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It is so hard to think about substantive policy issues with all this conventioneering going on, but still we try, beating on, boats against the current.
- Lesser of two evils. The Tax Policy Institute updates and summarizes the latest tax plans from McCain and Obama. Their report digests both official staff statements and candidate utterances picked up along the campaign trail. Obama will cut taxes more for the middle class, while McCain's cuts focus on the wealthy and corporations. By 2018, McCain will have raised the national debt by $5 trillion; Obama will add $3.5 trillion over the same period. -- CP
- Skullduggery in the WTO. Seven years after China's entry into the World Trade Organization and the subsequent increase in U.S.-China trade, Robert E. Scott of the Economic Policy Institute points out the dark side of this relationship: the loss of 2.3 million American jobs between 2001 and 2007 (and a loss of $1400/year for all workers without a four-year degree). Scott attributes this trend to the pernicious effects of increased competition, coupled with China's manipulation of currency to keep the yuan artificially low. He concludes with a call for fundamental change in the U.S.-China trade relationship, beginning with exchange rate policies and labor standards. -- SW
- Independent Arabs.Arab countries no longer trust the United States to take the lead insolving regional problems, according to a policy paper by Marina Ottowayand Mohammad Herzallah. Because these countries are wealthier and more developed, anddue to America's less-than-stunning performance on theworld stage, Gulf countries don't step in line with shortterm U.S. plans, even though in the long run these countries sharesimilar objectives with America. This is especially the case when it comes to Hamas, Lebanon, and Iran. -- DS
- Latino Day Weekend. By 2050, Latinos will make up a third of the U.S. workforce, and today they're the fastest growing group. On Thursday, the National Council of La Raza released a timely if grim assessment of this burgeoning group: compared to others, Latinos face more on-the-job fatalities, often have less health insurance or retirement coverage, and have had the worst unemployment rates as a result of the current economic downturn. -- CP
- The Bush recession? The recent Census findings show that the country's current economic woes came before the recent economic downturn, but it also brings some good news. Michael Ettlinger at the Center for American Progress notes that median income rose 1.3 percent in 2007, earnings for men rose 3.8 percent and a 5 percent for women. But alongside those increases, poverty is up, with 5.7 more people qualifying as poor. To fix the economy, careful regulation of credit and capital markets has to happen. Investing in "low-carbon energy transformation" will also result in higher employment numbers and also higher income. -- DS
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--TAP STAFF
