Materials
- Cost of Living in Major Cities (Realtor.com)
Provides average cost of living in major cities within the United States. 7-03
- Minimum Wage Calculator (Economic Policy Institute)
Provides an interactive tool to help a person determine the minimum wage for a single person or a couple, with or without children. 7-03
- Minimum Wage Calculator (Solfopro.com)
Provides an interactive tool to help a person determine the minimum wage for a single person or a couple, with or without children. 7-03
- Minimum Wage Calculator for a Family of Four (NCCBUSCC.org)
Provides minimum costs for a family of four. Shows that the poverty line, set at $18,100, is below the minimum. 7-03
- Salaries by Profession and Location (Realtor.com)
Provides salary range for professions by location within the United States. 7-03
News
- 01-03-04 Bush to Cut Domestic Spending (Bloomberg.com)
"President Bush's budget, which will be sent to Congress by Feb. 2, will include several tax cut proposals, including new measures to promote individual savings and tax credits to help uninsured people buy health insurance, the newspaper reported."
"The president's budget plan for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 also includes measures to control the rising costs of housing vouchers for the poor, require veterans to may more for some medications and eliminate some job training programs, the Times said." 1-04
- 01-15-04 J.P. Morgan and Bank One to Merger (USA Today)
"Set to take over as CEO in 2006 under a detailed power-sharing arrangement, Bank One CEO Dimon hopes to lead a colossus that glues J.P. Morgan's volatile investment banking and trading concerns with the more predictable consumer and credit card businesses of Bank One."
"J.P. Morgan Chase, as the combined company is to be known, would be the nation's second-biggest bank, with $1 trillion of assets and 2,300 branches in 17 states centered in the Midwest and Northeast. Only Weill's Citigroup (C), with its huge global reach, would be larger." 1-04
- 02-25-04 Greenspan: Reduce Social Security Benefits (CNN News)
"Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan urged Congress on Wednesday to deal with the country's escalating budget deficit by cutting benefits for future Social Security retirees rather than raising taxes."
"In testimony before the House Budget Committee, Greenspan said the current deficit situation, with a projected record red ink of $521 billion this year, will worsen dramatically once the baby boom generation starts becoming eligible for Social Security benefits in just four years."
"In his prepared testimony, Greenspan said pushing taxes up enough to meet future spending promises under Social Security and Medicare might pose a risk to the overall economy." " 'We are going to be confronted ... in a few years with an upward ratcheting of long-term interest rates which will be very debilitating for long-term growth,' Greenspan told the committee if the deficit problem is not addressed." 2-04
- 02-26-04 Bush Distances Himself from Job-Loss Comment (Seattle Times)
"President Bush, visiting Pennsylvania to tout his prescriptions for employment growth, distanced himself from his chief economist who this week spoke approvingly of U.S. jobs moving overseas."
"On Monday, N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, said in releasing the annual Economic Report of the President that the 'offshoring' of U.S. service jobs is 'the latest manifestation of the gains from trade that economists have talked about' for centuries."
"The report similarly said that 'when a good or service is produced more cheaply abroad, it makes more sense to import it than make or provide it domestically.' " "Job loss is a sensitive issue for Bush as he seeks re-election in November. The economy has lost about 2.2 million jobs on Bush's watch and has been slow to reduce unemployment despite other signs of economic growth." 2-04
- 02-27-04 Budget Deficit to Balloon (USA Today)
"President Bush's budget would produce deficits totaling $2.75 trillion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office projected Friday in the first authoritative look at the plan's longer-range implications."
"One major item omitted by Bush's budget but included in Friday's projections was the cost of his proposal to make tax cuts permanent that otherwise would expire in 2010. Bush's tax plans would add more than $1.3 trillion to deficits over the decade, although his plans to curb domestic spending would save $700 billion over that same period, the budget office said."
"Wary of the impact on deficits, Republican congressional leaders already have said they will not move this year on Bush's proposal to extend the tax cuts, which is the pillar of his plan for strengthening the economy." 2-04
- 03-05-04 Major Jobs Disappointment (CBS News)
"The U.S. employment report for February proved to be a major disappointment. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 5.6 percent, and the economy was only able to generate 21,000 jobs."
The latest snapshot of the employment climate released by the Labor Department on Friday depicted the painfully slow job growth the country has been enduring." 3-04
- 03-05-04 Martha Stewart Found Guilty (CBS News)
"Martha Stewart was convicted of obstructing justice and lying to the federal government about why she unloaded her stock in a biotech company just before the price plummeted. The verdict could send her to prison and cripple the homemaking empire built around her vision of gracious living." 3-04
- 03-06-04 Bush Tax Plan Created Jobs Overseas Instead of USA (Washington Times)
"The job market slumped back into stagnation last month with the unemployment rate stuck at 5.6 percent and only 21,000 jobs created, a development that spells trouble for President Bush's re-election effort."
"The president sought to jump-start a job recovery with $350 billion in tax cuts last year but the response has been only weak and dwindling job gains."
" 'The tax cut gave a big increase to spending, but when folks go to Wal-Mart, they buy imported goods so the job growth goes to China' and other countries, he [Morici] said." 3-04
- 09-04-03 U.S. Infrastructure in Disrepair (CBS News)
"America's infrastructure is full of cracks, leaks and holes and is getting worse, according to an analysis by civil engineers that gives the nation's transportation, water and energy systems an overall grade of D-plus."
"A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers released Thursday said the condition of 12 categories of infrastructure hasn't improved in the past two years." "Schools received the worst grade — D-minus — from the engineers, who said three out of four school buildings are inadequate. They estimate it will cost more than $127 billion to build new classrooms and modernize outdated schools." 9-03
- 09-05-03 Payrolls Plunge but Unemployment Rate Edges Down (USAToday.com)
"The number of workers on U.S. payrolls outside the farm sector slid 93,000 in August after dropping 49,000 in July. Economists had epxected a modest increase."
