Economy Archives - Page 58 of 83 - Progressive Policy Institute

The Great Disrupters of Silicon Valley

Posted on June 27, 2013September 18, 2024 by The Progressive Policy Institute

Last week, the Pepperdine School of Public Policy gathered an eclectic crew of economists (including your fearless blogger) and high-tech entrepreneurs to discuss tech policy over dinner in Silicon Valley. Among the entrepreneurs were startups like mobile-payment company Ribbon, voice-recognition-software maker Promptu, and mobile-platform provider Appallicious, as well as established players like portable-device maker Lab126 (think Kindle).

These entrepreneurs shared stories about spontaneous collaborations being struck over morning coffee at University Cafe. (Note to joggers: After taking out University Avenue on day one of your trip, make sure to hit the Dish near Stanford on day two.) To succeed here, one needed to tap into this vibe. Unlike the keep-your-head-down mentality of Washingtonians, strangers in the Silicon Valley are inclined to interact based on a common mission to design the next great thing.

After being plied with a local Cabernet (or three), and without any prior warning, the economists were asked a difficult question: What role, if any, does tech policy have in promoting startups like the ones gathered around the table? Continue reading “The Great Disrupters of Silicon Valley” →

White House Broadband Report Highlights PPI Research

Posted on June 18, 2013September 18, 2024 by The Progressive Policy Institute

I’m glad to see that the Progressive Policy Institute’s extensive research and policy program on the data-driven economy is getting some attention in the White House.

On June 14th the White House released a report entitled Four Years of Broadband Growth. The report prominently highlighted PPI’s July 2012 policy brief on Investment Heroes: Who’s Betting on America’s Future, noting that

just two of the largest U.S. telecommunications companies account for greater combined stateside investment than the top five oil/gas companies, and nearly four times more than the big three auto companies combined.

In addition, the WH report prominently featured our research on the number of jobs created by the App Economy. The White House noted that:

These devices have done more than connect Americans to one another more easily. The integration of mobile broadband, advanced operating systems and increasingly sophisticated hardware, along with low barriers to entry to an open network, have enabled an entire economy of mobile applications to develop in the United States. This “App Economy” is one of America’s most dynamic growing sectors, and one that industry studies have cited as creating more than 500,000 U.S. jobs since 2007.

Critical Progress on Wireless Broadband

Posted on June 17, 2013September 18, 2024 by The Progressive Policy Institute

The wireless broadband revolution can only be fully realized if the government implements policies that encourage continued investment and innovation in mobile broadband. Happily, last week saw critical progress by the government in the right direction.

On Friday President Obama released a Memorandum, titled “Expanding America’s Leadership in Wireless Innovation,” which calls on federal agencies to free up or share unused spectrum for commercial purposes. This Presidential Memorandum comes on the one year anniversary of President Obama’s last broadband executive order, which focused on using federal land to increase national broadband access.

This latest memorandum is a big step forward for enabling wireless broadband providers to meet rapidly expanding consumer demand for spectrum, and for reaching the goals set out in the 2010 National Broadband Agenda. As the number of smartphone subscribers increased 99 percent in the last two years, now reaching over half of the U.S. population, mobile broadband providers are in danger of reaching capacity with their current spectrum allotments.

Continue reading “Critical Progress on Wireless Broadband” →

Young People Can’t Get a Summer Job – But Don’t Blame Immigration

Posted on June 13, 2013 by The Progressive Policy Institute

ABC News’ Emily Deruy quotes Diana Carew on immigration and unemployment:

According to the Department of Labor, just half of young people between 16 and 24 had jobs in July 2012, which is typically the peak for youth employment. That’s up just slightly from 2011.

Anti-immigration organizations like the Center for Immigration Studies allege that immigrants are partially to blame.

But it’s not that simple, according to the liberal Progressive Policy Institute.

Diana Carew, an economist with the think tank, thinks immigration is actually a good thing.

Immigration brings in the highly skilled tech workers that employers simply cannot find enough of in the United States right now. Middle-skill, middle-wage jobs have really “been hollowed out,” she said, and it’s actually American workers that used to occupy those positions who have transitioned into lower-skilled, lower-wage jobs that teens typically apply for each summer.

Immigrants, on the other hand, are more likely to apply for hotel cleaning jobs or agriculture jobs that American young people simply aren’t willing to take, she said.

Read the entire article here.

Teen Employment: Which Cities Have the Best Prospects?

Posted on June 13, 2013September 18, 2024 by The Progressive Policy Institute

The start of summer means it’s time for millions of teenagers to find seasonal jobs. But which major cities are showing the best chances for employment?

It turns out teenagers have seen sizable employment gains in cities like San Francisco and Phoenix, while experiencing large drops in cities like Philadelphia and Miami. Nationally, teenage employment has fallen by 5 percent since the recovery began.

