Archive

16 JunThank You

The Puget Sound region has a habit of stumbling into deep recessions. Relatively speaking, in every downturn since 1969, it has suffered a greater employment loss than the nation. Fortunately, since robust recoveries have more than compensated for the backsliding, the region has outpaced the nation in the long run. Over the last five decades, regional jobs have tripled, while national jobs have doubled.

Volume: 25 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Rules of Behavior

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 DecThe Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye, a Robert Altman movie starring Elliot Gould as Detective Philip Marlowe, got mixed reviews. The Great Recession's version of The Long Goodbye deserves to be slammed.

Volume: 18 - Number: 4

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Washington Agriculture

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 SepEnd in Sight

This decade has been "just one damn thing after another." Who would have imagined our string of bad luck: the dot-com implosion, 9/11, the housing bubble and credit crunch, and soaring energy prices? Or was it bad luck?

Volume: 17 - Number: 3

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Washington Tax Structure

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 JunHow Deep?

We can gauge a recession in several ways--the decline in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the number of lost jobs, and the rise in unemployment. An interesting alternative is to express it in terms of time.

Volume: 17 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Washington Tax Structure

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 MarThe Jitters

Fed chair Ben Bernanke may not like it, but Alan Greenspan has still got it. The day after the former chief uttered the "R"word, the stock market turned south, causing a case of the jitters.

Volume: 15 - Number: 1

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Sports and the Economy

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 JunMini-Boom

Mix the expansionary phase of a business cycle with a weak dollar in a trade-dependent area and you have the makings of an economic boom. That is exactly what happened in the Puget Sound region twenty years ago.

Volume: 13 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Per Capita Income

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 MarFollowing the Script

Even armed with high-powered models, economic forecasters sometimes get it wrong. The Blue Chip panel of economists failed to predict the national recession in 2001. In fact, they did not even recognize it until it was almost over. We fared no better in forecasting the collapse of the Puget Sound economy.

Volume: 13 - Number: 1

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: The Leading Index

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

16 NovAs the Nation Turns

Like it or not, the Puget Sound region has little control over its economic destiny, at least in the short run. World air travel dictates how many commercial jets Boeing will sell. Volatile housing markets in California and Japan generate production swings at Weyerhaeuser lumber mills. The incomes of many Seattle fishermen are made or lost in Alaskan waters.

Volume: 8 - Number: 4

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Consumer Price Index

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen