Feature Channels: Economics

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Michael Sherraden’s book, Assets and the Poor: A New American Welfare Policy, broke new ground on social policy in 1991. Twenty years later, its impact is still being felt around the world. In Assets and the Poor, Sherraden, PhD, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, writes that asset accumulation is structured and subsidized for many non-poor households, primarily via retirement accounts and home ownership. He argues that these opportunities should be available to all and proposes establishing individual savings accounts for the poor — also known as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). Since Sherraden first proposed IDAs, they have been adopted in federal legislation and in more than 40 states.

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Employment in Maryland’s nonprofit sector grew 1.6 percent between 2009 and 2010, while the state’s businesses experienced a 1.1 percent job loss during the same period, according to a new Johns Hopkins report. This pattern of nonprofit job growth held true for all regions of the state, although recent growth was slightly lower than the 2.0 percent growth recorded from 2008 to 2009.

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Why do some great ideas fail and others succeed? The unique innovations pioneered by someone like Apple CEO Steve Jobs may have less to do with “out of the box” creativity than with mastering—and overcoming—a set of fundamental constraints that span everything from technology to society to group dynamics. Management professor David Owens of the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management says that business and other leaders need to understand exactly which of the constraints are working against them to help create conditions that foster innovation instead of killing it. After years of academic research, coupled with on-the-job experience at two technology design firms, Owens identifies the six most common hurdles to innovation that companies encounter.

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American young people say that the top two causes of poverty are a lack of jobs (82.8 percent) followed by a lack of health insurance (69.4 percent) according to a new national survey of young Americans’ attitudes on poverty, conducted by Hamilton College. The full results of this survey will be available online and presented by webcast on Monday, Dec. 12, at 11 a.m. EST at www.hamilton.edu/poverty

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American University EU faculty experts Matthias Matthijs and Stephen Silvia are available to discuss the current state of the euro-zone economy, risks associated with plans being discussed to prop up the EU economy, and the implications the euro crisis has on the U.S. economic recovery.

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An estimated 9.3 million American adults lost health insurance coverage as a result of increased unemployment during the recession of 2007-09, according to a newly published study by researchers at Cornell, Indiana and Carnegie Mellon universities.

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The sharp decrease in global carbon dioxide emissions attributed to the worldwide financial crisis in 2009 quickly rebounded in 2010.

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Researchers from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are working with commercial fishermen to collect and share fisheries data in a cooperative venture to build trust and foster sustainable and profitable fisheries in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.

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A 'sin tax' applied to sweetened goods on store shelves is not the most efficient, effective method of lowering caloric intake from sweet food and would be more disruptive to consumers than necessary, according to Iowa State University research.

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A decade ago this week, the collapse of once high-flying energy company Enron in the wake of massive accounting fraud soon became a symbol of an era that also saw major bookkeeping-related shenanigans at U.S. corporate giants WorldCom and Tyco International. With the 10th anniversary of Enron’s bankruptcy filing on Friday, Dec. 2, three Florida State University faculty members with expertise on the Enron saga are available to speak with the news media regarding the accounting scandals of the early 2000s, the long-term impacts of resulting regulatory reforms, and the continuing need for companies to incorporate ethics into their business models.

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Berkshire Hathaway's pending acquisition of the Omaha World-Herald Co. is true to CEO Warren Buffett’s investment style and should signal an era of innovation in its halls, a pair of scholars said.

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Steven Kyle, an expert on development economics, macroeconomic policy and international economics and professor at Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, discusses the chances that national policy makers will meet the economic challenges ahead in 2012.

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Economists worry Europe is headed for a catastrophic economic crash, but what does one look like? University of Iowa professor Paul Weller explains how you can tell the economy has crashed when crash is only a metaphor.

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The younger the parent and the younger the child, the more likely a family is to be poor, according to a new Child Trends report, Two Generations in Poverty: Status and Trends among Parents and Children in the United States, commissioned by Ascend: The Family Economic Security Program at the Aspen Institute. As policy makers ponder the merits of alternative measures of poverty, the Child Trends report outlines the disproportionate effects of poverty on young children, young parents, and children and parents in single-mother families.

