Sumner La Croix
Q & A: What Do We Know About Income Inequality in Hawaii?
1. THERE’S BEEN SO MUCH CONTROVERSY ABOUT INCOME INEQUALITY LATELY. WHAT DO THE NUMBERS TELL US ABOUT INEQUALITY IN THE US AND HAWAII? The income numbers tell a simple story: Income inequality in both the United States and Hawaii was stable from the end of WWII until the early 1980s and has been steadily increasing […]
Read MoreIntegration of North and South American Players in Japan’s Professional Baseball Leagues
Teams in Japan’s two professional baseball leagues began to add foreign players to their rosters in the early 1950s, with the average number of foreign players per team reaching 5.79 in 2004. One reason for their increased use of foreign players was that foreign hitters substantially outperformed Japanese hitters. We show\ that the pace of […]
Read MoreQ&A: Employment and Unemployment in Hawaii
1. HAWAII’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE INCREASED FROM 6.1 PERCENT IN JULY TO 6.2 PERCENT IN AUGUST. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? The basic reason is that the number of Hawaii’s people in the labor force and without jobs increased by 900. One reason is the continuing weakness in the tourism this summer with declines in June and […]
Read MoreLa Croix receives 2011-2014 NSF support for Cliometrics Annual Conferences and World Congress of Cliometrics
Professor Sumner La Croix (UH Economics, UHERO, and UH Global Health and Population Studies) and Professor Ann Carlos (University of Colorado Economics) have received a grant from the National Science Foundation to support two annual Cliometrics Conferences in 2012 and 2014 and a World Congress of Cliometrics in 2013. The 2012 annual conference will be held in […]
Read MoreQ & A: Social Security Disability Program – Problems and Reforms
1. THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION IS KNOWN FOR ITS OLD-AGE PENSION PROGRAM BUT IT ALSO RUNS A PROGRAM PROVIDING BENEFITS TO DISABLED AMERICANS? The Social Security Disability Program provides insurance for American workers and their families against being left in poverty and unable to pay medical expenses if they become disabled. The Program currently provides […]
Read MoreQ & 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 MoreDr. Sumner LaCroix to participate on tourism panel on PBS Hawaii’s INSIGHTS
The INSIGHTS ON PBS HAWAII program will feature a discussion about the state of tourism in Hawaii. Featured on the panel will be UHERO Research Fellow and Professor of Economics, Dr. Sumner LaCroix, Ramsay Taum, President of the Life Enhancement Institute of the Pacific, Mike McCartney, President/CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Keith Vieira, VP […]
Read MoreThe Impact of Civil Unions on Hawaii’s Economy and Government
This report provides quantitative and qualitative measures of the impact of same-sex civil unions on the Hawai`i economy, Hawai`i businesses, and the State of Hawai`i’s budget. More specifically, we examine the effect of civil unions on tourism arrivals to Hawai`i; state government revenues and expenditures; employer provision of health insurance to civil union partners and […]
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