Category Archives: Economic development

U.S. job growth and education jobs

Posted on September 7, 2012 by timbartik

The latest U.S. job growth figures, released this morning (September 7, 2012) by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, continued to show positive growth, but at an insufficient rate to boost employment rates and labor market conditions. If we focus … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on U.S. job growth and education jobs

“You can’t be pro-business unless you’re pro-education”

Posted on September 5, 2012 by timbartik

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, in his keynote address on September 4th to the Democratic National Convention, made the following notable statement: “You can’t be pro-business unless you’re pro-education”. In the context in which he made that statement, Mayor Castro’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development | Comments Off on “You can’t be pro-business unless you’re pro-education”

Why education is important to the economy, especially the local economy, and how business can help improve education

Posted on June 14, 2012 by timbartik

On June 13, I gave a presentation to a group of business leaders on why education is important to national and local economic development. The presentation then went on to review how we’re doing on educational quality, what the key … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development | Comments Off on Why education is important to the economy, especially the local economy, and how business can help improve education

What is a good business climate for job creation? Changing the conventional wisdom

Posted on June 1, 2012 by timbartik

Most people use some simple principles to guide their judgments about public policy. I think this is quite understandable. Why should we expect most people to spend their time trying to interpret conflicting empirical studies? As a recent blog post … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development | Comments Off on What is a good business climate for job creation? Changing the conventional wisdom

Why relocation doesn’t solve local labor market problems

Posted on May 28, 2012 by timbartik

Well-known blogger Matt Yglesias has an interesting post commenting on labor economist Enrico Moretti’s recent Wall Street Journal column. Moretti argues that policymakers should help workers to move away from high unemployment metro areas. (Moretti’s column is based in part … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on Why relocation doesn’t solve local labor market problems

Different views of “investing in Julia”

Posted on May 21, 2012 by timbartik

Nancy Folbre, an economist at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, has a good on-line column at the New York Times on the recent controversy over the Obama campaign’s online ad about an imaginary woman named Julia. The Obama ad tried to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic development, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on Different views of “investing in Julia”

Improving evaluation of economic development programs

Posted on April 30, 2012 by timbartik

The Pew Center on the States recently released a major study analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of what states are currently doing to assess their tax incentives for economic development. (I should disclose that I reviewed an advance copy of … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Economic development, Incentive design issues | Comments Off on Improving evaluation of economic development programs

Making the case for pre-K: some fiscal and economic arithmetic

Posted on April 6, 2012 by timbartik

Andrew Rotherham has an April 5th Time magazine column with the ominous title, “Are Pre-K Programs About To Get Gutted?” Mr. Rotherham apparently has access to an advance copy of the forthcoming annual report on state preschool programs from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs, Economic development, National vs. state vs. local, Timing of benefits | Comments Off on Making the case for pre-K: some fiscal and economic arithmetic

Breaking the political cycle of inequality

Posted on February 26, 2012 by timbartik

Jared Bernstein has a great presentation summary and PowerPoint on what has gone wrong with broad-based economic growth in the U.S. Jared Bernstein is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Previously, he was Chief … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development | Comments Off on Breaking the political cycle of inequality

Early childhood programs and local economic development: supply-side economics or Keynesian economics?

Posted on February 14, 2012 by timbartik

I recently encountered the statement that my book was in some way based on Keynesian economics, which is thought by some to be politically controversial. I have nothing against Keynesian economics as a way of analyzing business cycles and macroeconomic … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development, Incentive design issues | Comments Off on Early childhood programs and local economic development: supply-side economics or Keynesian economics?