South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Around the Dial – Oct. 19

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

• The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond analyzes direct policies to reduce carbon emissions.
• The Charlotte Observer discusses Moody’s role in the financial crisis.
• Econbrowser blogs about national output data.
• Naked Capitalism dissects the factors that lead to poor media coverage of economic issues.
• The News & Observer writes about recovery-funded transportation projects in North Carolina.

Weekend Wonk Out

A round-up of policy reports from the week ending on 10/16:

• The Congressional Budget Office reports on the state of the federal budget through September.
• The Southern Regional Education Board analyzes southern students’ participation in AP and IB programs.
• The Commonwealth Fund reports on state-by-state differences in health care.
• Kevin Carey of Education Sector says what elite universities owe everyone else.
• The Center on Economic and Policy Research proposes a job-sharing tax credit.

Jobless Recovery Takes Hold in NC

September’s employment report offered more proof that a jobless recovery has taken hold in North Carolina.

Last month, private-sector employers eliminated 13,600 more positions than they created. However, hiring in the public sector offset most of these losses, leading to a total statewide loss of just 600 positions. These findings come from data released today by the Employment Security Commission.

In September, North Carolina employers eliminated 600 more positions than they added. Private-sector employers eliminated 13,600 positions, with losses occurring in every major industry except for construction. These losses were offset by a net gain of 13,000 public-sector positions, primarily at the state (+4,600 positions) and local levels (+8,600 jobs).

Click to read South by North Strategies’ analysis of the latest employment report.

Obama and Public Policy: An Assessment

At Grasping Reality with Both Hands, economist Brad DeLong assesses the performance of the Obama administration in handling the recession, regulating the financial sector, protecting the environment, and reforming health care. Blogs DeLong:

Don’t get me wrong: My complaint is not that the Obama administration has not been liberal enough. My complaint is that the Obama administration, so far, has not been devoted enough to good policy –to the good technocratic policies of what I used to see as the bipartisan center–and has been unwilling to use any leverage at all against a congress that is underbriefed, unfocused, and easily captured by special interests. You can only use such leverage if you have a moment arm–allow daylight to open up between the President’s position and the position of the marginal senator, and say that the President’s policies are those he and has staff have concluded after sober reflection are best for the nation but that he will take what he can get from congress.

Around the Dial – Oct. 15

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

• The Economix blogs about how deflation is preventing cost-of-living adjustments.
• Calculated Risk summarizes the Federal Reserve’s recent economic assessment.
• The Economic Policy Institute explains the gaps in the new jobs data at recovery.org
• Economist Joe Stiglitz discusses misaligned incentives in the finance field.