"But according to a broader survey of U.S. households, the overall unemployment rate fell from a seasonally adjusted 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent of the labor force."
"Labor Department analysts believe the survey of businesses provides a more reliable picture of the jobs market than the household survey." 9-03
- 09-05-03 Small Children Die from Poverty (WashTimes.com)
"The World Health Organization (WHO) says nearly 11 million children under age 5 die each year from easily preventable and cheaply cured diseases — including pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and complications during the first year of life."
"It costs just 2 cents for a six-month supply of vitamin A supplement, 15 cents for a five-day course of antibiotics to treat pneumonia and $15 to immunize a child against the six main childhood diseases, according to the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival."
"A bed net, treated to kill and repel malarial mosquitoes, costs less than $10."
"The United States spent $1.7 billion on global health, education and population programs in 2001, according to rough calculations based on figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. France was the second-biggest spender, with $1.1 billion in aid, followed by Germany at $1 billion and Japan at nearly $800 million." 9-03
- 10-01-03 Jobless Recovery Examined (CBS News)
"Companies have slowed the pace of layoffs, but have broken with previous economic rebounds by not boosting their hiring plans, the Labor Department said Tuesday." 9-03
Papers
- 07-12-03 Support for War in Iraq Dropping (ABC News)
"Americans are expressing rising dismay with U.S. casualties in Iraq, declining confidence in the Bush administration — and growing doubt whether the war was worth fighting." "As ever, some of these views are highly partisan." 7-03
- Alternative Proposals for Economic Stimulus (CNN - Jackson)
Five key proposals to stimulate the economy include the following:
1. "Speed up tax cuts. The idea is to move up to 2003 some of the federal income tax cuts already on the books, possibly the across-the-board rate cut now set for 2004...." "But it would benefit upper-income taxpayers most. Taxpayers making $1 million a year would get an average reduction of $19,557" while "taxpayers making between $30,000 and $40,000 a year would get only $146."
2. "Cut taxes on dividends." "Making corporate dividends tax-free to individuals would pump billions into the economy, and also make it easier for corporations to raise funds to invest and create jobs in the future, experts say." "Taxpayers making $1 million or more would get $27,097, while those making $30,000 to $40,000 would get $42."
3. "Extend unemployment insurance benefits. At the end of December, the struggling economy suffered another setback when almost 800,000 people lost the extended unemployment insurance benefits that Congress had provided as a counter-recession measure." "Renewing those benefits would be -- dollar for dollar -- an even more effective stimulus measure than tax cuts, according to many economists. The reason is that jobless workers tend to spend every dollar of their benefits."
4. "Payroll tax cut. "As an alternative to speeding up cuts for upper-income taxpayers, some have proposed a cut in payroll taxes, which are paid by every worker starting on the first dollar earned. A temporary payroll tax cut could provide a big economic stimulus: just exempting workers from payroll taxes on the first $10,000 of income for one year could pump $100 billion into the economy. For taxpayers making $1 million it would produce a cut of $1,137, while for those making between $30,000 and $40,000 a year it would bring a cut of $788."
5. "Fiscal aid to states. A fiscal crisis at the state level is threatening to drag the economy down." "Economists estimate the combined budget gap of all the states as high as $70 billion. The National Governors Association calls it the worst fiscal crunch since World War II." "Some states are laying off workers, adding to unemployment. Some are raising taxes, partially offsetting the economic benefit of cuts in federal taxes." In summary, the first and second proposals will mainly help the wealthy. The third proposal will mainly help the poor. The fourth proposal will help wealthy, middle-class, and poor in almost equal amounts. The fourth proposal, a payroll tax cut, will also be a strong stimulus to the economy. 1-03
- Budget Deficit - Debt Clock (Brillig.com)
In February of 2004, the national debt was around $7 trillion, the largest in U.S. history. Provides a clock that records the national debt each minute.
"The estimated population of the United States is 293,295,778 so each citizen's share of this debt is $23,956.23. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.77 billion per day since September 30, 2003!" 2-04
- Debts - Consumer Debt (CBS News)
"Consumer debt has more than doubled in the past 10 years to record levels, making it hard for many families to cope."
"Consumer debt hit a record $1.98 trillion in October 2003, according to the most recent figures from the Federal Reserve. That debt — which includes credit cards and car loans, but not mortgages — translates to some $18,700 per U.S. household." 1-04
- Defining a "Living Wage" (TomPaine.com)
Describes efforts to define and then promote a "living wage" as the minimum that government workers and others should be paid. 7-03
- Essay - Defining a "Minimum Wage" (AlterNet.org)
"The current minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is lower than the real minimum wage of 1950 ($5.71)." "It would take $8.45 to match the minimum wage peak of 1968 in 2003."
"Plenty of employers know how to make a profit without ripping off their employees. In-N-Out Burger ranks first among fast food chains in quality, value and service." "The starting wage is $8.25 an hour, with paid vacations, food at work, and the option of participating in a 401(k) with a company match." 7-03
- Essay - Why Johnny Can't Choose (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis - Dahl)
Provides six concepts are the foundations to understanding the economy. 1-03
- Tax Cut Will Help Some (MSNBC News)
"That tax-cut measure passed by Congress this week will boost the nation’s gross domestic product by about 1 percent over the next year, welcome news for an economy that has been bumping along at a sluggish growth rate of less than 2 percent in recent months. But economists are divided on whether the $350 billion fiscal stimulus program will be sufficient to get the economy growing fast enough to reverse rising unemployment." 5-03
|