I looked at changes in employment for teens age 16-19 across major cities – defined as having a teenage population greater than 200,000 – to see which cities were the biggest winners and losers. I calculated the employment average over May 2009-April 2010 and compared it to average employment for the year ending in April 2013. (Population remained relatively constant over this period.)

*Cities with Largest Teen Employment Gains Since the Recovery**
Rank	City	2009-13 Employment Change
1	San Francisco	30%
2	Phoenix	28%
3	Washington DC	22%
4	Atlanta	16%
5	Detroit	8%
National average		-5%
*Cities with teen population greater than 200,000
Source: Current Population Survey, PPI

*Cities with Biggest Teen Employment Losses Since the Recovery**
Rank	City	2009-13 Employment Change
1	Philadelphia	-32%
2	Miami	-23%
3	Boston	-13%
4	Los Angeles	-10%
5	Dallas-Ft. Worth	-10%
National average		-5%
*Cities with teen population greater than 200,000
Source: Current Population Survey, PPI

What could be behind these major gains and loses? Most likely the employment prospects for teenagers mirrors general economic conditions in these areas. The fact that some cities experienced large, positive employment gains for this group is welcome given that the national teen unemployment rate stands at 24.5 percent, more than three times total unemployment.

As for the cities experiencing large employment losses, teens are likely competing with more educated and experienced adults, even for low-skill jobs. In a recent USA Today article, I explained that in today’s slow labor market recovery teenagers are increasingly finding themselves squeezed down and out of the workforce as middle-skill jobs disappear. I call this phenomenon “The Great Squeeze.”

Wanted (sorta): Summer jobs for teens

Posted on June 11, 2013 by The Progressive Policy Institute

USA Today‘s Brittany Hargrave quotes Diana Carew on the teen unemployment rate:

Teen unemployment was 24.5% last month, more than triple the national jobless rate of 7.6%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

Those unemployment rates reflect only those people who are actively looking for work, not those who have given up or never looked in the first place.

Joblessness among teens 6-19 traditionally is far greater than the national average, but their current unemployment rate is “really high,” said Diana Carew, an economist for the Progressive Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

Employment rates for teens “started to drop precipitously” in 2000, Carew said. “Then the recession exacerbated the trend,” she said.

Read the entire article here.

Wireless Competition Under the Senate’s Microscope

Posted on June 4, 2013 by The Progressive Policy Institute

Today the Senate will convene a distinguished panel of experts to discuss the state of wireless competition in America. Although it is trendy among the cognoscenti to complain about the wireless industry, the reality is that wireless competition is vibrant here, and U.S. carriers are leaving their European counterparts in the dust.

A common refrain among those calling for regulators to “level the playing field” is that two carriers—AT&T and Verizon—are running away from the pack, due to their allegedly superior spectrum holdings. The resulting imbalance in competition can be remedied, they claim, by capping the spectrum holdings of the larger carriers and steering newly available spectrum to smaller carriers. Any relative improvement in the smaller carriers’ networks would attract more customers, which would reduce wireless concentration.

One problem with this story is that wireless concentration—a very fuzzy indicator of competition when it comes to wireless services—is not climbing as predicted. In fact, U.S. wireless concentration as measured by the FCC has held steady since 2008, indicating that Sprint and T-Mobile are not losing ground. Indeed, 2012 was a particularly good year for these carriers, as both enjoyed significant subscriber gains. T-Mobile recently completed its merger with MetroPCS, giving the combined company access to more subscribers and more spectrum.

Perhaps the best indicator of the smaller carriers’ prospects is the bidding war for Sprint that has erupted between Softbank and Dish Network. If Sprint stood no chance to compete with AT&T and Verizon due to its allegedly inferior spectrum, then these savvy investors would not be so bullish about Sprint’s future. Put differently, Sprint’s spectrum holdings are valued dearly in the marketplace despite their “high-frequency” nature.

Read the remainder of the article at Forbes.

The Student Debt Problem Is Bigger Than Interest Rates

Posted on May 31, 2013 by The Progressive Policy Institute

If you believe the recent blitz of student debt coverage, greedy private lenders and high interest rates are to blame for the economic woes of recent college graduates. Lending at what is seen to be excessively high interest rates, the pressure on private lenders to restructure student loans, even at the expense of public funds, is rising. At the same time, the government is taking concrete actions to squeeze private lenders out of the student loan market. Now Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has followed in President Obama’s footsteps by proposing to peg student loan interest rates to the government’s historically low borrowing costs.

