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A SELECTION OF DOCUMENTS RECENTLY PUBLISHED ON THE WEB
No 141 November 2011 EXTRACTS
Linda Levine
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress - October 28, 2011- 9 pages
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42063.pdf
A persistently high unemployment rate is of concern to Congress for a variety of reasons, including its negative consequences for the economic well-being of individuals and its impact on the federal budget (i.e., deficit growth due to lower revenue and higher expenditures). The unemployment rate was 9.5% when the economy emerged from the 11th postwar recession in June 2009, and it climbed further to a peak of 10.1% in October 2009. The unemployment rate very slowly declined in 2010. It settled at about 9.0% during the first three quarters of 2011. The stalled rebound of the labor market has renewed calls for new measures to stimulate economic growth amid speculation about a double-dip recession, such as occurred during the early 1980s.
AyĆegĂŒl Ćahin and Jonathan L. Willis
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review - Third Quarter 2011 30 pages p>
http://www.kansascityfed.org/publicat/econrev/pdf/11q3Sahin-Willis.pdf
The first section of the article describes the employment patterns during the economic recovery. The second section analyzes patterns based on the education level of workers and discusses the factors contributing to these patterns. The third and fourth sections undertake similar analyses of employment growth patterns based on gender and age, respectively.
Christopher L. Smith
Federal Reserve Board - Finance and Economics Discussion Series - November 2011 - 79 pages
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2011/201141/201141pap.pdf
âSince the beginning of the recent recession, the employmentâpopulation ratio for high school age youth (16â17 years old) has fallen by nearly a third, to its lowest level ever. However, this recession has exacerbated a longerârun downward trend that actually began in the 1990s and accelerated in the early 2000s (...) This paper presents updated trends in teen employment and participation across multiple demographic characteristics, and argues that, in addition to immigration, occupational polarization in the U.S. adult labor market has resulted in increased competition for jobs that teens traditionally hold.â
Jun Nie and Ethan Struby
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review - Third Quarter 2011 36 pages p>
http://www.kansascityfed.org/publicat/econrev/pdf/11q3Nie-Struby.pdf
âThis article examines the experiences of a sample of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that have a history of using active labor market policies. The analysis finds that two types of active programs can be particularly effective: training programs that equip unemployed workers with skills in demand and job-search assistance that matches unemployed workers with employers. Beyond these two program types, there is little evidence that other active programs (such as employment incentives and direct job creation) reduce unemployment significantly. These findingstogether with evidence tthat the U.S. labor market currently suffers from a certain amount of structural unemploymentsuggest that the United States could benefit from moree training programs and job-search assistance.â
Jennifer Erickson, Sean Pool
Accelerating Regional Job Creation and Innovation - A Closer Look at a Promising New Federal Program
Center for American Progress Issue Brief November 2011 9 pages
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/11/pdf/jobs_accelerator.pdf
âThe Economic Development Administrationâs Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge is one federal program dooing what worksleveraging existing resources to do more with less. The Jobs Accelerator program is set to punch well above its weight This issue brief willl examine each of these important attributes in this unique federal program. There are vital lessons here for policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels as well as for business leaders and nonprofit groups across the many economic regions of our nation.â
James Sherk and Andrew M. Grossman
The Heritage Foundation Backgrounder - November 2011 - 6 pages
http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2011/pdf/bg2624.pdf
âWith a high unemployment rate and a struggling economy, passing legislation that discourages job creation would seem counterintuitive. And yet, by pushing for the Fair Employment Opportunity Act (FEOA) this is precisely what President Obama and some Members of Congress propose. The FEOA would define the currently unemployed as a âprotected class,â and allow them to sue for discrimination in hiring. Little evidence exists that employers discriminate against the unemployed. Letting unemployed workers sue, however, would raise the cost of creating new jobseach unemployed applicant would become a potential lawsuit. Businesses would respond by creating fewer new jobs and relying more heavily on existing networks to fill positions. The FEOA would make it harder for unemployed workers to find jobs. Good intentions are not enough to negate the law of unintended consequences.â
United States Senate Committee on Finance Hearing - November 10, 2011
http://finance.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=ca102861-5056-a032-5264-b65dce4cac50
âSo today, letâs focus on how our Unemployment Insurance system can use reemployment strategies to save existing jobs and create new ones. Letâs find a way to improve the program. There are several reemployment proposals this Committee is considering. Some programs partially replace the earnings of workers who suffer job loss. Others help unemployed workers find permanent work, either through direct job placement or through retraining. And other models are even designed to develop entrepreneurs. We need to tap into these ideas. There are already a number of states doing great work in this arena Today we will hear more about the opportunities and challenges that arise from these programs.â
Joseph D. Henchman
Tax Foundation Backgrounder paper - November 2011 - 32 pages
http://taxfoundation.org/files/bp61.pdf
âProgram design alternatives could offer more innovative and more sustainable methods to find jobs for the short-term and long-term unemployed while preserving benefits to support them in the meantime. These options include eliminating the firewall between administrative costs and benefits, reducing cross-subsidies through greater use of experience ratings, relying more on face-to-face training and advising, adopting elements of state workersâ compensation programs, and experimenting with individual accounts to encourage saving. These changes can enhance the programâs ultimate goal of ensuring a viable safety net for transition periods between employment.â
