South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Negative Home Equity

Calculated Risk breaks out negative home equity by state.

The Case for Free Trade

Economist’s View thinks about the case for “free trade.”

Saying that everyone could be made better off with increased international trade is not the same as people actually being made better off. There are winners and losers from increased international trade, and while I agree that the gains exceed the losses in almost all cases, the gains haven’t been distributed in a way that leaves everyone, or even most everyone, better off (see, e.g., widening inequality and where the costs of these kinds of adjustments fall). When some people are made better off and others made worse off at the same time, economists cannot say it is unambiguously better or worse. If we are going to make the argument that trade is good because everyone could potentially be made better off, we should do much more than we have to ensure that this potential is realized, i.e. that the gains from trade are distributed widely across the population rather than concentrated among a smaller set of winners.

Around The Dial – Feb. 21

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• Free Exchange can’t figure why job training funding is being cut.
• Bob Herbert points out “the human cost of budget cutting.”
• Robert Reich argues that the GOP is trying to break the working class.
• The Washington Post explains what a budget shutdown looks like.
• Robert Frank lays out a case for taxing harmful activities.

The Fog of Budgeting

The N.C. Budget & Tax Center clears the fog of budgeting.

At no point in the next biennium are state revenues expected to exceed the revenue levels of 2006‐07. These revenue levels will fail to provide the state with adequate revenues to meet its responsibilities today and far into the future. Furthermore, with one‐time funds expended, the shortfall from pre‐recession service levels would remain above $4.5 billion into the second year of the next biennium, with shortfalls expected to continue for years to come…
…
Thus, while the improved revenue estimates mean a less dire budget and revenue outlook in the next year, state policymakers must still tackle the challenges in the immediate‐term of meeting the increased demand for state services that result when economic hardship abounds and the state’s population grows and ages. Playing a numbers game with one‐time funds and mid‐year budget cuts does not solve the state’s structural revenue shortfall; it merely pushes off the reforms necessary to put the state’s finances and the economy on a sustainable path.

State Budget Cuts

The PBS NewsHour reports on how state budget difficulties may impact Medicaid programs.