43% of Unemployed out of Work 6+ Months

Jobs numbers were released today for the month of January and compared to what we've seen in the last few years, the signs are pretty positive. Official unemployment fell to 8.3% the lowest since February of 2009. But long term unemployment remains a major issue, with the share of the jobless who have been out of work for more than 6 months at 43% and 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in just the past month. Campaign For America's Future's Richard Eskow breaks it all down. Read more....

Top 10 Global Economic Challenges Facing America's 44th President

The Top 10 Global Economic Challenges report focuses on the most critical issues facing America’s 44th president. From restoring financial stability to establishing a U.S. policy on climate change and engaging the emerging economic powers, the report contains timely analysis and recommendations by Brookings leading global economic experts.

Given its enormous stake in a strong and resilient economy, it will be critical for America to lead on today’s main global economic challenges. In this introduction to the 2008/2009 Top 10 report, Lael Brainard discusses the global context and America’s opportunity.


The top 10 global economic issues, as identified and ranked by Brookings Global, include:
1. Restoring Financial Stability by Eswar Prasad:With U.S. financial troubles at the center of the current global vortex, the U.S. has important obligations to strengthen the global financial system, including by enhancing financial regulation and diminishing reliance on foreign credit. Read more....

Causes of Poverty

Almost half the world — over 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.
The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.

Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.

1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day). Read more.....

Americans Living in Their Vans in California

America is getting poorer. The U.S. government has just released a bunch of new statistics about poverty in America, and once again this year the news is not good. According to a special report from the U.S. Census Bureau, 46.2 million Americans are now living in poverty. The number of those living in poverty in America has grown by 2.6 million in just the last 12 months, and that is the largest increase that we have ever seen since the U.S. government began calculating poverty figures back in 1959. Not only that, median household income has also fallen once again. In case you are keeping track, that makes three years in a row. Read more.....

Nearly one in six in poverty in the U.S.; children hit hard, Census says

Nearly one in six Americans was living in poverty last year, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, a development that is ensnaring growing numbers of children and offering vivid proof of the recession’s devastating impact.

The report portrays a nation where many people are slipping backward in the wake of a downturn that left 14 million people out of work and pushed unemployment rates to levels not seen in decades.

As poverty surged last year to its highest level since 1993, median household income declined, leaving the typical American household earning less in inflation-adjusted dollars than it did in 1997. Read more....

The Biggest Risk to the Economy in 2012, and What’s the Economy For Anyway?

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos a few days ago, said the “critical risks” facing the American economy this year were a worsening of Europe’s chronic sovereign debt crisis and a rise in tensions with Iran that could stoke global oil prices.

What about jobs and wages here at home?
As the Commerce Department reported Friday, the U.S. economy grew 2.8 percent between October and December – the fastest pace in 18 months and the first time growth exceeded 2 percent all year. Many bigger American companies have been reporting strong profits in recent months. GE and Lockheed Martin closed the year with record order backlogs. Read more....

Obama’s debt-chopping plan – Is it fully equipped for a debt free 2012?

After the scuffles over the raising of the debt ceiling ended with a final rise of the most awaited debt limit and after S&P cut off a notch from the pristine credit rating of the US (AAA), President Barack Obama has finally rolled off his plan to help the US get back on track. Unless the Obama administration slashes off the national debt, nothing positive can ever happen to the economy. Though a number of groups have published their own debt reduction plan, nothing has ever been effective in curbing the spiraling debt level of this economic superpower.

Just as the consumers are running to the professional debt help companies to control their personal finances, the government is also continuously borrowing money from other nations in order to cope up with the rising expenses of the nation. As Obama has rolled out the new plan to decrease the increasing debt level in the US, the most common question by the financial analysts is whether or not this plan is equipped enough to make the difference. Read on to educate yourself on this. Read more....