Jaison R. Abel and Richard Deitz
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Current Issues in Economics and Finance - November 2011 - 7 pages
http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci17-6.pdf
âColleges and universities can contribute to the economic success of a region by deepening the skills and knowledgeor human capitalof its residents. Producing graduates who join the reegionâs educated workforce is one way these institutions increase human capital levels. In addition, the knowledge and technologies created through research activities at area universities may not only attract new firms to a region but also help existing businesses expand an innovate. These âspillover effectsâ can in turn raise the regionâs demand for high-skilled workers.â
Harry J. Holzer
Brookings Institute The Hamillton Project Paper - November 2011 28 pages
âTo improve the employment rates and earnings of Americans workers, we need to create more-coherent and more-effective education and workforce development systems, focusing primarily (...) on disadvantaged youth and adults, and with education and training more clearly targeted towards firms and sectors that provide good-paying jobs. This paper proposes a new set of competitive grants from the federal government to states that would fund training partnerships between employers in key industries, education providers, workforce agencies, and intermediaries at the state level, plus a range of other supports and services (...). The evidence suggests that these grants could generate benefits that are several times larger than their costs, including higher earnings and lower unemployment rates among the disadvantaged.â
Brookings Institute The Hamilton Project Event November 30, 2011 28 pages
On November 30th, The Hamilton Project at Brookings held forum and released new policy proposals on training programs geared toward the needs of todayâs workforce. In a rapidly- changing global economy, the skills of some workers have become less valuable, while other skills are in short supply. By collaborating with industry partners and drawing on evidence about what works, training programs can better prepare workers for jobs in growing industries. A diverse group of policy leaders, stakeholders and training experts participated in the forum to share a range of perspectives, including White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Alan Krueger, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Siemens President and CEO Eric Spiegel. Following the roundtable discussions, the panelists took audience questions.
Unemployment and Earnings Losses: A Look at Long-Term Impacts of the Great Recession on American Workers
Brookings Institution - November 4, 2011
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/1104_jobs_greenstone_looney.aspx
Between October of 2008 and April of 2009, an average of 700,000 American workers lost their jobs each monthccontributing to the worst sustained decline in employment since the Great Depression. Research suggests that many of these workersparticularly those whoo held long-term jobswill experience hardship that extends beyond the timme they are unemployed. Once they are reemployed, they often earn significantly less, impacting the quality of life for them and their families.
Louis S. Jacobson, Robert J. LaLonde and Daniel G. Sullivan >
The Brookings Institute The Hamilton Project - November 2011 48 pages
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/11_displaced_JLS/11_displaced_JLS_paper.pdf
âA well-targeted training initiative has the potential to substantially reduce permanent earnings losses for those displaced workers who have the academic preparation, work experience, and interest to complete high-return retraining(...) This paper presents five comprehensive reforms targeted specifically at retraining displaced workers experiencing significant earnings loss: (1) establish a Displaced Worker Training (DWT) Program to provide sizeable grants for longer-term training; (2) use honest brokers to assess and counsel grantees; (3) provide incentives and performance standards for participants and institutions; (4) evaluate training programs and disseminate best practices; and (5) shore up community collegesâ capacity to provide high-quality training, especially during tough economic times.â
Government Accountability Office November 2011 - 58 pages
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1210.pdf
âWomen represent an increasingly larger share of the total workforce in the United Statesconstituting nearrly half of the total workforce. In addition, an increasing proportion of women in the workforce are more educated. However, research by GAO and others has shown that womenâs average pay has been and remains lower than that of men. Questions have been raised about the extent to which less-advantaged womenthat iss, those who are low wage or less educatedexperience lower wages than less-advaantaged men. GAO was asked to examine the differences in representation, key characteristics, and pay among women and men (1) with less education and (2) with low wages.â
Jacob S. Hacker, Gregory A. Huber, Austin Nichols, Philipp Rehm
The Urban Institute - November 2011 - 32 pages
http://economicsecurityindex.org/assets/ESI%20Full%20Report%202011.pdf
âThis report updates and extends the Economic Security Index (ESI), an integrated measure of the share of Americans who experience large declines in their âavailable household incomeâtheir household income after paying for medical care and servicing their financial debts. Given continuing economic distress, the ESI is likely to remain high in the coming years. Because the ESI is a measure of income changes from one year to the next, however, it could continue to come down from its 2009 peak even
if unemployment remains high and growth anemic (...)Yet whatever the exact direction of the ESI in the next few years, it is clear that the economic security of Americans is under greater threat today than at any point over the last quarter century.â
Pew Social & Demographic Trends - November 7, 2011 38 pages
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2011/11/WealthReportFINAL.pdf
Older adults have made dramatic gains relative to younger adults in their economic well being during the past quarter century, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from two key U.S. Census sources. Trends in household wealth reveal the pattern most vividly. In 2009, the median net worth (all assets minus all debts) of households headed by an adult ages 65 or older was 42% more than that of their same-aged counterparts in 1984. By contrast, the net worth of a typical household headed by an adult under the age of 35 in 2009 was 68% less than that of their same-aged counterparts in 1984.