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Leading economic experts discuss what distinguishes Islamic finance from Western finance, and how do those distinguishing characteristics manifest themselves in Islamic financial instruments and practices.

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To manage credit cards efficiently, it’s important to have a firm understanding of finance. But equally important to good credit-card practices is what you *believe* you know about finance, a national study shows.

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As Cyber Monday approaches, a new study of e-commerce giants eBay and Amazon argues that auction sites may have “over-invested in institutional structures” to reduce buyers’ economic risk while ignoring social elements of their transactions.

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Veterans are returning home to an abysmal economy and a tough job market. “After World War II, employers used to snap up veterans because of their tremendous skills sets gained in the service – whether that be technical, leadership, or other job specific aptitudes,” says Monica Matthieu, PhD, research assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on veteran mental health. “But now, veterans are facing higher unemployment rates than civilians as employers may be concerned about veterans’ struggle with the mental and physical health aftereffects of military service,” she says.

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Sharon L. Poczter, Cornell University assistant professor of Managerial Economics at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, comments on the inherently flawed structure of the failed “Super Committee.”

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Cornell University professors Robert Hockett, an expert in financial policy regulations in the Law School, and Steven Kyle, an expert on U.S. macroeconomic policy in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, hail the apparent failure of the Congressional “Super Committee” to reach a deal to reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion.

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While the price of oil has risen in recent years, it has not affected the price of goods as much as in the past, according to research by two Kansas State University economists. More than that, the prices of many goods -- such as clothing or vacations -- are actually deflating instead of inflating because of improved technology and reduced energy costs.

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The New England states continue to experience slow growth and slow recovery of the jobs lost in the 2008 recession because of continued weakness in global and U.S. economic conditions. The region’s economy is expected to grow slowly for the remainder of 2011 and 2012 and not to pick up much momentum and strength until well into 2013, according to Ross Gittell, James R. Carter Professor of Management at the University of New Hampshire.

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Fannie Mae, the biggest source of money for United States home loans, said last week it will need another $7.8 billion in federal aid following a third-quarter loss of more than $5 billion. As long as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are receiving subsidies, say banking experts at Washington University in St. Louis, there exists potential for another economic meltdown.

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Vanderbilt University economist Joni Hersch has calculated the first measures of sexual harassment risks at work by industry, age group, and sex. Hersch finds that female workers are six times more likely than male workers to experience sexual harassment on the job. In analyzing workers' wages, Hersch finds that firms must pay workers more for exposure to the risk of sexual harassment.

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Survey results of recent Hopkins Nursing grads echo trends among the nation's nursing schools, which debunk myths of a shortage of available nursing jobs.

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In a new research paper that investigates social networks, informed trading and shareholder costs Drexel University LeBow College of Business professors conclude that the social ties of executives and directors to Wall Street can be quite costly to their shareholders.

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Unlike Greece, Italy’s economy has been called “too big to fail” and as the EU’s third largest economy has the potential to have a much greater impact on both the EU’s and U.S.’s economies through whatever deal is ultimately worked out to restructure Italy’s debt.

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Next weekend marks Black Friday, known in the United States as the biggest shopping day of the year for Americans. It is often the biggest shopping day for Canadians who cross the border looking for the best shopping deal as well. But, what does this do to our Canadian retailers and our economy?

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Post-coverage of 4th annual Univ. of Va. Investing Conference

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The risk of heart failure appears to be higher among low-income seniors — even those with a college education — according to research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham presented during the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

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Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. This quote from the African American playwright and novelist, James Baldwin, was recently used by Dr. Jack P. Calareso, President of Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA when discussing the cost of higher education and students of low economic means. Referencing research that identified that 80% of the U.S.’s low income students are forced to enroll in the least selective colleges and universities, Dr. Calareso forces educational leaders, government and elected officials and others to face the facts that poorer students have limited access to more selective institutions.

