Even as much of the Midwest's automotive industry remains troubled, the region's overall manufacturing exports continue to impress. In the Seventh District, manufactured exports make up around 7% of gross state product; this is on par with the nation's economy (also discussed in a previous blog). While this share is not huge, the manufacturing sector's rapid growth of exports in recent ye... Read More

A Forum on Medicaid and State Budgets The U.S. Medicaid program provides healthcare coverage and long-term assistance to over 41 million low-income families and 14 million elderly people and persons with disabilities, according to the Kaiser Foundation. Given the high and rising costs of medical care, it is not surprising that the Medicaid program typically represents the largest... Read More

On Wednesday, February 14, DaimlerChrysler AG announced a restructuring of its North American Chrysler Group. Adjusting its vehicle production capacity to continued market share losses, the company will eliminate shifts at three different assembly plants (Newark, DE, and Warren, MI, in 2007, St. Louis, MO, in 2008) and idle the Newark plant in 2009 (that plant is identified in figure 1 by... Read More

Are there worthwhile benefits to large urban economies from professional sports franchises and events? Critics are especially hostile to the idea of tax breaks, incentives and other public subsidies to sport franchises and events. At best, they claim that local spending on sports events displaces local spending on other activities, with no net impact on expenditure or income. Worse, the... Read More

Following the 2001 national recession, the labor market remained somewhat slack and slow-growing until mid-2003. Subsequently, the national economy accelerated, pulling along labor demand and employment growth. The year 2006 marks the third consecutive year of strong year-over-year employment growth (and falling unemployment) nationally. Meanwhile, the Seventh District, which inc... Read More

As you can imagine, many here in Chicago are fired up for this year's Super Bowl: The hometown Bears make their first return to the big game in 21 years. But this game is extra special for us at the Chicago Fed: The Bears are playing the Indianapolis Colts, another Seventh District team. If you are interested in such arcane trivia, this marks only the third time both Super Bowl teams repr... Read More

Policy and business leaders in Chicago continue to advance the metropolitan area's prospects as a global hub for professional and financial services. This initiative arises from both necessity and opportunity. Chicago's traditional markets, principally in the surrounding Midwest, are not growing rapidly. At the same time, however, the Chicago economy specializes in advanced producer servi... Read More

Could cities located near one another, Milwaukee and Chicago for example, enhance their respective growth and development through closer linkages? Why might a greater Chicago-Milwaukee metropolitan area want stronger ties, and what policies, if any, might be considered to bring about such a union? There are several reasons why larger metropolitan areas are generally leading U.S. e... Read More

The Chicago area economy developed on its ability to move freight. With heightened global trade, Chicago area freight transportation has grown rapidly and it is projected to continue to do so, leading to added congestion on highways that are shared by automobile drivers and trucks alike. This raises important questions as to how the Chicago region should plan future modifications ... Read More

Large Midwest cities, especially Chicago, are highly attentive to the opportunities that accompany globalization. Many large cities, such as London, Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong, and New York, are benefiting from heightened globalization. This is because big cities operate on a global scale, especially with respect to business and professional services such as international export, finan... Read More