Economy News

from AIER

Established 1999

New England, USA

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Daily Economy News

  • •

    Incentives in State Pension Plans: The Case of Teachers

    Earlier this week, my colleague Theodore Cangero wrote about funding gaps in state pension programs. These can have negative consequences not only for state budgets but for residents currently employed in industries with state pensions whose regulations sometimes have adverse consequences for workers or the public. One well-studied example is public school teachers. Most states…

  • Americans Are Leaving States with Burdensome Governments

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    Americans Are Leaving States with Burdensome Governments

    Internal migration has always been a part of America. The ability to move for a better job has promoted economic growth. AIER studies have shown that a better match between workers and employers helps productivity and wages. A new article from the Mises Institute shows that Americans are also moving for favorable tax environments. For…

  • Trouble Ahead: Unfunded Liabilities in State Pension Funds

    •

    Trouble Ahead: Unfunded Liabilities in State Pension Funds

    Since the Great Recession, large federal budget deficits and a record level of government debt have dominated the headlines. But municipal and state finances have also come under stress in recent years. On the municipal side, Detroit declared bankruptcy and restructured public pensions. In Dallas, the police and firefighters’ pension fund is broke. Stockton and…

  • •

    Berkshire Business and Professional Women Meeting

    On Monday, May 1, I was a featured speaker at a Berkshire Business and Professional Women meeting in Pittsfield, Mass. It was wonderful to connect with the organization, whose mission is “to promote full participation, equity, and economic self-sufficiency for America’s working women. Since 1965, the Berkshire chapter of BPW has been honoring local women…

  • •

    H1-B Visas in IT: Effects on Workers and Consumers

    One of the most controversial aspects of U.S. immigration policy is the H-1B visa program. The program currently allocates 85,000 visas to high-skill workers, especially in tech industries. Silicon Valley executives at places such as Google and Facebook promote H-1B visas as a way they can attract some of the best programmers in the world…

  • Government Shutdown Averted for Now

    •

    Government Shutdown Averted for Now

    The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 suspended the debt ceiling through March of this year. In mid-March the debt ceiling was raised to the current level. The Treasury has undertaken so-called extraordinary measures to continue funding the government. In effect, extraordinary measures allow the Treasury to temporarily borrow from other federal agencies.  Congress is set…

  • •

    Private Governance and Online Shopping

    In years past, almost all retail trade was conducted at brick-and-mortar stores. Merchants depended on their reputations to drive customer traffic. But reputation mostly spread by word of mouth. Merchants risked their good reputation if they sold bad products. This gave consumers a layer of protection. As retail sales moved outside of brick-and-mortar shops to…

  • •

    Students Learn from Our Teachers

    In my last blog, I described how teachers improve their knowledge of economic concepts by attending our Teach-the-Teachers program. Today I would like to turn my attention to students. Students directly affected by our teachers are the ones who experienced the field test of the lesson—that is, they were in attendance the day of the…

  • •

    Student Debt and Home Ownership Rates: Perception and Action

    How much does student debt affect Americans’ chances of owning a home? Recent research gives a wide range of answers to that question. The debt definitely lowers ownership rates, but whether the effect is minor or massive depends on the exact questions asked and how the answers are framed. As I wrote in an AIER…

  • •

    Don’t Wait for the Government to be Libertarian

    In a recent piece for Forbes entitled “Libertarianism Needs to Be More Realistic,” Adam Ozimek writes that “many -though not all- libertarians imagine a vision of society that the vast majority of Americans simply do not want.” As a result, he argues, “realistic libertarianism would unabashedly accept limits of markets, and embrace in rhetoric, theory,…

  • •

    Incentives in State Pension Plans: The Case of Teachers

    Earlier this week, my colleague Theodore Cangero wrote about funding gaps in state pension programs. These can have negative consequences not only for state budgets but for residents currently employed in industries with state pensions whose regulations sometimes have adverse consequences for workers or the public. One well-studied example is public school teachers. Most states…

  • Americans Are Leaving States with Burdensome Governments

    •

    Americans Are Leaving States with Burdensome Governments

    Internal migration has always been a part of America. The ability to move for a better job has promoted economic growth. AIER studies have shown that a better match between workers and employers helps productivity and wages. A new article from the Mises Institute shows that Americans are also moving for favorable tax environments. For…

  • Trouble Ahead: Unfunded Liabilities in State Pension Funds

    •

    Trouble Ahead: Unfunded Liabilities in State Pension Funds

    Since the Great Recession, large federal budget deficits and a record level of government debt have dominated the headlines. But municipal and state finances have also come under stress in recent years. On the municipal side, Detroit declared bankruptcy and restructured public pensions. In Dallas, the police and firefighters’ pension fund is broke. Stockton and…

  • •

    Berkshire Business and Professional Women Meeting

    On Monday, May 1, I was a featured speaker at a Berkshire Business and Professional Women meeting in Pittsfield, Mass. It was wonderful to connect with the organization, whose mission is “to promote full participation, equity, and economic self-sufficiency for America’s working women. Since 1965, the Berkshire chapter of BPW has been honoring local women…

  • •

    H1-B Visas in IT: Effects on Workers and Consumers

    One of the most controversial aspects of U.S. immigration policy is the H-1B visa program. The program currently allocates 85,000 visas to high-skill workers, especially in tech industries. Silicon Valley executives at places such as Google and Facebook promote H-1B visas as a way they can attract some of the best programmers in the world…

  • Government Shutdown Averted for Now

    •

    Government Shutdown Averted for Now

    The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 suspended the debt ceiling through March of this year. In mid-March the debt ceiling was raised to the current level. The Treasury has undertaken so-called extraordinary measures to continue funding the government. In effect, extraordinary measures allow the Treasury to temporarily borrow from other federal agencies.  Congress is set…

  • •

    Private Governance and Online Shopping

    In years past, almost all retail trade was conducted at brick-and-mortar stores. Merchants depended on their reputations to drive customer traffic. But reputation mostly spread by word of mouth. Merchants risked their good reputation if they sold bad products. This gave consumers a layer of protection. As retail sales moved outside of brick-and-mortar shops to…

  • •

    Students Learn from Our Teachers

    In my last blog, I described how teachers improve their knowledge of economic concepts by attending our Teach-the-Teachers program. Today I would like to turn my attention to students. Students directly affected by our teachers are the ones who experienced the field test of the lesson—that is, they were in attendance the day of the…

  • •

    Student Debt and Home Ownership Rates: Perception and Action

    How much does student debt affect Americans’ chances of owning a home? Recent research gives a wide range of answers to that question. The debt definitely lowers ownership rates, but whether the effect is minor or massive depends on the exact questions asked and how the answers are framed. As I wrote in an AIER…

  • •

    Don’t Wait for the Government to be Libertarian

    In a recent piece for Forbes entitled “Libertarianism Needs to Be More Realistic,” Adam Ozimek writes that “many -though not all- libertarians imagine a vision of society that the vast majority of Americans simply do not want.” As a result, he argues, “realistic libertarianism would unabashedly accept limits of markets, and embrace in rhetoric, theory,…