Economy News

from AIER

Established 1999

New England, USA

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Daily Economy

  • •

    Government involvement in credit markets: The FHA reverses plans to cut insurance premiums.

    The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) backs millions of mortgages for consumers who would otherwise struggle to obtain credit from private lenders. FHA lending standards are more lenient than private lenders such as banks and credit unions. Consumers with low credit scores and little in savings often seek FHA loans. Traditionally a private lender requires a…

  • •

    Good News for the Manufacturing Sector

      During an 18-month campaign, primary, and election process, newly-elected President Donald Trump focused heavily on the manufacturing sector in the U.S. Today, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) and ADP, the payroll and human resources service, provide current data on activity in that area. The ISM released its monthly Report on Business for January,…

  • •

    Learning as a Core Skill

    A recent Special Report of “The Economist” was dedicated to the topic of lifelong learning and new labor-market conditions that require employees to have the ability to keep learning, be intellectually curious, and develop a “growth mindset.” The report mentioned technological change, online education, and new approaches to career planning as factors affecting the demand…

  • Mostly Domestic Manufacturing

    •

    Mostly Domestic Manufacturing

    In the wake of President Donald Trump’s protectionist stance for domestic manufacturing, many observers have spoken in defense of free trade. AIER has its own history of publishing in this area. In this post, I want to highlight one point that we touched on briefly in the December edition of AIER’s “Business Conditions Monthly” –…

  • •

    Cause and Control of the Business Cycle Today

    The Great Recession was the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Like the Depression, the Great Recession was precipitated by a combination of excessive credit creation and misguided government policy. Excessive credit, or purchasing media, makes people feel wealthier than they really are, triggering unsustainable consumption. For decades, AIER has pointed to excessive credit…

  • Land Value in Pennsylvania: A Practical Application

    •

    Land Value in Pennsylvania: A Practical Application

    I was recently reading AIER founder E.C. Harwood’s “Useful Economics,” which can be accessed online through our website’s Harwood Economics tab , when I came across a particularly interesting passage. In Chapter XIII, “Practical Applications,” Col. Harwood was discussing the role that taxes on site values, meaning taxes on the unimproved value of land, play…

  • •

    AIER Education Programs Rooted in Scientific Approach

    While students were occupied with their research projects during our new Winter Program, their professor, Lorri Halverson, and I were working on a paper summarizing our experiential learning approach, which is the basis for educational programming at AIER. The key idea of this approach is to blend learning within the academic classroom and learning within…

  • •

    Earnings Growth and Employment Transitions

    What drives earnings growth for U.S. workers? In some form or another, this was the question addressed by researchers at a session of the American Economic Association’s annual meeting that I attended earlier this month in Chicago. There are three important channels for an employed worker to increase earnings. He or she can get a…

  • AIER Starts New Winter Program

    •

    AIER Starts New Winter Program

    This month, in addition to our esteemed Summer Program, we are starting an AIER Winter Program. Our Winter Program encompasses the Applied Economic Research Course and the January intersession, which are both programs we have piloted in recent years.

  • Teach-the-Teachers Program Gets Results

    •

    Teach-the-Teachers Program Gets Results

    The Education Division of AIER is not only creating and executing innovative programs, but also conducts scientific research on the impact of those programs on their constituencies. At the recent 2017 annual meeting of the American Economic Association (AEA) in Chicago, I presented the results of the first two cycles of the Teach-the-Teachers Initiative program,…

  • •

    Government involvement in credit markets: The FHA reverses plans to cut insurance premiums.

    The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) backs millions of mortgages for consumers who would otherwise struggle to obtain credit from private lenders. FHA lending standards are more lenient than private lenders such as banks and credit unions. Consumers with low credit scores and little in savings often seek FHA loans. Traditionally a private lender requires a…

  • •

    Good News for the Manufacturing Sector

      During an 18-month campaign, primary, and election process, newly-elected President Donald Trump focused heavily on the manufacturing sector in the U.S. Today, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) and ADP, the payroll and human resources service, provide current data on activity in that area. The ISM released its monthly Report on Business for January,…

  • •

    Learning as a Core Skill

    A recent Special Report of “The Economist” was dedicated to the topic of lifelong learning and new labor-market conditions that require employees to have the ability to keep learning, be intellectually curious, and develop a “growth mindset.” The report mentioned technological change, online education, and new approaches to career planning as factors affecting the demand…

  • Mostly Domestic Manufacturing

    •

    Mostly Domestic Manufacturing

    In the wake of President Donald Trump’s protectionist stance for domestic manufacturing, many observers have spoken in defense of free trade. AIER has its own history of publishing in this area. In this post, I want to highlight one point that we touched on briefly in the December edition of AIER’s “Business Conditions Monthly” –…

  • •

    Cause and Control of the Business Cycle Today

    The Great Recession was the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Like the Depression, the Great Recession was precipitated by a combination of excessive credit creation and misguided government policy. Excessive credit, or purchasing media, makes people feel wealthier than they really are, triggering unsustainable consumption. For decades, AIER has pointed to excessive credit…

  • Land Value in Pennsylvania: A Practical Application

    •

    Land Value in Pennsylvania: A Practical Application

    I was recently reading AIER founder E.C. Harwood’s “Useful Economics,” which can be accessed online through our website’s Harwood Economics tab , when I came across a particularly interesting passage. In Chapter XIII, “Practical Applications,” Col. Harwood was discussing the role that taxes on site values, meaning taxes on the unimproved value of land, play…

  • •

    AIER Education Programs Rooted in Scientific Approach

    While students were occupied with their research projects during our new Winter Program, their professor, Lorri Halverson, and I were working on a paper summarizing our experiential learning approach, which is the basis for educational programming at AIER. The key idea of this approach is to blend learning within the academic classroom and learning within…

  • •

    Earnings Growth and Employment Transitions

    What drives earnings growth for U.S. workers? In some form or another, this was the question addressed by researchers at a session of the American Economic Association’s annual meeting that I attended earlier this month in Chicago. There are three important channels for an employed worker to increase earnings. He or she can get a…

  • AIER Starts New Winter Program

    •

    AIER Starts New Winter Program

    This month, in addition to our esteemed Summer Program, we are starting an AIER Winter Program. Our Winter Program encompasses the Applied Economic Research Course and the January intersession, which are both programs we have piloted in recent years.

  • Teach-the-Teachers Program Gets Results

    •

    Teach-the-Teachers Program Gets Results

    The Education Division of AIER is not only creating and executing innovative programs, but also conducts scientific research on the impact of those programs on their constituencies. At the recent 2017 annual meeting of the American Economic Association (AEA) in Chicago, I presented the results of the first two cycles of the Teach-the-Teachers Initiative program,…