From the category archives:

Economy

The Price is Right; Drew Carey is wrong.

by ModernEsquire on March 8, 2010 · Comments

“Candidate” Tim misses the bigger picture.  It’s not that not only is Drew Carey hardly a non-partisan figure, but he’s blatantly wrong.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Michael McIntyre, Carey’s entire documentary is that if Cleveland was more like Houston, everything would be hunky dory.

The series, reported and produced by reason.tv’s editor Nick Gillespie, explores problems in Cleveland and other rust belt cities and offers solutions using examples from other cities — such as Houston — that are enjoying success and population growth.

Bottom line? As the Web site’s motto reads, “Free minds and free markets.” In other words, move out of the way, government.

Here’s the list of the top ten downtown employers in Houston:

Largest downtown employers
Number of employees

Shell Oil Co.
5,744

Harris County
4,750

Exxon Mobil Corp.
4,420

City of Houston
4,000

JPMorgan Chase
3,000

Continental Airlines Inc.
2,824

Foley’s
2,500

U.S. Post Office
2,314

CenterPoint Energy Inc.
2,199

U.S. Government
2,100

“Government” is two of the top four, and four of the top ten employers.  “Move out government” and people will move out of Houston.

Maybe the next time Drew Carey is testing his ideological thinking via SimCity, he could simulate what would happen to a city like Houston if you took away the Johnson Space Center and the private sector jobs associated with it.

“Houston, we have a problem.”

About a decade ago, one of the largest private employers in Dallas was a company called Enron… until the evil government stepped in and began investigating it to death.  Drew Carey’s support of Ron Paul and his economic libertarianism would argue that we should have deregulated oversight over companies like Enron. 

Also, Dallas lags behind the nation in high school graduates.  That’s hardly a model for the Cleveland school system to emulate.

Drew Carey is a well-meaning guy, but I don’t take foreign policy advice from Alec Baldwin or economic development advice from Drew Carey.  I just don’t.

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Gov. Strickland, Congressman Tim Ryan, and GM announce 1,200 new auto manufacturing jobs coming to Lordstown

by ModernEsquire on February 23, 2010 · Comments

So, the President of GM North America was in town today to announce that later this year GM will add a third shift at its Lordstown plant.  The move will add 1,200 new jobs, with a third of those going to former laid off workers at the plant.  It’ll generate $47 million in new payroll, $470k in local income taxes and $1.4 million in state income taxes.

“Adding a third shift to build Cruze is an investment with impact far beyond General Motors. It’s an investment in the long-term value of Lordstown and the prosperity of Ohio,” said Reuss. “It provides rewarding manufacturing jobs and efficient class-leading new cars for American car buyers.” (From the Youngstown Vindicator)

Here’s the statement from Governor Strickland, explaining how this impacts more than just the Lordstown GM plant:

“I’m proud to celebrate the creation of 1,200 new Ohio jobs and the resilience of the working men and women of the Mahoning Valley.  The chips were down but we never gave up,” Strickland said.  “That grit and steely determination is why I love this valley and why I believe in Ohio. 

“The economic impact of GM’s investment will benefit the people of this region and communities throughout Ohio: GM’s Defiance Foundry will build engine blocks for the Cruze. GM’s Parma Metal Center will stamp dozens of components for the Cruze. GM’s Toledo Powertrain Center will produce transmissions and numerous suppliers in the Mahoning Valley and across the state will contribute parts for the Cruze,” Strickland said. 

…

“It’s a great day in Ohio. Because GM is making a little automotive history in Ohio today. And Ohioans are going to be making a new kind of car for years and years to come,” Strickland said.  “We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with GM and the Lordstown community to keep auto manufacturing strong in Ohio.”

