that has damaged an economy that Germans constantly refer to as “the World Export Champion.” But, Douglas Elliott explains, Germans feel much better about their economic situation than Americans do about ours.