A Deeper Look at Income Inequality - An Analysis of the CBOâs Latest Study on Household Income Distribution and Recommendations for Policymakers
House Budget Committee - November 17, 2011 17 pages
http://budget.house.gov/UploadedFiles/CBOInequality.pdf
âThe question for policymakers is not how best to redistribute a shrinking economic pie. The focus ought to be on increasing living standards, expanding economic opportunity, and promoting upward mobility for all. Conventional wisdom on governmentâs role in inequality often has it backwards: tax reforms have resulted in a more progressive federal income tax; government transfer payments have become less progressive (due in large part to growing entitlement payments to wealthier seniors). Rather than further divide Americans, there is growing bipartisan consensus to target corporate welfare, to income-adjust entitlement programs, and to reform the tax code by removing loopholes and lowering barriers to growth.â
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation - November 10, 2011 21 pages
http://www.pbgc.gov/documents/2010-Exposure.pdf
Every year PBGC provides an actuarial evaluation of its expected operations and financial status. The report contains estimates and projections for both the single-employer and multiemployer programs over the next decade, including future position projections that offer a glimpse into subsequent decades. To project long-term exposure, PBGC uses two systems: the Single-Employer Pension Insurance Modeling System (SE-PIMS), and the Multiemployer Pension Insurance Modeling System (ME-PIMS). Each relies on running many simulations to derive a range of projected outcomes.
Liqun Liu and Andrew J. Rettenmaier
National Center for Policy Analysis November 2011 - 24 pages
http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/st337.pdf
âEntitlement reform has dominated the ongoing debate over reducing the federal governmentâs persistent deficits and mounting debt. Together Medicare and Social Security account for a third of current federal spending and will continue to grow as a share of both the economy and federal spending in coming years. Since the inception of Medicare and Social Security, numerous reforms have been proposed. This study focuses on Social Security reform, examining four types of reform that represent the range of most commonly mentioned options.â
U.S Senate Committee in Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Hearing - November 15, 2011 p>
The witness will be: Mr. Hubert H. âSkipâ Humphrey III, Assistant Director, and Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Ms. Julie Nepveu, Senior Attorney, AARP Foundation Litigation.
Medicare Advantage: Enrollment Increased from 2010 to 2011 while Premiums Decreased and Benefit Packages Were Stable
US Government Accountability Office November 2011 - 25 pages
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1293.pdf
âThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, enacted in 2010, required that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (...) make changes in how Medicare pays MA plans. These changes, once fully implemented, are expected to reduce MA enrollment and payments, and lead to less generous benefit packages. GAO was asked to examine trends in MA from 2010 to 2011. This study assesses the extent to which the following changed from 2010 to 2011: (1) MA Medicare Advantages - enrollmennt, (2) MA premiums and cost-sharing requirements, and (3) the additional benefits offered by MA plans.â
U.S Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension Hearing - November 10, 2011, >
http://help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=68fdfd16-5056-9502-5d63-058b8c2b38ec
Witnesses: Jonathan Blum , Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Washington, DC - Chris Koller , Commissioner, Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner, Providence, RI - Gary Kaplan, MD , Chairman and CEO, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA - Greg Poulsen , Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, UT - A. Mark Fendrick, MD , Professor, Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, and Co-Director, University