And Congressman Tim Ryan:

“President Obama and Congress made the unpopular but necessary decision to take partial ownership of General Motors and guide it through bankruptcy.  This bold step may have saved manufacturing in the United States from being wiped out,” Ryan said. “As a result of that leadership, not only were the Mahoning Valley and Northeast Ohio community spared an economic catastrophe, we now stand to reap the benefits of those tough decisions. I commend the workers at the GM Lordstown plant for their leadership and maturity.  Without their skills, talents and positive attitude, this day would have never come.

“I would like to thank Governor Strickland for his constant attention to the Mahoning Valley and the 17th Congressional District.  His input and guidance have been instrumental in not only this project, but in every one of our economic successes over the past few weeks.

“I would also like to commend Senator Sherrod Brown for his powerful voice on behalf of our domestic manufacturing base.  The American auto-industry has no better friend in the Senate.

“It’s clear that our local economic development strategy is working: another 1,100 high-paying jobs in Lordstown, corporate investment of $650 million and 350 permanent jobs at V&M Star, 500 more jobs expected at VXI in downtown Youngstown, a San Francisco technology company bringing up to 100 jobs to the Youngstown Business Incubator in the next two years, and Severstal Steel returning to work in Warren.  I believe that this is the beginning of the Miracle on the Mahoning,” Ryan said.

The Governor’s press release notes this isn’t the only positive news in Ohio’s automotive manufacturing base:

Ohio and GM are continuing to move forward on important investments for our state. Last week Governor Strickland joined GM officials at the Powertrain Plant in Defiance to announce a $59 million investment that will support the production of the next generation fuel efficient Ecotec engine while creating about 80 new jobs.

And, on Feb. 8, the governor announced that the Defiance plant was awarded a $518,232 industry efficiency grant through Ohio’s State Energy Program, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The award will help fund new equipment that will save energy, reduce raw material consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and allow the facility to be more competitive by reducing its overall annual costs by $515,013.

A reporter was able to capture as he rides dropping poll numbers.

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John Kasich endorses Ted Strickland for Governor

by ModernEsquire on February 4, 2010 · Comments

John Kasich has been on a tear lately…. a tear of endorsing Governor Strickland’s plan to Turnaround Ohio:

Starting at the 6:18 mark:

Kasich: “Now, Larry, at the same time, we talk about: how do you transition? In manufacturing, go up the value chain, you know, make parts for alternative energy, go into avontics and make parts for advanced aircraft.  You know, there’s still a chance to make cars, but you just can’t rely on auto parts.  You think about technology, our workers out here are good people, they’re smart people, we’ve got a great university system, we can get people from Silicon Valley to come here, but we have to improve the atmosphere in our State….”

I’ll agree with Keeling on this, the plan Kasich just described is a “homerun.”  Only problem is that it’s Governor Strickland’s Turnaround Ohio plan.

You know who’s done a lot on promoting the manufacturing of alternative energy technologies in Ohio, John?  Ted Strickland. 

You know whose Administration created that great University System in Ohio?  Ted Strickland (and Chancellor Eric Fingerhut).

You know whose Administration already has done regulatory reform and got rid of thousands of overly burdensome and unproductive government regulations?  Yep, Ted Strickland.

Ted Strickland has enacted job-creation tax credits, he’s ushered in a reform of our corporate tax rates, cut our personal income tax rates by double-digits and now about of expensive makeup and hair and private jet tours through Ohio is going to help John Kasich avoid that reality.

(BTW, at no time did John Kasich mention once his tax repeals… in an interview billed as “Kasich on Taxes.”  He falsely said our budgets haven’t been balanced, when they are REQUIRED to be balanced.  He claims Governor Strickland raised taxes… when he’s lowered them.  So, not only is John Kasich running to the national media claiming a plan that is actually the Governor’s record, he’s then lying about the record.)

And I admit, I misjudged the extent John Kasich would try to co-opt Governor Strickland’s record as his own.  I should have realized that when I didn’t see Jon Keeling writing post after post, Tweet after Tweet, condemning the Third Frontier, it meant that Kasich was going to sign onto it.

