October 31, 2005
Federal Reserve Nomination
:President Bush nominated Ben S. Bernanke, 51, to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, when his term expires in January. Bernanke, a former Economics Professor, was named to the Federal Reserve board in 2002 by President Bush and recently was named chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. Bernanke’s political views are not widely known (other than he is a registered Republican) but he is known as an economist that favors inflation targets.
(Filed under: Bush Administration, Economy, America)
U.S. Economy
:Despite Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the U.S. grew 3.8% during the third quarter. The economy would have expanded quicker according to Commerce Department figures but destroyed homes and workplace and disrupted shipping routes pushed inflation higher.
(Filed under: Economy, America)
October 17, 2005
Commentary – Third World Policies
:Third World nations lag behind the First world in almost every measure leading to much European and American guilt and aid. But two measures that were proposed this week in the United States that could lead to actual improvement and the Third World helping itself seems to have little chance of passing.
First, the United States proposed reducing farm subsidies in this nation by sixty-percent to jump-start the so-called Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations. The Doha Round was started because Third World nations have criticized subsidies of industrial nations’ farm products that reduce the prices that Third World countries can receive on the only products they can sell on the international market. While the European Union responded with a proposal of their own that appears to be less generous than the American proposal, Japan completely balked at the proposal.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress appears very unlikely to agree to a Bush proposal that would allow food aid for African nations to be purchased in other African nations, instead of shipping American crops. By purchasing African crops for food aid, the U.S. would join Europe in using aid to accomplish two goals: 1) feed the hungry and 2) fund market development in other African nations. But this proposal means that farmers that are supportive of aid because the food is purchased from American farmers would not be less supportive of aid in the future.
While both proposals have significant political opposition, they actually make sense for both international development and in saving money for American tax payers. By cutting subsidies, America would save billions of tax dollars while also lowering food prices for consumers, while leveling the playing field for poor farmers around the globe. By purchasing crops in Africa for food aid, American tax payers would be charged less for aid, while allowing African nations to build their own economy. In both cases, politicians should accept some political cost and accept proposals that will actually do the majority of the world population some good.
(Filed under: Bush Administration, Commentary, Politics, Economy, UN, Europe, America, Global Issues, Health, European Union)
October 10, 2005
Economic News
:Unemployment, which was expected to spike rapidly on the heels of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, only rose modestly in September. Department of Labor statistics revealed that the economy lost 35,000 jobs last month. Job creation across the nation made up for the losses in the Gulf states and many companies have continued to pay displaced New Orleans workers in the aftermath of the disaster.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Hurricane Katrina, Economy, Hurricanes)
October 3, 2005
Hurricane Aftermath
:A week and a half after Hurricane Rita appeared to have been a ‘dud’, it has become obvious that while the hurricane missed the major cities along the gulf, it has devastated the rural areas. Entire towns have been erased from the map. Over 100 lives were lost to go along with the over 1,000 lives from Hurricane Katrina. Economically, the hurricanes caused consumer spending plunging at the highest rate since the September 11th terrorist attacks and over 279,000 new claims for unemployment insurance from the hurricanes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has began wrestling with the costs of rebuilding the region. The Louisiana delegation has proposed a $250 billion dollar bill to rebuild the region.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Hurricane Katrina, Economy)
September 10, 2005
Economics
:Expectations are that the Federal costs of the hurricane will exceed $100 billion, while insured losses is estimated between $20 and $35 billion dollars. Experts believe that the U.S. economy should be able to handle the shock of the storm but it will be difficult. Over 1 million jobs have been lost in the region at least temporarily. But that is just the beginning of the economic pain as the port of New Orleans is maybe the most important port in the country. Oil prices have skyrocketed over $3 in most of the country and farmers could lose all much of their crop if they cannot find a new path to ship their products overseas.
(Filed under: Natural Disasters, Hurricane Katrina, Economy)
September 2, 2005
Economic Impact
:Over a third of the nation’s oil supply has been potentially knocked off line by the storm causing prices to sky rocket. In Atlanta, prices reached $6.50 before the Georgia Governor vowed to prosecute any gas station that sold gas for over $5 for price gouging. Nationwide prices have risen over $3 a gallon with lines forming, reminiscent of the 1970. It has gotten so bad that President Bush has asked Americans to conserve. But gasoline is only the beginning. New Orleans is one of the major American ports with much of the Midwest’s exports flowing through it. As the weeks go on, prices will rise on many products that used New Orleans as a port causing major economic problems. Not to mention the strain that a $10-25 billion cleanup will cause or as many as a million people displaced internally for the next few months.