NDN Blog

Tech jobs are an important component of the next economy.

Some folks at Facebook are about to make a ton of money. You are probably not.

But, despite what you might hear, Silicon Valley isn't the best city in America for tech jobs. Seattle is number one, followed by...the DC metro area.

Apple's data center will be powered entirely by clean energy.

The Romney campaign rolled out an ad with economic themes.

Four important charts for the economy.

A brewing storm in Congress could have huge implications for the 2013 economy. 

Lesson one: If you want to keep your job at a giant bank, don't lose $2 billion.

Is it a hedge or a gamble?

Paul Krugman offers a bleak assessment of the near future in the Eurozone.

The Obama campaign launches a devastating attack on Gov. Romney's record at Bain.

In case you missed it, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Blank's remarks on manufacturing are posted here.

Oil prices continue to slide down.

For the first time since 2008, the Congressional Budget Office estimates a budget surplus for April.

In light of Facebook's likely IPO this week, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he would buy stock in Facebook no matter what the price is.

Some interesting comments by Patrick Gallagher of NIST on innovation and the importance of advanced manufacturing.

Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank made a strong case for the Obama Administration's record on manufacturing in a speech at NDN on May 10th.

Video of her remarks are available here.

According to Dr. Blank, manufacturing is not only critical to America's economic recovery, it's critical to driving innovation across a wide array of sectors. Manufacturing also plays a huge role in regional economic development - a matter close to the heart of the Next Economy Partnership Project.

Through a variety of initiatives, including the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Obama Administration is driving solutions for regional innovation and investment - especially in areas of critical economic growth like advanced manufacturing.

Full text of the speech is available here.

NDN/NPI thanks Dr. Blank for joining us, and our Globalization Initiative Chair Rob Shapiro for moderating this terrific event.

Driving the day: It's not a great morning at JP Morgan. 

Polls - including our own - show Americans believe banks caused the financial crisis, but taxpayers are the only ones to foot the bill. Stories like this don't exactly inspire confidence in Wall Street leadership.

Good graphs from The Atlantic regarding economic growth leaving the middle class behind.

The New York Times launches a great new Jobs and the Election Tracker with Moody Analytics.

Of note: Monthly job growth prediction of 182,000; October unemployment rate of 7.9% - under the 8% psychological threshold.

Pew released a study showing the states with the highest degree of economic mobility. Want to move up? Head to New York, New Jersey or Maryland. 

30 year mortgage rates hit record lows this week.

Is energy security a realistic goal?

The Obama campaign launched a new ad touting the success of the auto bailout and protecting middle class jobs.

The number of people applying for unemployment inched down last week. Is this evidence that hiring is picking up?

Bernstein makes a strong case for incentivizing clean energy production.

Have a Small Business Administration assisted business? You can enter SBA's video contest through tomorrow.

WSJ weighs in on the state of play in Greece.

Finally, if you're in the greater DC metro area, you're invited to a great event we're hosting today. Assistant Secretary for Commerce Rebecca Blank will discuss the importance of manufacturing to our economy. RSVP here.

A quick reminder that we're hosting an event tomorrow, Thursday May 10th with Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank.

Deputy Secretary Blank will discuss the importance of manufacturing in boosting U.S. economic growth, job creation and exports, as part of the Administration's ongoing efforts to encourage companies to build in America and sell everywhere around the globe.

It's not too late to RSVP!

Hope to see you tomorrow.

The President issued Congress an economic To Do list. The five points of the plan:

1. Reward companies who bring jobs back to the U.S. with lower taxes and pay for it by eliminating tax incentives for companies to ship jobs overseas.

2. Cut red tape so hard working, responsible homeowners who are paying their mortgage can refinance at today’s lower rates.

3. Help hard working small business owners create jobs by giving them a tax credit for new hires.

4. Invest in American clean energy manufacturers who create American jobs through innovation of new technologies and new fuels that reduce our reliance on foreign oil and lead to more secure energy sources.

5. Ensure our commitment to our veterans is as strong as they are by creating a Veterans Job Corps that helps hire veterans as cops, firefighters, and serving their communities. 

Gas prices continue their downward slide, but that won't stop Republicans from attacking him on energy.

Speaking of energy, conservative groups are launching an orchestrated effort against wind power.

An analysis by Bloomberg indicates Democratic Presidents create more jobs than their Republican counterparts.

The Department of Treasury has some excellent graphs that illustrate economic growth.

The Washington Post's Fact Checker takes Governor Romney to task for his outrageous claims about monthly job creation.

Borrowers that want to take advantage of low interest rates are finding banks less than helpful.

Jared Bernstein asked his readers for thoughts on how to improve economic policy for advanced economies.

The Obama campaign launches a new ad focused on the economy.

New polling shows a close split on the economy between the President and Gov. Romney.

A Quinnipiac poll illustrates how this plays out in states.

A new graphic shows employment is officially higher now compared to the President's inauguration.

Gas prices have continued their downward slide. According to AAA, gasoline prices are down 15 cents, or -3.8% over the last month. Over the last year, prices have dropped -5.0%.

Another small business job creation effort in the vein of Create Jobs for USA, this time from Living Social.

Some more cringe-inducing evidence in the Lehman Brothers post mortem.

How will the recent elections in Europe effect the global economy? The Greek election appears to have created more questions than answers. My colleague Brad has a great write up of the overall scenario here.

Please join NDN/NPI for a special luncheon next Thursday featuring remarks by Rebecca Blank, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce.

Deputy Secretary Blank will discuss the importance of manufacturing in boosting U.S. economic growth, job creation and exports and the Administration’s continuing efforts to support American manufacturers as they build things here and sell them everywhere. 

The speech will take place on Thursday, May 10th at the NDN/NPI offices at 729 15th Street, NW.  Lunch will be served at noon, and the speech will begin at 12:15pm.  There will be time for questions from the audience. 

This invitation is non-transferable, and space will be very limited so please RSVP early to reserve your seat.   

I look forward to seeing you on the 10th.  

The long awaited April Jobs numbers are in.

Topline: Employers added 115,000 jobs in April, well under the consensus estimate of 165,000.

But the nation's unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a point to 8.1% - a three year low.

You might ask yourself: How does unemployment drop in this scenario?

The White House says the economy is continuing to heal.

Despite the lukewarm report today, a survey of economists predicts unemployment below 8% by election day - a 2 point drop in unemployment since election day 2010.

The New York Times compares the recovery in the US vs the Eurozone. Guess who comes out on top?

The Economist weighs in on the austerity argument.

Wrapping up Jobs Week, here's a quote on local and state government job loss from Jared Bernstein:

 Last month, local education jobs were down 11,000 and they’re down about 100,000 over the last year.  Next time your friendly politician is jawboning about a) the benefits of austerity and spending cuts, and b) the importance of education, please point out the hypocrisy.