After all, John Kasich has wowed the Tea Party crowds throughout Ohio with his conservative populist message as being against “corporate welfare,” so much he claimed that he was a Tea Bagger First, a Republican second.

Except the Dayton Daily News reported this morning that the Kasich campaing has endorsed the compromise on Third Frontier worked out between Governor Strickland, the House Democrats, and the Senate Republican leaderships.

So, imagine the gall of Kasich when despite all this, he tries to pivot before the general election and claim that Governor Strickland has no plan to Turnaround Ohio.

Excuse me a minute, I’m sorry Mary Taylor has something she wants to say in response to concerns that Kasich-Taylor have no plans:

“[T]hey’re talking about a plan that doesn’t currently exist,” Taylor said.

Mary Taylor is right.  It’s hard to criticize someone if they don’t have anything original to say…

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Strickland wins broad bipartisan support for $700 million job creation program

by ModernEsquire on February 3, 2010 · Comments

In May, Ohio voters will be asked to approve a $700 million bond expansion for the Third Frontier.  It is yet another major bipartisan victory for the Strickland Administration.

But unlike the tax freeze, the Senate Republicans are going to have to supply more than just five nominal votes.  This ballot issue will pass with widespread bipartisan support.

The plan is far more than what the Senate Republicans passed, but it uses the money quicker than the timetable called for by the version passed by the House Democrats.  It’s the best of both worlds.  $700 million for job creation to be spent over four years, and it’ll go to the voters in May.

And I bet the farm John Kasich will come out against it.  He has to because Governor Strickland supports it and is going to get a lot of credit for getting this bipartisan agreement worked out in time to get this on the ballot in time for May.  (Meanwhile, Kasich’s definition of “bipartisanship” is shutting down the government when you don’t get your way, and then being forced into a compromise where you still don’t get your way, but you declare victory nonetheless.)  Governor Strickland is going to be able to run on a record of bipartisanship that Kasich cannot counter.

Here’s the comment from the Governor today on the bipartisan compromise on Third Frontier:

“All sides can be proud of this bipartisan agreement to place a renewal of the Ohio Third Frontier before voters in May.  Third Frontier was created with the support of Ohioans in 2002 and has since created more than 48,000 jobs through its investments in high-growth industries.

“The overwhelming bipartisan support from the legislature is a strong validation of the most successful economic development and job-creating program in Ohio.  I appreciate Ohio’s business, higher education and labor leaders for supporting Third Frontier and for their unwavering belief in Ohio.  They know that our best days are ahead of us, not behind us.  Renewing Third Frontier is a central part of Ohio’s plan to build a foundation for long-term economic progress.  I will encourage Ohioans to support this proven program at every opportunity.”

The same people who used gay marriage in 2004 for voter turnout will cynically snipe that this is about helping the Governor, except the vote is being held in May, not November.  And the average voter will see this as helping them, not the Governor.

John Kasich is going to come out against $700 million for jobs because he knows that if it passes, it helps not just Ohio, but Strickland, politically.  He’ll oppose it because it hurts his campaign.  Pure and simple.  He has no choice.

He’ll oppose $700 million in job creation over four years and offer instead a vague, even more expensive tax plan that already Kasich has said can’t be done in ten years and is actually unlikely to create any jobs. (More on that later.)

Write the date and time you read this post and just wait to see what Kasich and his supporters do and when.  They’re going to oppose passing $700 millions for jobs in May, and then try to run in November on jobs. 

And they … are…. screwed.

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Great moments in conservative thinking: the history of transportation infrastructure

by ModernEsquire on January 28, 2010 · Comments

Going around to the various news websites in Ohio, there is a high number of positive comments about the 3C commercial rail project announcement today (which, given the audience that is people who comment on the news, is remarkable.)

The central conservative criticism seems to be: “if this is so great, the private sector would have done it.”  The other is that the rail will need to be subsidized in order to stay in operation.

These are a remarkably ignorant statements about the history of transportation infrastructure in this country and State.

