Archive

The Fiscal Cliff

Politicians excel at debating issues and then doing nothing about them...But the Obama administration and Congress have come to the edge of what has been called the "fiscal cliff," and this time there is no backing away.

Volume: 20 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Economic Resilience

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

The Promising Recovery

A funny thing happened on the way to this forecast: we tripped over bad data. But no harm was done. In fact, when we picked ourselves off the ground, the world looked better.

Volume: 20 - Number: 1

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Census Data

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

Some Encouraging News

As bad as it was, we should not mistake the Great Recession for the Great Depression...Despite the fits and starts of the recovery, there are concrete signs that the Puget Sound economy is on the mend.

Volume: 19 - Number: 4

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Investment, Capital, and Output

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

Political Show

In a prelude to next year's general election, politicians put on a costly show this summer. After a lengthy debate--one that could easily have been mistaken for a farce--Congress raised the federal debt ceiling at the very last minute.

Volume: 19 - Number: 3

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Washington Aluminum Industry

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

The Hold-Up

Economists expressed disappointment when the government announced that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) advanced at a tepid 1.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2011. And business pundits ran on about the U.S. economy adding only 54,000 jobs in May. But we should resist making too much of this.

Volume: 19 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Washington Input-Output Table

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

Labor’s Turn

The Great Recession may be over, but it continues to cause suffering. Fifteen million people remain unemployed in the nation...An unfortunate characteristic of economic recoveries is that they occur in stages. Business output typically expands months before employers resume hiring.

Volume: 19 - Number: 1

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Apportionment

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

The 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

Unfinished Business

Last year, we said that the end of the recession was in sight. Technically, we were right. U.S. real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has advanced without interruption since mid-2009. However, job growth is still sluggish and the unemployment rate remains high.

Volume: 18 - Number: 3

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Tricks of the Trade

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

A Difficult Recovery

Recessions and recoveries come in all shapes and sizes. The Boeing Bust (1969-71) was a classic V-shaped recession.

Volume: 18 - Number: 2

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: Federal Debt

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen

Are We There Yet?

At the end of a recession, when the economy is in flux, numbers can get squirrely...Keeping in mind the shakiness of preliminary job estimates, there was potentially goods news in ESD's March labor report.

Volume: 18 - Number: 1

Leading Index Title:

Special Topic Title: South Carolina

Authors:

  • Dick Conway
  • Doug Pedersen