South By North Strategies, Ltd.

State Budget Woes

A recent panel on the PBS NewsHour discussed the bleak budget situations facing states at what for most of them is the start of the fiscal year. The panel included Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont and Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania.

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the segment.

Around The Dial – July 9

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

• Paul Krugman pities “the poor C.E.O.’s.”
• George Soros explains “the crisis and the Euro.”
• EPI asks if the recovery is running out of steam.
• Economist’s View isn’t expecting monetary miracles.
• Felix Salmon considers how to attack long-term unemployment.

A History of The “War on Poverty”

Over the July 4th weekend,  public radio stations across the country broadcast the one-hour documentary “War on Poverty” From The Great Society to The Great Recession.” The program was produced by American RadioWorks with funding from the Northwest Area Foundation.

Click here to listen to the documentary, or click here to read a transcript.

An Uncertain Recovery

In a recent speech in Baton Rouge, LA, Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, spoke about the uncertain state of the American economy. From Lockhart’s speech:

So, to pull this together, a recovery of the national economy is proceeding but not yet with solid and sustainable underpinnings. Inflation appears restrained. The outlook from here is beset by somewhat more than normal uncertainty. There is a chance of overachieving forecasts of moderate growth and gradual reduction of unemployment, but at the same time there are notable risks. In my view, these circumstances suggest caution in moving away from policies designed to give the economy the best possible prospect of recovery with full employment. Adjustment of monetary policy will be needed eventually, but this is not the time.
…
Recent developments make me even more convinced that current policy is appropriate. Financial markets and many businesses are more nervous today than a few weeks and months ago, and it’s my view that monetary policymakers should hold to a guarded policy stance and evaluate carefully the risk and reward of a change of policy.

Around The Dial – July 8

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

• Martin Wolf says deficit hawks miss what markets are saying.
• The Financial Times reports on the proposed export growth panel.
• Marshall Auerback questions the “self-inflicted insanity” of unemployment.
• The Wall Street Journal documents “extend and pretend” practices at banks.