The private market didn’t create a single commercial airport in Ohio.  In fact, the only commercial airport the private market has ever built was conceived last year.  As the same article points out, airports that have tried to go private have not been successful in their efforts.  Not only are the airports subsidized, but so are the privately-held airlines that operate there.

The public roadways, by definition, are things that the private market didn’t create.  They don’t make a profit.  They are “subsidized” by the gasoline tax as well as other taxes.

Commercial seaports?  Ever heard of the Port Authority?

Transportation infrastructure is a public good.  Always has been.  This isn’t any different and to expect it to be is to hold passenger rail to a higher standard than any other mode of transportation is just insane.

By definition, public goods are characterized by: (1) value that has benefit to the community as a whole beyond any purchase price paid, (2) often requiring large initial investment costs that are generally too expensive for any individual or private corporation to afford and earn a reasonable return, (3) requiring a higher level of administration than any individual or company can arrange and (4) having value that accrues over time and is difficult to price properly. Public goods have “externalities,” that is, value that accrues to people who benefit by other’s consumption of them without paying for it themselves.

In other words, the critics of the 3C Plan are making a criticism that, in essence, is nothing more than decrying the existence of the concept of a “public good.”

Apply this conservative standard elsewhere, and there’d be no airports, seaports, or highways.  How would THAT economy look?

All this to criticize a plan that will generate nearly 300 different construction projects in the next two years and create at least 11,000 jobs. The conservative criticism over 3C ignores basic economic concepts like a recognition that there is a legitimate government role as a positive economic actor in creating a transportation infrastructure in which the market can operate and utilize.

If John Kasich wants to tell the Steelworkers that he doesn’t think Ohio should be building passenger rail cars…. well, good luck with that.

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Trains (and jobs) are coming to Ohio.

by ModernEsquire on January 28, 2010 · Comments

The State of Ohio is expecting that the Obama Administration will announce that it will receive $400 million of the $564 million it requested in ARRA federal stimulus funds to implement the 3C rail project.

Officials have said that this is sufficient funding to start passenger rail service among Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland by 2012.

Eventually, once there is a reliable source of dependable passenger rail service in Ohio, the 3C rail project is expected to be a precursor to a high-speed rail service.

There are unsubstantiated reports that a company will open a plant in the Columbus area to manufacture passenger rail cars needed for this project.

With nearly 25% of Ohio’s urban residents owning no vehicle of their own, passenger rail service will provide affordable statewide transportation.  It’ll also be a boon to intrastate tourism.

Here’s some of the economic benefits from the 3C Plan:

  • Generates additional $111 million in potential consumer spending
  • Potential to add at least $1.2 billion to Ohio’s economy
  • Generates more than 11,000 potential jobs
  • Creates at least 255 construction jobs over a two year period
  • $1 in passenger rail development can generate $3 in economic benefit
  • Creates opportunities to revitalize vibrant urban cores
  • Attracts and retains young professionals

Here’s the list of government officials and public interest groups that have already endorsed the 3C plan.

And be sure to read about the details of the proposed stations in Dayton and Cleveland as examples of what this project means for Ohio’s major cities.

This is great news for Ohio.

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Apparently neither Jon Keeling nor Matt Naugle have ever heard of the Law of Unintended Consequences- How Kasich’s tax plan would make Ohio’s economy worse

by ModernEsquire on January 12, 2010 · Comments

Both out-of-state Kasich blogger Jon Keeling and Matt Naugle are trying to make political hay out of a recent Plain Dealer story that Ohio-based American Greetings is thinking of relocating out of Brooklyn, Ohio due to high local taxes.

They’re both writing that it’s somehow the State government’s fault, but that’s not what the story says:

In an internal memo sent to employees on Wednesday, the company said: “we are launching a study to consider whether or not we should move the company’s world headquarters to another location” because the City of Brooklyn last spring voted to raise the city’s payroll tax 25 percent, to 2.5 percent from 2.0 percent.

In other words, it has nothing to do with Ohio’s taxes.

Keeling doesn’t even bring himself to claim that Kasich’s plan would do any better.  Seriously, read the post.  He doesn’t even say, “this is why Ohio needs John Kasich.”  Can’t even bring himself to write it.

Why?  Because even Keeling knows that Kasich’s plan would make this situation even worse.

The state’s income and estate taxes provide a broad tax base that can provide financial support for local governments at a tax rate lower than what those individual local governments can generate from their smaller tax base.

Repeal Ohio’s income and estate taxes, and local governments will stop getting that financial assistance from the broader tax base and will have to massive cut spending (when the economy has already forced cities to do so under the current tax structure) AND raise taxes.

Do what Kasich prescribes and local income tax and property tax rates will skyrocket.  They’ll HAVE to.  That’s why conservatives have failed in efforts to repeal the estate tax in the past.  The Law of Unintended Consequences demands that such a move would raise tax rates elsewhere.  And because those taxes have a narrower base, the rate that those taxes would need to increase to generate the same income is higher than the rate businesses and their employees are paying now under a broader base tax structure.

Say what you will, but John Kasich’s prescription would actually make the situation worse for companies like American Greetings, not better.

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Not even the conservative Tax Foundation will say that Kasich’s tax plans will help Ohio’s economy.

by ModernEsquire on January 11, 2010 · Comments

Last week, several conservative bloggers, including Virginia-based/unofficial Kasich campaign blogger Jon Keeling (a.k.a. I.T. 1040sauce) wrote about a recent “study” by the Tax Foundation regarding Ohio’s tax climate.

Billed as a non-partisan organization, the Tax Foundation is nonetheless a conservative ideological one whose studies and methodology has been criticized widely by economists. 

Among its board members is Gingrich-era House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer.  It’s President, who authored the “study” on Ohio, is Scott Hodge. According to the Tax Foundation’s website, Hodge was behind the Gingrich and then Bush Administration’s effort to cut the federal capital gains taxes.  “Before joining the Tax Foundation, Scott was Director of Tax and Budget Policy at Citizens for a Sound Economy. He also spent ten years at The Heritage Foundation, including eight years as Heritage’s Grover Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs.”  Citizens for a Sound Economy was the predecessor organization of Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity.

So, when you see someone like Hodge from a conservative organization on tax issues suddenly decide to issue a report on Ohio’s taxes at the beginning of an election year in which the Republican candidate has made taxes his entire platform, I guess you can guess what that report would say, right?

Well, no. 

1.  Ohio has actually lost more population after massively cutting the income tax.

The Tax Foundation’s own data rebuts Kasich’s main argument that tax cuts stem out-of-state migration. 

2005 was the first year of massive income tax cuts.  The result was that population loss actually accelerated.  Does this suggest a negative correlation?  No, but it does establish that there is no correlation between cutting taxes and population lost.  Remember, in conservative blogs, the use of a chart ends all debate.

2.  According to the conservative Tax Foundation, state spending in Ohio per capita has been relatively flat when you factor for inflation.

Second, has Ohio seen exploding state government spending?  Not according to Hodge:

During the same period, however, Ohio’s state spending grew from $38 billion in 1993 to over $60 billion today, roughly keeping equal after adjusting for population and inflation changes. (emphasis added).

Basically when you adjust for changes in population and factor in inflation, Ohio is spending the same amount per capita as it was back in 1993.  That seems to refute any notion by Kasich that Ohio has out-of-control government spending, especially when you consider the source.

Don’t get me wrong, the study talks negatively about Ohio’s tax environment (it is, after all, a study by the Tax Foundation), but the study when taken as a whole, does not do what you’d expect an election-year study by the Tax Foundation would say–  It does NOTHING to support Kasich’s case for repealing Ohio’s personal income or estate taxes.  Instead, quite the opposite.  It provides a conservative argument why Kasich’s platform is unlikely to improve Ohio’s economy. 

3.  The Tax Foundation’s own study concludes less expensive, more modest reforms other than what Kasich is promoting would be more effective.

Even though the stated purpose of the study is to suggest improvements to Ohio’s tax environment to make it “attractive” to businesses and job growth (the stated rationale for Kasich’s platform), it doesn’t even discuss either of Kasich’s proposals as something that would significantly improve Ohio’s economic climate.

The Tax Foundation does not even call Ohio’s progressive income tax or its estate tax one of Ohio’s most “anti-growth taxes.”  Again,the Tax Foundation’s study seems to suggest that Kasich’s plan is an ineffective way of improving Ohio’s economy.  Let me say that again, one of the most conservative tax organizations in the nation cannot bring themselves to say that Kasich’s platform would help. Instead of repealing Ohio’s personal income tax, the Tax Foundation instead suggests, predictably, that Ohio move to a flatter income tax.  I will say that Ohio’s nine income brackets does seem excessive. 

The taxes the Tax Foundation suggests should be repealed is the Commercial Activities Tax and the state’s capital gains tax.  Ironically, the Tax Foundation singles out the CAT tax as the most anti-growth tax in Ohio.  Ironic because it was instituted by Republicans in the General Assembly because the Tax Foundation called Ohio’s inventory tax… the most anti-growth tax in Ohio. 

However, nowhere in this study does the Tax Foundation recommend any component of John Kasich’s platform.

In fact, the massive reductions in spending caused by a repeal of the personal income tax would make the changes the Tax Foundation recommends fiscally impossible.

4.  Ohio’s personal income tax rates don’t put Ohio at an unique disadvantage to other States.

According to the Tax Foundation: “Ohio’s top income tax rate of 5.925% is about average regionally and nationally.”  What the Tax Foundation says makes Ohio rank so poorly in its business environment ranking (which has been widely criticized by economist for ideological bias) is local municipalities and school districts income taxes.

When not even the Tax Foundation can sign onto your signature issue, you know you have problems.  While Keeling and other conservative bloggers liked the Tax Foundation’s press release for the study for its catchy headline, they apparently didn’t read the study.  Because the actual study is a damning indictment as how silly repealing Ohio’s income tax would be.

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Are you supporting too-big-to-fail banks?

by Amber on January 7, 2010 · Comments

My money moves from Wachovia to the 1st Commonwealth Bank of Virginia this weekend. How about you?


The big banks are already spending our tax dollars. They don’t need my money as well.

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Buying American

by Amber on January 6, 2010 · Comments

I haven’t written here for a couple of weeks…I’ve been busy buying my first home! It’s a great 105-year old bungalow in Arlington, VA.

I’m blogging about our efforts to buy appliances, products, fixtures, etc. for the house that are manufactured in the U.S. over at ManufactureThis. I’ll be cross-posting here as well. Please add your recommendations for relevant products made in the U.S. in comments on either site.

Our American-made home

My husband and I just bought our first home! It’s new to us, but was built in 1904. Despite being in great shape for being more than 100 years old, there are a lot of improvements we need to make.

So, why am I blogging here?

Well, we are going to do our best to practice what we preach and buy American-made products for our new home. We need all kinds of things: appliances, insulation, fixtures, etc. How many of these items are still made in the U.S.? We’re about to find out.

We made our first trip to Home Depot this weekend. We needed new door locks. Made in America? Not at Home Depot. We had three options: two made in Mexico and one in Taiwan. We went with Mexico – we figured buying something from North America was the best we could do. If anyone knows of door locks made here, please note it in comments.

We also needed a couple of tools. We were able to find American-made pliers after picking up and replacing lots of tools made in Taiwan and Mexico. The measuring tape we bought was partially made in the U.S.

And the new air filter has components made here, but it was assembled in Mexico.

If any ManufactureThis readers have some good resources for finding products that are made in the U.S., please note them in comments. We have lots of work to do (and products to buy) over the coming months! Thanks!

P.S. Some things that are still made in the U.S.: cardboard boxes and packing tape.

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China Cheats and We Lose Jobs

by Amber on November 19, 2009 · Comments

I had to skip my second night with the Palin book to attend (and work at) a town hall meeting in Baltimore about U.S. manufacturing policy, or rather, the need for a U.S. manufacturing policy.

I’ve been working on this issue for a while but I finally understood more about why U.S. manufacturing has declined so significantly. I always understood that China was part of the problem, but I just assumed it was because they were winning in the market place: they could make and sell products more cheaply than we could. I thought this was only because they paid their workers much less and ignored the environmental damage their manufacturing methods cause.

That is only part of the problem.

China is not competing with U.S. manufacturers in an open market place. They are cheating.

“Chinese currency manipulation” is a term that gets thrown around by people who understand these issues.

I had no idea what this meant, other than the fact that “manipulation” is a bad thing. Last night, I finally understood and I think it’s important that more people do too.

Basically, if China operated as other countries do (and as they are supposed to do under international agreements), our trade imbalance would tilt out of their favor, jobs would be saved and created here in the U.S. and we could fairly compete (and even win) in the international marketplace.

China is artificially setting the exchange rates of their currency in order to gain an unfair advantage. That’s why Chinese products are so cheap. As AAM, the host of last night’s town hall, describes it:

“This made China’s exports to the U.S. relatively cheaper than they should have been and made U.S. exports to China more expensive than they should have been. This had two-fold negative effects on American industry. On one hand, the relatively cheap Chinese imports drove domestic manufacturers, who could not compete with that price, out of business. On the other, the relatively expensive imports of U.S. products into China limited consumption of U.S. goods there, putting many export-intensive U.S. companies out of business.”

And China has taken full advantage – to our detriment – since they entered the World Trade Organization in 2001 and then established Normal Trade Relations with the U.S. Check out this graphic:
Job loss

I grew up in Cleveland in the 1980s and my dad was a machinist. I remember the dips shown on this graphic. I had no idea how much worse it’s been in this decade! Looking at this graphic, it is NO wonder our economy is in the shape it’s in now.

But it also points to some solutions – like requiring China to compete fairly. If they don’t, we should do exactly what the Obama administration has started doing: enforce international trade rules. Tariffs were recently added to Chinese tires which had been flooding U.S markets at artificially low prices (and costing U.S companies and U.S. workers). The result of the tariff: American companies have actually been able to successfully compete and have even started rehiring workers.

Imagine what would happen if we fully enforced the trade rules. It’s only fair.

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Want to be a stockbroker or a hamburger-flipper when you grow up?

by Amber on November 10, 2009 · Comments

My friends at the Alliance for American Manufacturing directed me to this depressing article on the “Fastest Dying Cities” from Forbes. It says that Youngstown, Canton, Dayton and Cleveland are among the “worst” cities.

Luckily, AAM also linked me to this video about how this destruction of my home state can be reversed:

It looks like the federal government is extending a hand, but where are the companies – and the jobs? The fact that 84% of the stimulus money set aside for investing in clean energy has gone to foreign companies tells me something is lacking in our corporations and entrepreneurs (not to mention in the legislation)!

I know we can do better.

And unless everyone in Ohio simply wants to decide between a career as a stockbroker or a hamburger-flipper, we’d better speed things up. (Watch the 3-minute video to hear one of my heroes, Leo Gerard, on this career choice!)

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Want to Know How to Create 20,000 New Jobs in Ohio?

by Amber on June 20, 2008 · Comments

According to the Renewable Energy Policy Project, more than 20,000 new manufacturing jobs can be created in Ohio in the coming years with investment in and from the “green” economy. Four town hall meetings – on June 23 in Cincinnati, June 24 in Findlay, June 25 in Canton and June 26 in Cleveland – will offer community members a chance to learn more about opportunities for high-paying domestic jobs in renewable energy, clean technology and “green” manufacturing, while also discussing environmental and economic risks associated with accelerated climate change.

