Expanding export activity has taken on added importance in recent years. For example, the newly released Economic Report of the President (ERP) reports that export growth accounted for one-third of U.S. economic growth in 2006 and 2007. Looking ahead to 2008, this export importance will continue as the U.S. economy slows even while economic growth in many developing regions continues to be ro... Read More

Plenty of evidence is emerging that state and local governments are headed into a major fiscal pinch. Tax revenues are decreasing across the board, as everything from corporate profits to employment declines. The big question is how well are the states positioned to weather this storm? Is there anything different in the nature of this economic slowdown that will make circumstances more diffic... Read More

As the U.S. continues to grow into a knowledge-based economy, human capital and ideas earn a higher premium. Therefore, competition for future economic growth and vitality leaves states and large metropolitan areas vying to attract and retain the young, well-educated population within the U.S., commonly defined as 25- to 39-year-olds with at least a bachelor's degree. These young and educ... Read More

The nationwide falloff in residential investment activity is unfolding along various channels and to varying degrees across U.S. regions. Falling residential activity is being felt in consumer spending, manufacturing production (e.g. construction equipment, appliances, and materials), the financial sector (e.g. mortgage and development financing), real estate (sales) and, of course, in ho... Read More

Beginning in the 2008 fiscal year, state and local governments with over $100 million in revenues will begin to report the accrued liability they face for funding non-pension post-employment benefits. In government parlance this is referred to as OPEB—other post-employment benefits—with the largest expense being comprised of retiree healthcare. Given that state and local governments have long... Read More

Public sentiment for trade between the U.S. and other countries has seemingly eroded in recent years because of concerns about domestic job upheaval from international trade. While some of these concerns about job displacement have validity, it is also true that U.S. exports abroad continue to pull along economic growth in the nation and in the Midwest, where manufacturing plays a large r... Read More

Have you ever wondered how the U.S. can produce so much food with relatively few farmers? On September 24, 2007, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago you could have learned some of the reasons behind the cornucopia of output from U.S. agriculture at our conference The Role of R&D in Agriculture and Related Industries: Today and Tomorrow. The conference explored the role of research ... Read More

Economists and policymakers often pay close attention to payroll job numbers because they are among the most current and wide-ranging economic indicators available for states and regions. However, payroll job numbers should be viewed with caution as they are subject to revision; that is, an annual revision is undertaken during early March for the data of the previous five years. T... Read More

On October 15, the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago will convene a conference examining various policy approaches to reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). Following electric power generation, the transportation sector is the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the Midwest, as well as in the overall U.S. (Carbon dioxide emissions g... Read More

After years of inactivity in regulating so-called greenhouse gases (GHGs), U.S. policy may be on the verge of doing so. In April 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government was authorized to regulate GHG emissions from human activity, which some believe accelerate warming of the earth's atmosphere, causing disruptive and costly climate changes. Carbon dioxide is the maj... Read More