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Two Key Economic Lessons in One BillHoosiers face trade-offs and opportunity costs in the wake of SEA1.

Time to Fix Economic Development PolicyAllocating tax dollars to land development won’t cause economic growth.

The Unanticipated Effects of SB1Businesses, governments and households may all feel the effects.

The Stupidest of PoliciesThis whipsawing of tariff rates has unnerved financial markets, which on Wednesday, were toying with a liquidity crisis.

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Commentaries tagged with economic recovery

March 10, 2024 Are We in the Early Stages of a Long Economic Boom?Economists aren’t yet sure why labor productivity is growing, but I can offer two educated guesses.
December 3, 2023 The ‘Great Discordance’ of Economic Fact and FeelingThat Americans appear to prefer higher unemployment over historically mild inflation is not something any of us should be proud of.
August 6, 2023 Looking Back at Mistakes with a Critical EyeI was not alone in making these mistakes, but there’s no comfort in being wrong with a crowd.
April 30, 2023 A Good Post-COVID Run for the Hoosier EconomyIndiana entered COVID with an already weakening economy.
January 29, 2023 The 2023 ForecastThe reason for worry about a recession is the Federal Reserve’s response to high inflation.
September 4, 2022 Lingering Effects of COVID on WorkThe U.S. is still about 1.0 percent below its pre-COVID participation rate.
August 21, 2022 Limiting Future InflationOverreacting to inflation can be worse to the economy than underreacting.
April 17, 2022 Where’s Inflation and Growth Headed?We’ve only had one long period of rate increase since the early 1980s, so the consumer response is unknown.
March 27, 2022 A Tough Two Decades for the Hoosier EconomyMost of Indiana’s job growth this century has been in low-wage work.
February 13, 2022 MMT Is Just Another Fad Without EvidenceThe controversy is a useful window into how we create knowledge and uncover truth.
January 23, 2022 Indiana’s Long-Term Economic Prospects Are PoorState policymakers should be deeply alarmed about a return to a ‘normal’ economy.
December 12, 2021 The 2022 ForecastFrom retail and restaurants to logistics and manufacturing firms, the U.S. economy has been astonishingly resilient.
October 24, 2021 Deep Worries About Education and Employment Are Still With UsIndiana will start 2022 with three consecutive years of declining educational attainment of adults.
September 26, 2021 What’s Happening in Labor MarketsWork environments and wages, as well as cost of care services, heavily influence choices in the current labor market.
August 8, 2021 The Inflation Puzzle, Partly SolvedInflation reduces the standard of living of families and slows economic growth.
August 1, 2021 Slowing Economy Caused by the UnvaccinatedIn just the last three months, more than 32,000 Americans died of COVID.
June 6, 2021 What Economists Got Right and Wrong about COVIDShifts in labor, occupational structure, and community amenities influence the degree of recovery.
May 2, 2021 Why Are We Hearing About a Labor Shortage?Government benefits are not to blame.
April 4, 2021 Inflation Is Not Our Top ProblemRecession effects are influenced by the tradeoff between unemployment and inflation.
January 31, 2021 How This Recession Is UnfoldingIt appears now that we’ll end 2020 with a downturn that ranks in the top five to seven worst years since the 1920s.
November 15, 2020 It’s the Disease Wrecking the Economy, Not the Government ResponseWe Americans are stubborn people, for both good and ill.
October 25, 2020 Indiana’s Hidden Fiscal DeficitSince 2009, Indiana slipped in every key measure of long-term growth.
June 14, 2020 Nearly One in Five US Workers Lost Their Job Since MarchThe labor market shrank by more than 6 million workers in three months.
May 31, 2020 The Pandemic’s Damage Is Long TermWe must honestly acknowledge the potential depth and duration of the downturn.
April 26, 2020 Covid-19 Response May Be the Most Consequential Decision in State HistoryThe real policy question is whether the benefit of these decisions outweighed the costs.
April 19, 2020 No Better Time to Rethink Economic Development SpendingCongress made clear that many not-for-profits provide local benefits that make the nation stronger.
