Blog

Trade Fact of the Week: U.S. R&D spending approaching $1 trillion per year.

05.08.2024

FACT: U.S. R&D spending approaching $1 trillion per year. THE NUMBERS: U.S. share of world “knowledge- and technology-intensive” manufacturing and services – Manufacturing 2022 20.4% 2012 20.1% Services 2022 39.7% 2012 29.3% National Science Foundation, 2024.  Manufacturing includes chemicals; pharmaceuticals; weapons and ammunition; computer, electronic, and optical; electrical equipment; machinery; automotive; aerospace; railroad and other…

Ecommerce worker safety is important. But a new bill takes the wrong approach.

05.06.2024

PPI believes that worker safety and dignity is one of the key pillars of modern technological society. The evidence of the past fifty years shows that it is possible to increase productivity, keep weekly work hours about the same,  and reduce injuries at the same time. Since the early 1970s, labor productivity has risen by…

Bureaucrats vs. Free Speech

05.03.2024

This week, President Biden schooled U.S. college students protesting the war in Gaza on the difference between exercising their Constitutional rights and engaging in mob violence and vandalism. The campus clashes, he said, test two “fundamental American principles”: “The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their…

Trade Fact of the Week: 38 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings have opened since 2019.

05.01.2024

FACT: 38 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings have opened since 2019. THE NUMBERS: U.S.’ share of the world’s 100 tallest buildings – 2024 14 2020 14 2010 29 2000 47 1990 87 1950 91 1900 38   WHAT THEY MEAN: An early architecture critic, the Venerable Rodolf Glaber of the Dijon Abbey, looks back…

Trade Fact of the Week: U.S. economic growth greater than China and the EU combined this year.

04.24.2024

FACT: U.S. economic growth greater than China and the EU combined this year. THE NUMBERS: U.S. share of world GDP* –  2024: 26.3% 2020: 25.0% 1980: 25.5% IMF World Economic Outlook 2024, currency basis WHAT THEY MEAN: Two ways to count and divide “all the money in the world”: One way is to ask: How…

Where the Railroads Need to Go Next

04.18.2024

February marked the one-year anniversary of the Norfolk South train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Residents, driven out by a controlled burn of spilled chemicals, have mostly returned to their homes, and the town is working towards a return to normalcy. Norfolk Southern just settled a class-action lawsuit for $600 million without admitting liability, and…

Trade Fact of the Week: U.S. life expectancy loss during the COVID-19 pandemic: -1 year for college-educated, -4 years for high school diploma or less.

04.17.2024

FACT: U.S. life expectancy loss during the COVID-19 pandemic: -1 year for college-educated, -4 years for high school diploma or less. THE NUMBERS: Largest drops in U.S. life expectancy, last 125 years – 1917-1918 -11.8 years 1902-1904   -3.9 years 1942-1943   -2.9 years 2019-2021   -2.4 years WHAT THEY MEAN: The first April edition…

How Online Education Can Open Doors for Rural Students

04.15.2024

Seventy-two percent of America is rural, yet these areas are only home to 14 percent of the population. Rural communities across the U.S. have higher poverty rates and lower education levels compared to those in urban and suburban areas. While 41 percent of urban adults have a college degree, only 28 percent of rural adults do. While…

Presentation to FCC Open Internet Roundtable

04.12.2024

Presentation of Dr. Michael Mandel, Progressive Policy Institute, to FCC Commissioner Gomez Open Internet Roundtable, 4/11/24 Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this roundtable. I’m Michael Mandel, Chief Economist of the Progressive Policy Institute. The Progressive Policy Institute is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Our mission…

Trade Fact of the Week: Tariff revenue in FY2023: $80 billion. Reps. Fletcher and Pettersen have some very good questions about who is paying this money.

04.10.2024

FACT: Tariff revenue in FY2023: $80 billion. Reps. Fletcher and Pettersen have some very good questions about who is paying this money. THE NUMBERS: Tax revenue by source, Fiscal Year 2023* – Tariff system: $80.3 billion Fuel tax for trust fund: $42.2 billion Estate and gift tax: $33.7 billion Tobacco excise tax: $10.3 billion Alcohol…

PPI Down Under: The Economic Impact of Weakening Encryption in Australia & New Zealand

04.04.2024

The Progressive Policy Institute traveled to Australia and New Zealand in mid-March 2024 to present our latest report “Backdoors and Balance Sheets: The Consequences of Weakening Encryption on the Future of Work.” The paper was authored by PPI’s Colin Mortimer and guest author Joel Gladwin, a former Special Adviser to two Secretaries of State at…

Trade Fact of the Week: The Port of Baltimore handles 10% of U.S. vehicle trade and 94% of Ethiopian birdseed imports.

04.03.2024

FACT: The Port of Baltimore handles 10% of U.S. vehicle trade and 94% of Ethiopian birdseed imports. THE NUMBERS: Arrivals of Ethiopian “noug” imports, 2023 – Port of Baltimore: 7,095 tons Port of New York:    429 tons All other:        6 tons   WHAT THEY MEAN: Last week’s destruction of the Key…