Abstract: In a September 27, 2011, letter, the Honorable Chris Van Hollen requested an estimate of the portion of the federal deficit that is due to the current underutilization of capital and labor resources in the economy. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that if those resources were not underutilized—that …
From the Summary: Congressional interest in patent reform has increased as the patent system becomes more significant to U.S. industry. Patent ownership is perceived as an incentive to the technological advancement that leads to economic growth. Yet, this augmented attention to patents has been accompanied by persistent concerns about the …
The goal of raising $100 billion per year by 2020 to help address the climate change mitigation and adaptation needs of poor countries is “challenging but feasible,†according to the report (pdf, 280kb) of the advisory group established to study potential revenue sources. The revenues would fulfill a pledge made …
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has authored a wide-ranging report on Arctic issues, focusing on new developments created by the region’s changing climate. The report, Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress (pdf, 640kb), is part of a collection of CRS reports maintained by the Federation of American …
For the third consecutive month, weak gains in private sector employment were not enough to offset much larger cuts in government jobs in September. The Labor Department’s monthly jobs report said the economy lost 95,000 jobs overall, as government employment fell by 159,000 against a gain of 64,000 private sector …
A surge in patent activity in clean energy technologies (CETs) coincided with the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, sending “a strong signal that political decisions setting adequate frameworks do matter†in the development of technologies to combat global warming, according to a new survey. Patents and clean energy: …
You might have missed it, but the recession officially ended in June 2009. That’s the conclusion announced by the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on September 20. The committee determined that a trough in business activity occurred in that month, marking an end …
Just in time for the Labor Day weekend, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more discouraging employment news. Private employer payrolls were up modestly in August (+67,000), but not enough to offset another larger decline in government employment, as the unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percent to 9.6 percent. After …
Economic growth in the second quarter was slower than previously estimated, according to the Commerce Department’s August revision. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at a 1.6 percent annual rate from April to June, down from the initial estimate of 2.4 percent after a first quarter increase of 3.7 percent. “The …
The jobs report for July, released August 6 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (pdf, 406kb, or html), showed an overall jobs loss of 131,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.5 percent. An uptick of 71,000 private-sector jobs in July was not enough to offset …