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Most colleges offer internships but there is a big difference at Keuka College, a small private college in Upstate New York. They are mandatory. At Keuka, students conduct 140-hour internships—called Field Periods—each year they are enrolled.

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With Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on the way out of power, Italian debt has risen to record levels with few solutions in sight. An economist at Washington University in St. Louis who was born and raised in Italy warns that the Italian troubles may foreshadow what’s at stake for the United States as well, no matter how much more reliable its public debt may appear today.

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The uncertain economy continues to create fear in the collective hearts of Americans worried about their financial futures.

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Rules that are supposed to ensure minimum standards may in the end serve only to lower standards further than they might be without any rules at all, according to a study by a University of Iowa researcher.

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Watching a horror movie can scare you into selling your stocks earlier than you would have otherwise. That’s the frightening evidence shown in a series of studies by Associate Professor Eduardo Andrade, University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

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Greece’s government is teetering on the brink of collapse, backing away Nov. 3 from a referendum on staying in the Euro. While events continue to evolve and change rapidly, Greece is likely to default on its entire debt, says an economist at Washington University in St. Louis.

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Drexel University’s Dr. George Tsetsekos, a native of Greece and dean of the University’s LeBow College of Business, is available to comment on the economic turmoil in Greece and what it means for the future of the euro and European Union, as well as how it affects the United States.

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University of Alabama at Birmingham award-winning international affairs expert says if Greece's government falls, it will show how a small country with a small economy can cause serious harm to an economic union.

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The number of Americans turning to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, has substantially increased since the recession began and has continued to climb as many Americans have struggled with the economic hardships of the post-recession, weak economy, according to researchers from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

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Despite substantial controversy among academics and policymakers about individuals’ ability to choose complicated drug insurance products, economics research from The University of Texas at Austin has provided evidence that Medicare Part D participants quickly adapt and learn to reduce rates of overspending within the system.

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The timeliness of Panayotakis’ new book, "Remaking Scarcity: From Capitalist Inefficiency to Economic Democracy" (Pluto Press, UK, September 2011), was captured in the forward by Joel Kovel. “In Remaking Scarcity, Costas Panayotakis expertly dissects a capitalist system in the agonies of intractable crisis and gives a radical yet practicable guide to its transformation.”

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A two-day symposium at Washington and Lee University's School of Law will explore "payday" loans, auto title loans, for-profit college loans and refund anticipation loans. Legal scholars, economists and lending company representatives will also explore emerging regulatory efforts.

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A University of Iowa study suggests that one-quarter of households that filed for bankruptcy in 2007 would not have been in that situation if the credit regulations of the 1970s had remained in place.

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The 2011 Arkansas Poll finds the state’s residents more concerned about the economy than ever yet optimistic about the direction of the state.

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The Wall Street protesters are not united in their grievances, because there are many appropriate targets for their anger and many ideas about how to solve problems. Sure, there are odd ducks among them. But we make a grave mistake when we focus on the crazies to discredit the legitimate grievances of large groups of citizens, says David Cingranelli, professor of political science at Binghamton University.

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After a modest gain in September, consumer confidence among Floridians fell a point in October to 63, four points above the record low of 59 set in June 2008, according to a new University of Florida study.

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Despite an economy that seems to be growing at a boundless rate, China’s rise as an economic powerhouse has been carefully managed by its Communist leaders, says Roselyn Hsueh of Temple University.

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The recent conflict between Congress and President Barack Obama over raising the federal debt ceiling caused many economists and policymakers to fret that the financial markets would assess a higher risk premium on U.S. Treasury securities. However, a University of Arkansas finance study suggests that financial markets increasingly regard such controversies as political posturing rather than serious threats to the economy and therefore the conflicts have not recently caused higher default-risk premiums in the long-term.

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In theory, older people and people with higher levels of education should be more financially stable and have an easier time affording their homes. New research from the University of Iowa suggests that's not the case.