April 12, 2020 Economic Uncertainty Surround COVID-19Until we develop a vaccine, a robust treatment or broad immunity, a significant level of reduced economic activity must be expected.
December 29, 2019 What Does Consumer Spending Do for Our Economy?Consumer spending is simply a measure of demand.
December 15, 2019 Slow Growth, but Not a Recession in 2020In thinking about our current economy, it is important to discuss the current policy environment.
December 8, 2019 The Recovery Has Not Been Kind to IndianaIndiana should have enjoyed a far more robust economic recovery.
March 10, 2019 Lessons Learned from an Economics ConferenceI found two elements very intriguing, and worth sharing in this column.
July 15, 2018 The Limits of MacroeconomicsForecasting recessions is far murkier than forecasting the weather.
December 10, 2017 A Forecast for 2018Ineffective policy interventions accompanied the Great Recession.
December 18, 2016 The Future of Manufacturing Production and JobsManufacturing production is well; manufacturing employment is not.
November 6, 2016 Macroeconomics in Crisis?Government spending and monetary policy have focused on the wrong things.
January 4, 2015 Oil Prices in 2015Petroleum prices are part of the costs of almost all goods and services.
October 19, 2014 Polarized Labor Markets and the Supply and Demand of Unskilled Workers High-skilled and low-skilled workers face very different futures in this economy.
April 6, 2014 Simple Economics Lessons for Hard TimesFar too much worry is placed in the short-term ups and downs of the economy.
June 16, 2013 Good News on Manufacturing in 2013The most interesting part of our manufacturing research this year was revelations on productivity growth in Indiana.
June 9, 2013 Nice Places Grow FasterThe link between economic performance and local schools is self-evident.
May 12, 2013 Labor Markets Continue to SufferThe employment data we read about treat all jobs the same, whether they are 15 hours or 45 per week.
March 31, 2013 A Policy ShiftIn the early days of the recession, there were two competing arguments about policy.
February 3, 2013 The Recession Is HereThere has been no quarterly decline in GDP on record without a recession.
September 9, 2012 Global Slowdown Comes to WyomingA slowing world economy… suggests increased risk of a recession here at home.
November 28, 2011 The Super Committee and our Long Term ChallengesAs I write this, I am unsure what the Deficit Super Committee will have done by their Thanksgiving deadline to stall the wayward flight of our national debt.
August 8, 2011 Some Cuts in the Budget DealWe need a long spell of more hiring before we tackle the supposed evils of wealth.
May 23, 2011 A Dose of Economic TheoryMost economists who study recessions and publish their own research argue that something can potentially be done to ease the transition from recession to recovery.
September 20, 2010 Business Locations: Taxes, Clusters and WorkersOver the long run, and especially during the good times when labor markets are tight, firms worry most about the availability of workers.
August 16, 2010 Expectations and the Sluggish Recovery ..weighty confusion of federal policy has cost us an astounding 3.3 million jobs
March 9, 2009 Balanced Equation Needed for Economic RecoveryIf the velocity of money shrinks further, it is likely the recession will deepen.
March 2, 2009 Markets, not Bailouts, offer Incentives to Refinance LoansIf banks aren’t responding to the strongest refinancing incentives in history, no government plan will speed things along.
July 16, 2007 A New Take on the New Deal"...for all of its economic failings, the New Deal was a colossal political success, and tinkering with the economy has remained popular ever since."
June 25, 2007 What's Your Favorite Economic Indicator?"The question is, what pieces of the economy should we be paying the most attention to?"
November 6, 2006 Evaluating the IEDC "...if in fact the organizational structure of the IEDC is a superior way to conduct the economic development business of state government, it should survive long enough to get the job done,"
October 16, 2006 Sunset in the Era of U.S. Economic Dominance "We were born into a world of American economic dominance, and the sweet spot for U.S. manufacturing, in particular."
