Trade Issues

Third and State This Week: PA Jobs Advantage Recedes, Supreme Court Has Voter ID Concerns, Poverty Remains High and the Manufacturing Jobs Score

This week at Third and State, we blogged about the shrinking (and now disappeared) advantage Pennsylvania had over the national unemployment rate, concerns voiced by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court over the Voter ID Law, the "manufacturing jobs score" by presidential administration, new data on poverty in Pennsylvania and much more. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • On jobs and the economy, Stephen Herzenberg fact checked a recent assessment of the Corbett administration's jobs record, and Mark Price blogged about the August jobs report showing that the advantage Pennsylvania had over the national unemployment rate has disappeared.
  • On jobs and manufacturing, Stephen Herzenberg shared a commentary he co-authored with Colin Gordon of the University of Iowa on the "manufacturing jobs score" by presidential administration since 1948. 
  • On voter ID, Chris Lilienthal wrote about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision to send the legal challenge to the law back to the Commonwealth Court — and the concerns voiced by the court about the law's implementation.
  • On poverty, Chris Lilienthal highlighted media reports on new Census data on poverty in Pennsylvania and in major metro regions of the state. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center also put out an overview of the new Census data on poverty, income and health insurance.
  • On hunger, Jamar Thrasher blogged about how more colleges and universities are opening food banks for students who can't afford their next meal.
  • And in Morning Must Reads this week, Mark Price highlighted news reports on Hershey's plan for a $300 million manufacturing plant and on Occupy Wall Street one year later.

More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

Morning Must Reads: A Bittersweet Investment By Hershey

The Hershey Company today unveils plans for a new $300 million investment in a state of the art manufacturing facility here in the midstate. This is sweet news or, as David Wenner explains, bittersweet news.

Morning Must Reads: 40 Million American Workers Get No Paid Sick Leave

The New York Times comes out strongly in favor of paid sick leave legislation in New York City. Looking at you, Philadelphia.

Morning Must Reads: Predicting School Districts In Distress, Privatization and Hello Düsseldorf!

The Harrisburg Patriot-News reports this morning on a new study that predicts fiscal distress in Pennsylvania school districts thanks to state budget cuts.

Third and State This Week: Gloomy Economic News, Trade Agreements and Tracking Salaries

This week, we blogged about the need for a jobs plan, an effort to make labor markets more transparent, and the negligible effect the recently passed trade agreements will have on reducing joblessness. Plus, the Friday Funny is back, with the warm words of everybody's favorite CEO, T. Herman Zweibel (extra points, if you know who that is without looking him up).

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • On the recession and recovery, Mark Price addressed a Patriot-News editorial that calls for passage of the American Jobs Act but misstates the important impact that the Recovery Act of 2009 had on turning the free-falling economy around. Mark also blogged about some of the awkward facts that make it difficult to root for GE and other multinationals.
  • On unemployment and the economy, Mark compared a poll performed by the Mercyhurst College Center for Applied Politics with labor analysis done by the Keystone Research Center — both finding that roughly 1 in 4 Pennsylvania residents have had less paid work than they wanted during the last 12 months.
  • In other economic news, Mark blogged about Congress' failure to address the lack of consumer demand that is keeping unemployment high and its passage of a free trade agreement that will have a negligible impact on U.S. employment.
  • On wages and the workplace, Chris Lilienthal blogged about an online project aimed at creating a more transparent labor market. You can share and compare salaries and wages, understand your rights on the job, and look up the salaries of politicians, CEOs, athletes, and Hollywood stars.
  • Lastly, a bit of humor after a gloomy news week. Chris shared some satire from The Onion's publisher emeritus, T. Herman Zweibel, who is shocked that his repeatedly mistreated employees are in disbelief that he would move their offices to the Yukon.

More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

Morning Must Reads: Congress Passes Trade Deals while Families Suffer

Posted by Mark Price on October 13, 2011 7:17 am
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Unemployment in most places is higher than it has been in decades, and worse still unemployment rates have started rising again as private-sector job growth has stalled and the public sector continues to shed jobs. The economy needs a boost, but Congress is making no progress towards passing a jobs bill. You might be tempted to think Congress can agree on nothing. Well, it depends on what you mean by nothing.

The economic benefits are projected to be small [blogger's note: even according to people whose models capture gains from trade but not the downside]. A federal agency estimated in 2007 that the impact on employment would be 'negligible' and that the deals would increase gross domestic product by about $14.4 billion, or roughly 0.1 percent.

This 112th Congress is building a solid record of having a negligible effect on employment. Meanwhile, back in the real world, a story that just breaks your heart.

Third and State This Week: A GOP Drilling Tax Bill, Local Poverty Data and a New Blog Feature

Posted by Third and State on September 23, 2011 5:39 pm
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This week, we blogged about rising unemployment in Pennsylvania, a new GOP plan to enact a Marcellus Shale drilling tax and local poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Plus, Mark Price launched a new daily blog feature highlighting the morning's economic news. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

  • On poverty, Michael Wood shared new Census data for Pennsylvania and major metro areas. Included is a look at rising levels of deep poverty in Pennsylvania and across the nation.
  • On the Marcellus Shale, Chris Lilienthal blogged about Governor Corbett's call for an "impact fee" on drilling and a new GOP drilling tax bill adding to the momentum.
  • On jobs and the economy, Sean Brandon provided some analysis on Pennsylvania's August jobs report.
  • Finally, Mark Price launched a new blog feature this week. Check in after 8 a.m. each weekday morning to get a quick and thorough rundown of the day's economic news and opinion. Find out what happened this week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!
More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

Economic News and Opinion for September 21, 2011

Posted by Mark Price on September 21, 2011 7:10 am
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For those of you not obsessed with the coming Pumpkin Shortage, here is your morning run down:

Which brings me to reaction to Friday's column from two executives about whether more government action is needed. Roger Colley, a former president of ... Betz Laboratories and Envirogen, would try to reduce uncertainty for business by doing the following: First, put all new regulations on hold and freeze federal spending, both for five years. Next, cut the corporate net income tax rate to 15 percent from a top rate of 35 percent and make the current rates for individuals permanent ... Tom Callahan, senior vice president of Bristol's Modern Group Ltd, ... would also cut the corporate tax rate so that businesses are not 'incented to do business overseas all the time.' Instead of a freeze on government spending, Callahan suggested it be cut, saying, 'The wars should be ended.'

Third and State This Week: Big Budget Rally, Mexican Trade Deficit & Marcellus Shale Taxes

Posted by Third and State on May 6, 2011 4:13 pm
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This week, we weighed in on a debate over the tax payments of drillers in Pennsylvania. We also blogged about the state's revenue surplus, a big rally at the State Capitol and the Pennsylvania jobs toll of a trade deficit with Mexico.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

  • On the Marcellus Shale, Sharon Ward responds to a Pennsylvania Department of Revenue analysis of the tax contributions of the oil and gas industry. Michael Wood writes about comments made by Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the issue of whether gas drillers are structuring their businesses as pass-through entities to cut their state tax bills.
  • On state budget and taxes, Chris Lilienthal shares a short video from this week's Rally for a Responsible Budget which brought more than 5,000 Pennsylvanians to the State Capitol. Michael Wood writes that better-than-expected revenue collections in April have pushed Pennsylvania's General Fund revenue surplus to over $500 million.
  • Finally, on trade issues and jobs, Stephen Herzenberg blogs about the findings of a new Economic Policy Institute report on the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico. In Pennsylvania, that deficit has cost us more than 26,000 jobs since 1994.

More blog posts next week. Keep us bookmarked and join the conversation!

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