Economy
Q & A: S&P’s downgrade of its rating for U.S. Treasury bonds
1. S&P’S DOWNGRADE: HOW DOES IT CHANGE THINGS? S&P’s downgrade of the US long term credit rating is a landmark historical event for the US. The ratings downgrade–from AAA to AA+– tells potential buyers of US government bonds that the risk of the US government defaulting on its $14 trillion debt has risen substantially. And […]
Read MoreQ & A: U.S. Employment, Unemployment… and the Stock Market
1. WHAT WERE THE RESULTS OF THE JULY EMPLOYMENT REPORT? Non-farm employment increased by 117,000 jobs while private employment increased by 154,000 jobs. Employment counts for May and June were revised upwards. The U.S. unemployment rate fell from 9.2% to 9.1%, and average hourly earnings rose to $23.10. 2. WHICH SECTORS ARE RESTRAINING JOB GROWTH? The State/Local Government sector is still cutting spending and jobs to balance […]
Read MoreWashington Ignores the Real Crisis
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis released second quarter data on the nations Gross Domestic Product this morning. Given all of the mixed economic news over the past several months, it does not come as a big surprise that this advance GDP estimate was very weak. The US economy expanded at a 1.3% annualized rate during the […]
Read MoreUHERO Research Fellow to appear at the Northeast Asian Economic Forum Meeting
UHERO Research Fellow James Mak to share his thoughts on tourism and tourism development based on 35 plus years of research at the Northeast Asian Economic Forum Meeting on August 2, 2011. Dr. Mak’s presentation will be built around a few thoughtful quotations about travel and tourism. The urge to travel is universal. Harold Vogel (2001) Tourism depends […]
Read MoreGang of Six vs Cap, Cut, and Balance
It was a busy week in Washington as Congress has struggled with potential solutions to the looming US debt ceiling crisis. Two very different plans have floated to the surface. First, the so called Gang of Six has revived a version of the Bowles-Simpson bypartisian deficit reduction plan. They have widespread support in the Senate […]
Read MoreDr. Denise Konan participates on an APEC panel on PBS Hawaii’s INSIGHTS
The INSIGHTS ON PBS HAWAII program will feature a discussion about the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit that will take place in Honolulu this November. A panel of experts will delve into the economic, environmental and social issues that APEC members will explore at the summit, and what the high-profile event means for Hawaii as […]
Read MoreQ & A: What’s the problem in Europe?
1. THE DEBT CRISIS IN EUROPE SEEMED TO GO FROM BAD TO WORSE. WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? The European Union is still trying to solve the problem of very large government debt burdens of a number of countries. Greece is at the center of the crisis. They have an accumulated net debt of more than 140% […]
Read MoreUHERO Brief: The Lag in Employment Recovery
While US real GDP bottomed out in the second quarter of 2009 and is now back at its pre-recession level, non-farm payrolls only started picking up at the beginning of 2010, and they remain far below their previous peak. What explains the existence of this lag? This brief appeared in the most recent UHERO County […]
Read MoreUHERO County Forecast: Uneven Recovery Continues
Hawaii’s county economies turned the corner in 2010, led by rapidly improving visitor sectors. The recovery will broaden and deepen in 2011, but performance will be uneven. A summary of this forecast is available as a service to the public. For more detailed analysis, subscribe to UHERO’s Forecast Project.
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