NDN Blog

Driving the day: A new Washington Post - ABC News poll shows Americans are split between President Obama and Governor Romney when it comes to managing the economy.

The Chamber of Commerce plans to spend $50 million - or more - on this election.

In policy news, a bipartisan group of Senators - including Mark Warner, Chris Coons and Jerry Moran - launched Startup Act 2.0.  

Details below:

Startup Act 2.0 creates new opportunities for America-educated, entrepreneurial immigrants to remain in the U.S. where their talent and ideas can fuel growth and create American jobs. The bill also alleviates regulatory burdens that make it more difficult for businesses to expand and create jobs. Finally, Startup Act 2.0 makes changes to the tax code to encourage investment in startup companies.

What is the role of government in energy innovation?

Welcome to Small Business Week. 

The Small Business Administration has a ton of related info here.

Energy costs have huge implications for small businesses. Good news: Gas prices keep getting lower.

According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.69 - down more than 6% from recent peak, and down 4.6% in the past year.

Another key issue for small businesses: infrastructure.

The transportation bill - a piece of legislation that has traditionally been seen as a critical, relatively non-partisan piece of must pass legislation - is still bouncing around Congress.

Ed Rendell offers his take on transportation, innovation, and the importance of passing a transportation bill now.

A new poll indicates voters care about infrastructure more than you'd think.

New American City offers an interesting analysis of metropolitan innovation in the face of federal paralysis here. Thesis statement below:

While Washington dithers and delays, metros are innovating in ways that build on their distinctive competitive assets and advantages. With federal innovation funding at risk, metros like New York are making sizable commitments to attract innovative research institutions, commercialize research and grow innovative firms. With the future of federal trade policy unclear, metros like Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St. Paul are reorienting their economic development strategies toward exports, foreign direct investment and skilled immigration. Undeterred by a lack of federal energy policy, metros like Seattle and Philadelphia are cementing their niches in energy-efficient technologies. And metros like Jacksonville and Savannah are modernizing their air, rail and sea freight hubs to position themselves for an expansion in global trade. These metros have figured out some of the keys to ensuring strong leadership in tough times. So how did they do it?

Tech jobs are an important component of the next economy.

Some folks at Facebook are about to make a ton of money. You are probably not.

But, despite what you might hear, Silicon Valley isn't the best city in America for tech jobs. Seattle is number one, followed by...the DC metro area.

Apple's data center will be powered entirely by clean energy.

The Romney campaign rolled out an ad with economic themes.

Four important charts for the economy.

A brewing storm in Congress could have huge implications for the 2013 economy. 

Lesson one: If you want to keep your job at a giant bank, don't lose $2 billion.

Is it a hedge or a gamble?

Paul Krugman offers a bleak assessment of the near future in the Eurozone.

The Obama campaign launches a devastating attack on Gov. Romney's record at Bain.

In case you missed it, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Blank's remarks on manufacturing are posted here.

Oil prices continue to slide down.

For the first time since 2008, the Congressional Budget Office estimates a budget surplus for April.

In light of Facebook's likely IPO this week, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he would buy stock in Facebook no matter what the price is.

Some interesting comments by Patrick Gallagher of NIST on innovation and the importance of advanced manufacturing.

Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank made a strong case for the Obama Administration's record on manufacturing in a speech at NDN on May 10th.

Video of her remarks are available here.

According to Dr. Blank, manufacturing is not only critical to America's economic recovery, it's critical to driving innovation across a wide array of sectors. Manufacturing also plays a huge role in regional economic development - a matter close to the heart of the Next Economy Partnership Project.

Through a variety of initiatives, including the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Obama Administration is driving solutions for regional innovation and investment - especially in areas of critical economic growth like advanced manufacturing.

Full text of the speech is available here.

NDN/NPI thanks Dr. Blank for joining us, and our Globalization Initiative Chair Rob Shapiro for moderating this terrific event.

Driving the day: It's not a great morning at JP Morgan. 

Polls - including our own - show Americans believe banks caused the financial crisis, but taxpayers are the only ones to foot the bill. Stories like this don't exactly inspire confidence in Wall Street leadership.

Good graphs from The Atlantic regarding economic growth leaving the middle class behind.

The New York Times launches a great new Jobs and the Election Tracker with Moody Analytics.

Of note: Monthly job growth prediction of 182,000; October unemployment rate of 7.9% - under the 8% psychological threshold.

Pew released a study showing the states with the highest degree of economic mobility. Want to move up? Head to New York, New Jersey or Maryland. 

30 year mortgage rates hit record lows this week.

Is energy security a realistic goal?

The Obama campaign launched a new ad touting the success of the auto bailout and protecting middle class jobs.

The number of people applying for unemployment inched down last week. Is this evidence that hiring is picking up?

Bernstein makes a strong case for incentivizing clean energy production.

Have a Small Business Administration assisted business? You can enter SBA's video contest through tomorrow.

WSJ weighs in on the state of play in Greece.

Finally, if you're in the greater DC metro area, you're invited to a great event we're hosting today. Assistant Secretary for Commerce Rebecca Blank will discuss the importance of manufacturing to our economy. RSVP here.

A quick reminder that we're hosting an event tomorrow, Thursday May 10th with Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank.

Deputy Secretary Blank will discuss the importance of manufacturing in boosting U.S. economic growth, job creation and exports, as part of the Administration's ongoing efforts to encourage companies to build in America and sell everywhere around the globe.

It's not too late to RSVP!

Hope to see you tomorrow.

The President issued Congress an economic To Do list. The five points of the plan:

1. Reward companies who bring jobs back to the U.S. with lower taxes and pay for it by eliminating tax incentives for companies to ship jobs overseas.

2. Cut red tape so hard working, responsible homeowners who are paying their mortgage can refinance at today’s lower rates.

3. Help hard working small business owners create jobs by giving them a tax credit for new hires.

4. Invest in American clean energy manufacturers who create American jobs through innovation of new technologies and new fuels that reduce our reliance on foreign oil and lead to more secure energy sources.

5. Ensure our commitment to our veterans is as strong as they are by creating a Veterans Job Corps that helps hire veterans as cops, firefighters, and serving their communities. 

Gas prices continue their downward slide, but that won't stop Republicans from attacking him on energy.

Speaking of energy, conservative groups are launching an orchestrated effort against wind power.

An analysis by Bloomberg indicates Democratic Presidents create more jobs than their Republican counterparts.

The Department of Treasury has some excellent graphs that illustrate economic growth.

The Washington Post's Fact Checker takes Governor Romney to task for his outrageous claims about monthly job creation.

Borrowers that want to take advantage of low interest rates are finding banks less than helpful.

Jared Bernstein asked his readers for thoughts on how to improve economic policy for advanced economies.

The Obama campaign launches a new ad focused on the economy.

New polling shows a close split on the economy between the President and Gov. Romney.

A Quinnipiac poll illustrates how this plays out in states.

A new graphic shows employment is officially higher now compared to the President's inauguration.

Gas prices have continued their downward slide. According to AAA, gasoline prices are down 15 cents, or -3.8% over the last month. Over the last year, prices have dropped -5.0%.

Another small business job creation effort in the vein of Create Jobs for USA, this time from Living Social.

Some more cringe-inducing evidence in the Lehman Brothers post mortem.

How will the recent elections in Europe effect the global economy? The Greek election appears to have created more questions than answers. My colleague Brad has a great write up of the overall scenario here.