There are always a few items we’ve read during the week that deserve more attention but don’t make it into our regular posts. So we bundle them for the Friday roundup.
Here’s this week’s bundle:
New York Times: We’re in a Low-Growth World. How Did We Get Here?
In the United States, per-person gross domestic productrose by an average of 2.2 percent a year from 1947 through 2000 — but starting in 2001 has averaged only 0.9 percent. The economies of Western Europe and Japan have done worse than that….
To make matters worse, fewer and fewer people are seeing the spoils of what growth there is. According to a new analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute, 81 percent of the United States population is in an income bracket with flat or declining income over the last decade. That number was 97 percent in Italy, 70 percent in Britain, and 63 percent in France.
Associated Press: Foes, fans of Oregon’s corporate tax measure raise millions
Measure 97 would create a 2.5 percent tax on sales exceeding $25 million for some corporations. Last week Gov. Kate Brown endorsed the measure, which would be the largest tax hike on corporations in Oregon history.
The Statesman Journal reports Our Oregon, the group supporting the tax, has raised $1.5 million so far. The money is from just two donations of $750,000 each by the Oregon Education Association and SEIU Local 503, the state’s largest public sector unions.
The business-backed Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales is campaigning against Measure 97, and has raised more than $5 million from nearly 800 donations.
Jay Timmons, President & CEO, National Association of Manufacturers: Isolationist Rhetoric Won’t Create More Manufacturing Jobs, But The Right Policies Will
To grow jobs in America, manufacturers need their products sold to more markets. Isolationist rhetoric will not help grow manufacturing jobs in the United States, but the right policies will. Manufacturers have outlined an agenda that will help put our sector—and ultimately the entire U.S. economy—on a path toward continued growth and good-paying jobs, which includes market-opening free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Oregonian: Voters’ Pamphlet fails to unpack Measure 97 of dubious claims
As The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Hillary Borrud reported, the Financial Estimate Committee on Friday approved a three-paragraph write-up of the expected effects of Measure 97, the public employee union-backed proposal that would impose a 2.5 percent gross-receipts tax on certain corporations ringing up more than $25 million in Oregon sales a year. The summary notes the measure, if approved, would generate $3 billion a year in new tax revenue, an estimate developed by the nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Office. So far so good.
But the committee declined to mention the dampened growth, higher consumer prices and increased utility bills that state economists predicted in May.
New Geography: America Without Immigration 2015-2050
The US economy can and most likely will have a bright future but it cannot count on population growth to fulfill its historic supportive role. The economy benefited for decades from the demographic sweet spot of a rising population and a declining dependency ratio. Neither of these measures will be as supportive in the future. Instead greater gains will have to come from technology and automation and from investments in productivity and education.