Tempting as it may be, attacking private lenders alone will not solve the student debt problem. For one, private student loans are an increasingly small fraction of total outstanding student debt. And while overall student loan defaults have been rising, private student loan defaults have been falling. Second, although not innocent, villainizing private lenders misses the point: outstanding student debt is rising too much too fast. A government-controlled student loan market will not solve the underlying problem that recent college graduates are struggling in today’s slow-growth economy.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the Department of Education has essentially taken over the entire student loan market. The federal guarantee program was scrapped, and interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans were “temporarily” cut in half with another extension debate underway. New government student loans increased 40 percent over 2008-2012 while new private loans fell 75 percent, to just $6 billion last year. The government now holds more than 85 percent of the $1 trillion in outstanding student debt. Meanwhile, just three major private lenders remain active in the market. Continue reading “The Student Debt Problem Is Bigger Than Interest Rates” →

More Good News for Housing

Posted on May 29, 2013September 18, 2024 by The Progressive Policy Institute

As the New York Times reported yesterday, the housing market is recovering, consumer confidence is at a five-year high and the market is in the midst of a strong recovery– The housing market is enjoying sustained momentum alongside record highs in the stock market, and is leading the broader recovery. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) are making money-lots of it. Fannie has paid about $95 billion and Freddie about $37 billion of the approximate $182 billion used to put them in federal conservatorship. The mortgage giants are now on schedule to pay back the taxpayers for the bailout that lead to their conservatorship. Rates are expected to remain relatively low for the next few years and, according to Core Logic, another 1.8 million mortgages are expected to be freed from negative equity with just a 5% increase in prices. According to data from the Case-Schiller index, prices had appreciated 10.2% in March, ahead of analysts’ expectations.

All of these indicators point to emergency measures no longer being required.

The housing market is not the only factor driving this recovery, however. In addition, the closest thing to a silver bullet solution-more jobs- is happening, slowly, but surely. A declining unemployment rate is the essential precondition to any recovery. And that’s been the case from a high of 10.0%, in October 2009 shortly into President Obama’s first year, to a recent low of 7.5%. An expanding workforce means consistent incomes to get mortgages paid on time and save for future down payments. This translates directly to fewer delinquencies, defaults and more first-time homebuyers to keep the housing market churning.

Policy Brief Cited by San Diego Union-Tribune

Posted on May 28, 2013 by The Progressive Policy Institute

Writing for San Diego Union Tribune, Mike Freeman cites PPI chief economist Michael Mandel’s policy brief on the spread of technology and internet jobs in California:

The Progressive Policy Institute examined a database of online help-wanted ads supplied by the Conference Board — which measures consumer confidence — and South Mountain Economics. The aim was to pick up changes in labor demand before they show up in official employment data.

For March, the San Diego County region posted a 3.1 percent increase in help-wanted ads for Internet/technology positions, such as Web developers, data analysts and software developers, compared with the same month in 2012.

That was the second highest percentage gain in the state behind the Central Valley, which posted an 11.8 percent increase.

“We’re able to see there is an awful lot of growth in demand for Internet/tech jobs outside the Bay Area,” said Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist with the Progressive Policy Institute. “These jobs are growing faster than the baseline growth in these regions.”

Read the article here.

A Government Takeover of Student Debt Won’t Solve the Problem

Posted on May 17, 2013September 18, 2024 by The Progressive Policy Institute

If you believe the recent blitz of student debt coverage, private student lenders are to blame for the economic woes of recent college graduates. Lending at what is seen to be excessively high interest rates, the pressure on private lenders to restructure student loans, even at the expense of public funds, is rising. At the same time, the government is taking concrete actions to squeeze private lenders out of the student loan market. Most recently, Senator Elizabeth Warren followed in President Obama’s footsteps by proposing to peg student loan interest rates to the government’s historically low borrowing costs.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the Department of Education has essentially taken over the entire student loan market. The federal guarantee program was scrapped, and interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans were “temporarily” cut in half. New government student loans increased 40 percent over 2008-2012 while new private loans fell 75 percent, to just $6 billion last year. The government now holds over 85 percent of the $1 trillion in outstanding student debt. Meanwhile, just three major private lenders remain active in the market. Continue reading “A Government Takeover of Student Debt Won’t Solve the Problem” →

PPI Releases New Report on Internet Economy — Internet/tech growth has spread far beyond Silicon Valley

Posted on May 14, 2013 by The Progressive Policy Institute

NOTE: The Internet Association will host a press briefing call today on release of PPI’s California Internet Economy Study Results. The call will feature opening remarks by Michael Beckerman, President and CEO of The Internet Association, and a presentation by Dr. Michael Mandel, the chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute. The call will be at Noon PDT / 3:00 p.m. EST and is expected to last approximately 30 minutes. The teleconference will be live and can be accessed by calling 1-877-375-9151 (toll free). The passcode is 72082938, followed by the pound key. Media are encouraged to RSVP to Betsy Barrett betsy@internetassociation.org. Download the policy brief.

WASHINGTON — In California, internet and tech growth is spreading outside the Bay Area to other regions not traditionally associated with the technology and internet industries, accelerating job growth and economic recovery in the state, says a new report released today by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI).

