A recent symposium at our Detroit Branch addressed the automotive industry's challenges in meeting stricter fuel efficiency standards. The 2007 energy bill set a new target of 35 miles per gallon for the corporate average fuel efficiency (CAFE) of new vehicle sales . The new fuel efficiency requirements will be phased in beginning with model year (MY) 2011. Such standards are motivated b... Read More

Since at least the 1960s, central cities of large metropolitan areas have experienced challenging times. In many cases, large shares of the population and jobs have shifted from these central cities to their suburbs. More recently, over the past two decades, central cities' travails have eased somewhat; the declines in the number of households and jobs have abated, and in some instances, ... Read More

Despite the fact that the U.S. is Canada's largest trading partner and vice versa, northern border crossing conditions have sometimes been given short shrift. Today, in some places along the border, freight and travelers use outdated infrastructure in a post 9/11 world where security concerns have tended to slow cross-border movement. Accordingly, suggestions have been raised on both side... Read More

In the current environment of automotive plant shutdowns, the pursuit of economic adaptation and revival has become urgent for many communities whose livelihoods largely depend on the automotive industry. On April 15, knowledge experts, policymakers, and community representatives gathered at a conference event in Chicago. Its purpose was to explore opportunities to sustain and build on au... Read More

The U.S. work force has been “upskilling” in recent decades, that is, average work force skills have been climbing. Evidence suggests that such upskilling has been taking place broadly across U.S. industries, including manufacturing. However, manufacturers have been especially disappointed by what they see as their inability to hire and retain skilled workers. In response, manufacturers a... Read More

Throughout the nation, state governments have been crying uncle as revenues have hit a tailspin and expenses for Medicaid and public welfare have accelerated. Estimates of the cumulative deficit facing state governments exceed $100 billion, and the National Association of State Budget Officers is calling this the worst fiscal situation facing the states since World War II. Not surprisingl... Read More

Longtime Midwest residents may be befuddled by ongoing comparisons of the current national recession with those of 1974-75 and 1981-82. While the headlines suggest this recession compares, so far, with the deepest recessions of the past 50 years1, we in the Midwest have a somewhat different perspective. For us, the recessions of 1974-75 and 1981-82 were far worse, at least so far. An exce... Read More

The manufacturing sector exerts an outsized impact on the Midwest economy—especially during cyclical downturns. Regional jobs and income are approximately 30 percent more concentrated in manufacturing in the Seventh District than in the nation as a whole. The District's economy is even more concentrated in durable goods production-both capital goods, such as machinery, and consumer durabl... Read More

Government agencies regularly report statistics that reflect state and local labor market conditions. These measures are far from perfect in their accuracy, and they often seem to conflict. Yet, these measures currently agree to a negative view of the labor markets in the Seventh Federal Reserve District. State unemployment rates, using a household sample survey, measure those peo... Read More

Attracting immigrants to the Midwest may be an especially lucrative objective from a regional economic development standpoint. As discussed in previous blog entries, the growth performance of metropolitan regions has been strongly linked with the educational attainment of its work force, especially college level attainment. Educational attainment of the immigrant population in the... Read More