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Commentary

The daily commentary section provides insights on complex issues in a brief and digestible format. Here you can find analysis of changing economic conditions and original perspectives on how the economy is affecting policy debates.
Time for a “Holiday” from Accounting Gimmicks

For many years, there has been a robust debate about whether the Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund balances actually mean anything if the payroll taxes collected for them were spent rather than saved (as seems intuitive in a trust fund). Today, unfortunately, there appears to be a bipartisan embrace of an even more problematic concept: persistently crediting the Trust Funds with tax revenue that has never even been collected. The latest example of this is the so-called “jobs bill” that just passed both chambers in Congress. A centerpiece of that legislation is the Schumer-Hatch “Hire Now Tax Cut,” known colloquially as a “payroll tax holiday.”

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Blog

Economic policy debates in the 21st century evolve quickly and part of e21's mission is to provide a forum for around-the-clock reactions. In this section, you can find posts from leading economists, scholars and writers on what’s happening in the global economic landscape.
Reconsidering Reconciliation

In this morning’s Washington Post, Senator Hatch highlights the misuse of reconciliation procedures that the President and Senate Democrats are considering in order to pass a health care bill that cannot muster 60 votes. As we previously discussed here, reconciliation procedures were designed as a set of specific rules to facilitate passage of legislation to reduce the deficit.

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Washington Update

It can be challenging to keep up with the constant flurry of news stories, policy papers and government reports coming out of Washington. At e21, we provide a one-stop shop for the most important information and statistics, as well as legislative updates and key news stories that are driving policy debates.
Why Obama Can't Move the Health Care Numbers

One of the more amazing aspects of the health-care debate is how steady public opinion has remained. Despite repeated and intense sales efforts by the president and his allies in Congress, most Americans consistently oppose the plan that has become the centerpiece of this legislative season. For every person who strongly favors it, two are strongly opposed. Why can't the president move the numbers? One reason may be that he keeps talking about details of the proposal while voters are looking at the issue in a broader context.

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Market Talk

To navigate today’s economy, it is vital to keep up with the rapid flow of economic data, market reports and advice from market participants. e21’s Market Talk presents the top articles and commentaries from individuals actively engaged in the markets to help inform debates and keep policy grounded in real-world experience.
V, U, and W

Heated debate continues to rage in the United States on whether the economic recovery will be V-shaped (with a rapid return to robust growth above potential), U-shaped (slow anemic, sub-par, below trend growth for at least the next two years) or W-shaped (a double-dip recession). slew of poor economic data over the past two weeks suggests that the U.S. economy is headed for a U-shaped recovery—at best—in 2010.

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In-Depth Research

e21 spotlights and directly supports new research that’s necessary to develop innovative economic policy solutions for the 21st century. This section highlights in-depth research papers from a range of academics, economists and thinkers across the political spectrum, fostering creative nonpartisan policy solutions to pressing economic concerns.
Insights on Financial Regulatory Reform

Phillip Swagel, Former Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department publishes exclusive slides outlining key issues of financial regulatory reform ranging from non-bank resolutions to bankruptcy such as the Frank-Dodd-Geithner proposal to tranching as an improvement to non-bank resolution.

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Stimulus Update

The stimulus efforts in 2008 and 2009 represent a dramatic action by almost any fiscal measure. Our ongoing commentary series will review stimulus spending and promote transparency and accountability for taxpayers.
The Stimulus Evidence One Year On

Over five years, my research shows an extra $600 billion of public spending at the cost of $900 billion in private expenditure. That's a bad deal. Christina Romer, the chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, and her husband, David, have been major contributors to research on tax multipliers. Their results, which rely on the history of U.S. tax legislation since 1945, show tax multipliers of larger magnitude than the one I found.

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Morning eBrief

Each weekday morning, e21 delivers a short email that provides a snap shot of the day’s economic news. These eBrief’s include e21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington.
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