April 3, 2006 Getting Realistic About Deficits "The fixes will involve more taxes and less spending"
September 30, 2005 Katrina Made Me Do It "... we had high energy prices, a weak airline industry, big budget deficits, and a fractious political environment well before those now-famous low pressure cells ever started to congeal over the Atlantic."
September 2, 2005 The Fragile Façade of Confidence "The attention of the media thus far has been focused on gasoline, but the problems go much deeper than that."
July 2, 2004 Tracing Our Economic Evolution "As economists and statisticians track the size of the overall economic pie, they overlook the sometimes widely fluctuating fortunes of the individuals and households within it."
April 23, 2004 The Business Cycle Turns Up for Indiana "It has been a good first quarter for job growth in the Indiana economy."
February 6, 2004 The U.S. Economy is Working Smarter "Economists have always pointed to productivity improvements as the key to our competitiveness and prosperity."
November 28, 2003 Is the Indiana Economy Getting Better? "On a seasonally adjusted basis, payroll employment is up by almost 40,000 jobs from the low point of July of this year."
October 31, 2003 Now That's What I Call Growth "The news that the overall economy grew at a blistering 7.2 percent annual rate during the months July through September effectively closes the book on the 2001 recession."
July 18, 2003 Second Half Economy: Recovery or Disappointment? "The so-called 'jobless recovery' experienced in the wake of the 1991 recession is back with us again."
April 25, 2003 The U.S. Economy Dodges a Bullet "The numbers show that the war displaced, but did not ultimately disrupt consumer spending."
April 4, 2003 Taking Stock of the U.S. Economy "From the reports on employment, industrial activity, and retail sales, there have been very few safe harbors from the stagnation that descended over businesses and consumers alike."
March 21, 2003 NAICS Arrives in Indiana "If we had better data on the "new" economy a few years earlier, perhaps we could have been able to think a bit more rationally about what it could and could not deliver."
March 14, 2003 Rethinking the Recession "The capacity of the still-fragile U.S. economic recovery to absorb losses like we saw last month is limited."
January 31, 2003 Passing the Baton " ... we have learned that the U.S. economy entered the new year with its momentum nearly spent."
December 13, 2002 Energy for the Indiana Economy"The battle to attract new investment, new jobs, and, yes, new residents is one that we cannot afford to keep losing."
November 29, 2002 Has Economic Recovery Arrived in Indiana? "...if data on the Indiana economy don't yet show a lot of growth, they do tell us quite convincingly that the bleeding has stopped."
November 1, 2002 Watch What Consumers Do, Not What They Say "The Bureau of Economic Analysis's report on the third quarter economy paints a picture of heavy consumer spending."
August 9, 2002 Rewriting Economic History "Much of what we produce in our economy, like entertainment, legal advice, or health care, can't be measured and weighed like the widgets of old economic textbooks."
August 2, 2002 U.S. Economic Growth: Speed Bump or Course Change? "The latest news on the economy puts the once-robust recovery in serious doubt."
June 28, 2002 A Note of Concern for the Economic Recovery "Our continued growth may depend on how well the other sectors of the economy perform when consumers hand the baton off to them."
June 14, 2002 Indiana's Economic Recovery is Still in the Future "The stage is set for recovery in the state's economy."
January 18, 2002 Signs of a Turnaround? "There have been some hopeful signs coming out of the manufacturing sector of late, but they still fall short of constituting the much-hoped-for rebound."
January 4, 2002 Writing the Script for Economic Recovery "Judging from the most recent reports on the U.S. economy, the cloud of gloom that descended over sales and profits last year has yet to break."
December 28, 2001 Inflation: The Non-Story of the Year "The strong dollar, overproduction and sluggish demand, coupled with plummeting energy prices, has fostered an environment where raising prices is simply not a feasible option."

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