In conjunction with Vice President Al Gore’s We Campaign, the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club (as part of their Blue Green Alliance) are hosting the town halls. Participants will share facts on global climate change, energy independence and green job opportunities locally, as well as offer ways community members can get more involved.

Thirteen town hall meetings are being held in cities across the country this month. If you are in the vicinity, stop by, learn more and contribute to the discussion. Details on each Green Jobs for America — We Can Solve It Town Hall Meetings…

CINCINNATI EVENT
Monday, June 23, 2008, from 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Laborer’s Hall
3457 Montgomery Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45207
Speakers will include:
USW District Director Dave McCall
Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper
Larry Feist, Cincinnati State
Matt Ryan, SEIU
Representative from the Climate Project

FINDLAY EVENT
Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 7:00pm-8:30pm
USW Local 207L Union Hall
1130 Summit St.
Findlay, OH 45840
Speakers will include:
Dave Caldwell, USW
Kimberly Gibson, Ohio Energy Dept.
Findlay Mayor Pete Seinert
Donnie Blatt, USW (moderator)
Representative from the Climate Project

CANTON EVENT
Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 7:00pm-8:30pm
Golden Lodge
1234 Harrison Ave. SW
Canton, OH 44708
Speakers will include:
Ken Riley, The Climate Project
Dennis Brommer, USW
George Calko, Blue Green Alliance
Randy Feemster, Timken Company
Bryan Bell, AFL-CIO (moderator)

CLEVELAND EVENT
Thursday, June 26, 2008, 7:00pm-9:00pm
Sachsenheim Hall
7001 Denison Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44102
Speakers will include:
Eric Schreiber, The Climate Project
Dave Caldwell, USW
Pam Rosado, Policy Matters Ohio
Marnie Urso, Audubon Ohio
Teresa McHugh, Sierra Club
Donnie Blatt, USW (moderator)

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More on Democratic Presidencies and the Economy

by Brian on April 7, 2008 · Comments

I mentioned earlier that Larry Bartels has a new book about how Democratic Presidencies are significantly correlated with better economic growth. Some economists – Paul Krugman is one – are unsure what to make of this.

So what’s going on? Paul Krugman says he’s uncertain about Bartels’s results because he can’t figure out a “plausible mechanism” for them — a common reaction among economists, who generally don’t believe that presidents influence the economy enough to produce the kinds of differences Bartels documents. Bartels himself isn’t sure what causes the effect either…

…but the effect is there. There’s enough data to say that it’s unlikely to be coincidental. So the issue isn’t that the effect is illusory – it’s that economists don’t understand everything that is going on. Which isn’t surprising, since economics is a social science, and social sciences are “sticky” (compared to “hard” sciences like physics or chemistry). I would think good economists would be interested in figuring out why they can’t explain this (or, in other words, what the actual mechanism is), rather than discounting the results. You don’t throw out data that doesn’t fit the theory – you change the theory to accommodate new facts.

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Democrats = better economic growth than GOP

by Brian on April 1, 2008 · Comments

It’s true – since 1948 a Democratic White House has meant higher economic growth across all economic classes, especially poorer people, but also for the richest people in society.

Bartels shows in his book that this difference is not a statistical artifact or a fluke. It is not the result of Democrats coming to power during better economic times, or of Republicans reining in the unsustainable excesses of Democratic administrations they replace. (It turns out that the same pattern prevails even when a Republican president is succeeded by another Republican.) These numbers are real and they are the outcome of partisan differences in policy. So if you are one of those who have bought the story that income distribution is the result of pure market forces and technological changes, with politics playing no role–think again.

I can’t wait to read Bartles’ book. But the implication is clear – Republican polices, either by design or ineptitude, are an attack on the lower and middle classes, and the GOP manages to fool people into believing that they are better on economic terms, despite the evidence proving the opposite.

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