Business Economics articles from April 2006

Business Economics archives from April 2006

From the editor.(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... This issue opens with Janet Yellen's address to the NABE Policy Conference. As president of the Twelfth District (San Francisco) of the Federal Reserve Bank, she is an important contributor to U.S. monetary policy. (1) She notes the...

Enhancing Fed credibility.
April 1, 2006... "TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING CAN BE WONDERFUL."--MAE WEST The Fed's credibility regarding control of inflation helps to anchor public expectations of price stability. This makes the Fed's actions more predictable in any given set of...

Financing retirement: the private sector; The shift from defined benefit pensions to personal retirement accounts is likely to benefit retirees.
April 1, 2006... Since 1980, there has been a rapid shift from employer-based, defined benefit pensions to employee-controlled personal retirement accounts. This paper documents the shift and explores the conventional wisdom that this shift increases risk for...

Improving incentives in health care spending: properly designed health spending accounts can be a major step.
April 1, 2006... Although U.S. economic growth is likely to continue to be robust, the growth of private and public spending on health care presents long-run public policy challenges. To meet these challenges health care resources must be used more efficiently....

Subjective probability forecasts for recessions: evaluation and guidelines for use.
April 1, 2006... Probabilistic forecasts are often more useful in business than point forecasts. In this paper, the joint subjective probabilities for negative GDP growth during the next two quarters obtained from the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF)...

The unemployment effects of proposed changes in Social Security's "normal retirement age".
April 1, 2006... This paper identifies and analyzes an inherent conflict between some proposed U. S. Social Security reform measures, which would encourage delayed retirement decisions, and the objective of minimizing the economy's unemployment rate. Using...

Whose capital is it? Putting owners back in control.(FORUM ON EMERGING ISSUES)
April 1, 2006... I have been asked by NABE's' Financial Roundtable to talk about my new book, The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism, published last October by Yale University Press. It is a curious fact that it echoes in so many ways the principles I set forth...

BJK Research LLC.(ECONOMICS AT WORK)
April 1, 2006... More and more NABE members are finding themselves in business for themselves in a SOHO (small office, home office) environment as entrepreneurial economists running their own business. These businesses are typically unique, and a description of...

Employment Dynamics: BLS and Census Bureau use administrative records to provide new data.(Bureau of Labor Statistics)
April 1, 2006... The pace of the recovery of employment in the current cyclical expansion continues to draw the attention of private and government economists. There has been substantial increase in interest not only in the headline aggregate monthly changes...

The U.S. market for power lawn and garden equipment.(FOCUS ON INDUSTRIES AND MARKETS)(Company overview)
April 1, 2006... The U.S. demand for power lawn and garden equipment is expected to grow at 3.1 percent per year from 2004 to 2009, unchanged from the rate that prevailed from 1999 to 2004. The commercial market currently accounts for two-thirds and the...

The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... The Battle For The Soul Of Capitalism By John C. Bogle. 2005. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press. Pp. 260, $25, hardcover. John Bogle is the ultimate critie of the U.S. business scene. The long-time CEO of the Vanguard...

Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry By Michael A. Santoro and Thomas M. Gorrie, eds. 2005. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 492, hardcover $40. We live in a time when the public image of the pharmaceutical industry has...

John Bogle's views on executive compensation.(COMMENT)
April 1, 2006... I like John Bogle, respect his accomplishments, and am a long-term Vanguard customer. I am usually on his side. However, in both The Battle For the Soul Of Capitalism (this issue for review) and "Whose Capital is It? Putting Owners Back in...