Caribbean summit in Port-aux-Prince

The Caribbean Summit has been meeting this week in Haiti, and for today many heads of state will be present. It is very good news to confirm the return to institutional normalcy after the large natural disasters. The presidents of the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica y Chile have been among the attendees.

Jobless recovery in the United States.

In the U.S., productivity gains allow companies to increase sales without adding workers, causing millions of people continue unemployed. Complete note here.

We've talked about this phenomenon in the past.

Minimum wage in the United States

During the State of the Union address President Obama proposed an increase in the minimum wage to 9 dollars (from 7.25). The minimum wage has never been without controversy. Read here and here two comments of two economist.

Increase the proportion of spending on means-tested programs in the U.S..

In the United States from 1972 to 2012, federal spending for means-tested programs and tax credits grew from 1 percent to almost 4 percent of GDP (see figure). These programs provide cash payments or assistance in obtaining health care, food, housing, or education to people with low incomes or few assets. Complete note here.

Source: Extracted from an article of the Congressional Budget Office. 

Impacts of the health reform in the US

read the note here

Benefits cut or tax increases?

In the face of financial insolvency, social security schemes have only two options: benefits cut or increase in taxes. In a survey, Americans voted for taxes increases. Read the complete note here.

On United States healthcare reform

The federal government will extend the period for the implementation of "insurance markets" in the context of the health reform. See the note here. To learn more about the US healthcare reform, and other recent reforms in the American continent, access our CISS Health Systems and Insurance Report. 2006-2010 reforms here.  

Productivity vs. wages

The relationship between productivity and wages has changed in the last years in the United States. Read the note here.

New social protection program in Antigua & Barbuda

A employment and training program will be launched. The program is consistent with the social protection floor. See the information here

Becker and Posner on US employment

You can read here the opinion of Nobel Prize Gary Becker on Fed´s policies on employment. Here is the opinion of judge Posner.

Employment in US grows

Read here the official note, and here the news paper note

On the future of Social Security and Medicare in USA

Talks to reform the programs are not going to be easy. Read the note here.

US elections and healthcare

See here what people think about healthcare during this election

Retirement around entitlement age

Often social security programs around the world increase the official retirement age aiming at delay retirement and make the system financially sustainable. Nevertheless, even though the age at which workers retire is influenced by the rules of the programs, it is a personal decision. This was the topic studied in the CISS 2012 Report. A new paper that studies the determinants of retirement decisions can be read here.

More on jobless recovery in the US

In previous post we have discussed the phenomenon of jobless recovery in the US. Here is a new paper that argues that jobless recovery in US  can be attributed to job losses in middle-skill, routine occupations. 

Two conflicting data on US employment

The BLS released employment data for September. According to household surveys, employment rose by 873,000 in the month, but total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 114,000 in the same period. Here an explanation of what can be happening.

The increase of entitlement payments in the U.S.

The growth of entitlement payments over the past half-century in the United States has been breathtaking. In daily operations, the government devotes more attention and resources to the public transfer of money, goods and services to individual citizens than to any other objective. More information here. Below are four important figures obtained from The Wall Street Journal.

Have the labor markets recovered in the decade in the countries of the continent?

Have the labor markets recovered in the decade in the countries of the continent? The following figures compare the level of employment when the economy had its peak before the crises. This allows quantifying “gaps” in employment, i.e., the difference between the observed level and the “potential” (in reference to the peak) level of employment. We can observe three patterns (all in relation to earliest peak):

i) In Canada, Colombia, Mexico and the United States there is an employment gap by 2012.

ii) In Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay there is not an employment gap, i.e. the level of employment is similar to the potential employment.

ii) In Argentina, Panama and Venezuela current employment is higher than potential employment

Figure

Employment and Potential Employment across the Business Cycle, 2000-2010

Note: Employment calculated using working age population 15+.

Source: Own calculations using International Labour Organization (ILO), LABORSTA

For more information, The Americas Social Security Report 2013 will soon be available on the website of the CISS.

Causal effects of publicly provided health insurance

In the past years several countries around the world have implemented publicly subsidized health insurance aiming at extending coverage (see a CISS report on recent reforms in the Continent here). it is expected that these programs increase access to healthcare services and reduce out of pocket payments. The Oregon Health Study implemented a randomized experiment to assess the causal effect of social health insurance on these two variables. Results are positive. You can read the note here and the academic paper here.

Two interesting news on unemployment in Mexico and the US

In Mexico unemployment rate continues to decrease (see here). In the US unemployment benefits are expiring (see note here).