In this edition of Brookings Data Now: Will the U.S. army be too small? Canadians put more down on their homes. How to pay for lengthening the school year. Does your congressional district experience suburban poverty? (Probably). Will Mexico’s energy sector be reformed? And finally, about the horse race to lead the Federal Reserve.
| 450,000 | Michael O’Hanlon’s estimate of the number of active-duty soldiers needed for the U.S. military to have the capacity for a “one war plus two missions” paradigm. |
| 20% | Most private mortgage lenders in Canada, where the rate of homeownership is higher than in the U.S. insist on a 20% down payment for a loan. Robert Pozen discussed the interplay of lender risk and the amount of the down payment. |
| 180 | Length of school year in days, primary grades, in the United States. According to OECD data, the U.S. is on the low-end of the days spent in school scale. France = 141; Indonesia = 244. Learn how increasing class size can help pay to lengthen the U.S. school year. |
| 388 | From 2000 to 2011, suburban poverty grew in 388 out of 435 congressional districts nationwide. See how the suburban poverty data break out by congressional district. |
| 49 billion | The loss, in pesos (US $4 billion) suffered for the 2d quarter of 2013 by PEMEX, Mexico’s main energy institution. PEMEX imports half of the gasoline sold in Mexico. Diana Villiers Negroponte explains how and why Mexico’s major political parties want to reform the country’s energy sector. |
| 0 | Number of women who have led the Federal Reserve. Read Sarah Binder’s insights on the horse race to lead the Fed. |
Commentary
Brookings Data Now: U.S. Army Size, Length of School Year, Suburban Poverty, and More
August 8, 2013