March 4, 2011

Additional Sources for Fed Essay Contest

Education Issues:

James J. Heckman, Noble prize winning economist from U. of Chicago: The declining American high school graduation rate: Evidence, sources, and consequences.

GREAT Powerpoint HERE by Heckman. Here is Heckman on Job Creation.

Here is former Mpls Fed President Art Rolnick on the importance of early education.

Debt, Deficits, and Uncertainty Harm Economic Growth:

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke here.

More here, and here. Robert Samuelson talks about uncertainty hindering economic growth here. More about Keynesian Policy, and huge deficits here.

Debt is now at a level where economic growth and job creation are affected, here.

Government Spending and job creation here.

All this debt crowds-out private investment. Here is the definition of the crowding-out effect.

High Corporate Tax Rates in US decrease Economic Growth and Job Creation:

The US has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. Read how this hinders job creation here. More here and here. And here is how high tax rates reduce incentives. Here is the 3M CEO who is very critical of regulation hurting job growth. And read here, the US will have the highest corporate taxes in the world!


Problems Facing the Long-Term Unemployed:

From ABC News here.

Are there Benefits to Being Unemployed? Do unemployment benefits increase unemployment?

Read here. Obama economist Larry Summers here, on how unemployment insurance reduces the incentives to search for jobs.

Not in the Labor Force?
Good article on discouraged workers here.

And don't forget that 60 Minutes Video, previously viewed in class.

Key Instructions: "
First, you must be clear about the need for intervention. If you argue that the government should play a role, you must explain why. Further, you need to consider the benefits of government policies as well as their costs, and your account of the costs should consider possible unintended consequences. If you want to argue that the government should take a more hands-off approach, you need to explain why you think that will work better than the status quo."

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