The report, written by PPI’s chief economic strategist Dr. Michael Mandel, highlights recent encouraging signs of job growth in the Internet and tech sector in California that could lift the state out of its economic doldrums, including hard-hit areas such as the Central Valley.

The study examined help-wanted ads across California and found that ads for computer and mathematical occupations in the Central Valley are up by almost 12% over the past year, compared to a smaller 3% gain in the Bay Area. The number of want ads for media and communications workers—many of them related to social media, websites, and other online activities—is up by 34% in Southern California and 42% in the San Diego region. And, demand for web developers is skyrocketing in the Central Valley and Central Coast.

Each of these jobs has the added benefit of creating more jobs in the local economy, from plumbers and janitors to accountants.

The data, notes Mandel, “suggests that the California economy may be approaching a critical inflection point. If the Internet/tech growth continues at its current pace, it may be enough to lift the whole state out of its economic doldrums, including hard-hit areas such as the Central Valley. It also suggests that state government policy should be directed toward encouraging Internet/tech growth, rather than suppressing it.”

Download the policy brief.

The Rebalancing Of The California Economy: How Internet/Tech Jobs Are Spreading Across The State

Posted on May 14, 2013 by The Progressive Policy Institute

Over the last year, California has added jobs faster than the country as a whole, in large part because of the booming Internet/tech sector.

Indeed, the latest official figures still show the Bay Area driving California’s economic growth, while the rest of the state lags behind. According to data from California’s Economic Development Department, the number of jobs rose by 2.2% in the Bay Area in the year ended March 2013, compared to 1.5% for Southern California and only 1.2% for the Central Valley, the region that stretches from Redding in the north to Bakersfield in the south.

However, something new and very encouraging is starting to happen: The economic benefits of Internet/tech growth are spreading outside the Bay Area to other regions of California. These gains are so recent that they don’t show up yet in the official government data.

So how do we know Internet/tech growth is spilling over to other areas? To put it simply, we look at the want ads. Internet/tech-related want ads have surged across California. For example, want ads for computer and mathematical occupations in the Central Valley are up by almost 12% over the past year, compared to a smaller 3% gain in the Bay Area. Want ads for media and communications workers—many of them related to social media, websites, and other online activities— are up by 34% in Southern California and 42% in the San Diego region. And want ads for web developers and related occupations are rising in the Central Valley and Central Coast, albeit off a very small base.

What’s more, each of these jobs tends to have a significant multiplier effect on the local economy, creating jobs for everybody from plumbers and janitors to accountants.

This suggests that the California economy may be approaching a critical inflection point. If the Internet/tech growth continues at its current pace, it may be enough to lift the whole state out of its economic doldrums, including hard-hit areas such as the Central Valley. It also suggests that state government policy should be directed toward encouraging Internet/tech growth, rather than suppressing it.

Download the policy brief.

PPI Releases New Report on Regulatory Reform

Posted on May 10, 2013 by The Progressive Policy Institute

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2013

PRESS CONTACT:
Steven Chlapecka—schlapecka@ppionline.org, T: 202.525.3931

Regulatory Improvement Commission Would Drive Growth and Innovation

WASHINGTON—The creation of an independent, Congressionally-authorized Regulatory Improvement Commission (RIC) is the most effective way to address the build-up of regulations over time affecting businesses, says a new report released today by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI).

The report, Regulatory Improvement Commission: A Politically-Viable Approach to U.S. Regulatory Reform, is by PPI’s Chief Economic Strategist Dr. Michael Mandel and PPI economist Diana G. Carew. It was prepared for a conference on “Regulating in the Digital Economy” held in Washington DC on May 9 and sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation.

The natural accumulation of federal regulations over time imposes an unintended but significant cost to businesses and economic growth. President Obama’s approach to regulatory look back has made some headway in clearing the regulatory underbrush but much more needs to be done. No satisfactory process currently exists for retrospectively improving or removing regulations.

“The status quo of agency self-review is not, and has never been, an effective way to address old or outdated regulations affecting consumers, as well as small and large businesses,”says one of the report’s authors, Diana G. Carew. “Regulations are important to a well-functioning economy, but a regulatory system that facilitates innovation is a critical part of a high-growth strategy – that means we need to address regulatory accumulation using a different, politically-viable approach.”

That approach, the report argues, is to establish a Regulatory Improvement Commission (RIC) that would be tasked by Congress to review the cost-effectiveness of existing regulations. Modeled after the success of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), the RIC would review regulations as submitted by the public and pass along a recommendation to Congress on a package of 15-20 regulations. Once Congress votes on the package, in an up-or-down vote, the RIC would be dissolved until Congress decides to restart the process.

The RIC would be politically viable even in today’s charged Washington environment. It could independently take on regulatory reform in small pieces with no preconceived agenda, thus building trust over time.