Yes, the rumor is true!

From the Augusta Chronicle:

Mark Thompson, the Cree-Walker chairman of business administration at Augusta State University's Hull College of Business, said that he has accepted an associate professor position in health organization management at Texas Tech University.

"It was a tough decision. It's something that came late in the year, but a great opportunity personally and professionally," Dr. Thompson said.

Augusta Economic Commentary

From June 2009 issue of the Augusta Economic Commentary:

The Greater Augusta Economic Activity Index decreased 0.87 percent from last month. The 12-month change in the index appears to have fallen for the 13th consecutive month dating back to April of 2008.

Death of common sense?

Buy American?

From NY Times:

An analysis this year by Jeffrey Schott and Gary Clyde Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington estimated that “Buy
American” provisions could “save” 9,000 American jobs — a tiny number compared with the 650,000 jobs supported by foreign government procurement of American exports.

Indeed, whether it is from the point of view of diplomacy or of job creation, “Buy American” is a terrible idea. One that could make the global recession worse.

Not a good idea!

Case for Health Care Reform

An economic case from the CEA.

Local teacher goes abroad!

Amy Hennessy, from Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, will be traveling to Johannesburg, South Africa. She will be learning about South Africa's economy and exploring the country. Read more here.

I will get to see Amy in action in less than two weeks. ASU (with the Georgia Council of Economic Education) will be hosting a 4-day workshop on teaching economics to high school economics teachers.

Top Young Professionals in Augusta

From the Augusta Chronicle:

The Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Augusta Magazine has selected the Augusta region's Top 10 in 10 Young Professionals to Watch.

They were chosen through a competitive nomination process that started in March. The designation was developed this year by the chamber to annually highlight 10 professionals ages 25 to 35 in the Augusta region.

Congrats!

Debt threat!

From John Taylor's article in Financial Times:

“We inherited this mess.” The debt was 41 per cent of GDP at the end of 1988, President Ronald Reagan’s last year in office, the same as at the end of 2008, President George W. Bush’s last year in office. If one thinks policies from Reagan to Bush were mistakes does it make any sense to double down on those mistakes, as with the 80 per cent debt-to-GDP level projected when Mr Obama leaves office?

Policy Ineffectiveness

Here is a great blog entry from Carpe Diem!

Taxes and the Rich

Here is a story in the WSJ on millionaires leaving after increases in taxes (to make up the budget shortfall). I wonder...could we apply this logic on a national scale!

Memorial Day!

My whereabouts

I have received emails inquiring as to my whereabouts!

I took some time off after the semester to visit with family and prepare for my upcoming summer courses.

Is it working?

Here is a graph that has started to show up regarding the success of the Obama stimulus plan. Several have asked my thoughts, so here you go:

1. The stimulus plan is not working as the Obama administration expected.
2. Or, their forecast of the economy is off.

While several may argue that #2 is more likely, this is an important piece to calculate such numbers as jobs lost/saved. Without a good baseline forecast, you cannot calculate jobs "saved!"

Source: Graph comes from C. Romer and J. Bernstein, "The job impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan," January 9, 2009. Adapted by Innocent Bystanders.

Augusta's economy continues to contract but...

...there may be some early signs of the local economy stabilizing and starting to recovery!

Some recent good news

Initial claims are down.

Bank says no to TARP!

Wilson home is designated as National Historic Landmark.

What are we made of...

Click here for my latest column in the Your Business section of the Augusta Chronicle.

Happy Mother's Day!

Interesting poll results

From Gallup:

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's recent update of its long-standing trend question on whether big business, big labor, or big government will be the biggest threat to the country in the future finds Americans still viewing big government as the most serious threat. However, compared to Gallup's last pre-financial-crisis measurement in December 2006, more now see big business and fewer see big government as the greater threat.

These shifts in attitudes have occurred even as the government has taken on an expanded role in regulating U.S. financial institutions in response to the financial crisis, under the Bush and Obama administrations.

Americans' responses to these developments vary according to their partisan affiliation.

Now, 80% of Republicans view big government as the biggest threat to the country, up from 68% in December 2006. At the same time, Democrats' perceptions of the greater threat are completely reversed. In December 2006, 55% of Democrats said big government posed the greater threat, while 32% said big business did. In the latest poll, a majority of Democrats now view big business as the greater threat (52%) while only about one in three think big government is.

The link includes charts. Interesting!