Daily Policy Digest
Economic Issues
| A Teen with a Job Becomes a Rarity in U.S. Economy Only about 25 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds are currently working, a drop of 10 percentage points from just five years ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics... |
| Workforce Productivity Falls U.S. nonfarm productivity -- defined as output per hour worked -- declined at a 0.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter... |
| The Folly of Federal Training Government job training efforts are plagued by inefficiencies and failing priorities, failing to train enrollees properly or preparing them for jobs that don't exist... |
| A Housing Market without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did little to achieve their goals, while simultaneously contributing to those forces responsible for the eventual housing bubble... |
| The U.S. Sugar Program: Bad for Consumers, Bad for Agriculture and Bad for America According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the sugar program imposes a $49 million net cost on the economy... |
| The Decision to Delay Social Security Benefits: Theory and Evidence Delaying receiving one's Social Security benefits is actuarially advantageous for a large subset of people, particularly for real interest rates of 3.5 percent or below... |
| Freedom and Entrepreneurship If the average state increased its economic freedom score by 0.22 points (as calculated by the researchers) this would translate to 106 additional new businesses started per month... |
| The "Equal Pay Day" Myth Aggregately comparing fulltime working men and women without holding other factors constant is disingenuous... |
| The Great California Exodus Nearly 4 million more people have left California in the last two decades than have come from other states... |
| More than 5 Million Join Disability Rolls under Obama Administration Since the recession ended in June 2009, the number of new enrollees to Social Security's disability insurance program is twice the job growth figure... |
