Reports by Chad Stone
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Results by year: 2009 | 2008 | 2007
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Relief for States and Struggling Families Provides Substantial Boost to Employment
November 20, 2009
The economy is in a very deep hole and faces a long climb back to full employment. Policymakers can make that climb easier by extending or bolstering key provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) enacted at the start of the year — particularly those related to unemployment insurance and state … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the October Employment Report
November 6, 2009
Today’s jobs report shows that although the economy turned up in the third quarter, the labor market did not. The unemployment rate crossed into double digits in October, and payrolls shrank for the 22nd straight month. The economy is in a very deep hole and faces a long climb back to full … -
New Climate Bill in Senate Provides Funding for Low-Income Consumers but Amount Falls Short of Need
October 29, 2009
The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733) introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) represents a notable achievement, as it continues to move Congress forward toward taking needed action to address global climate change. The Kerry-Boxer bill, like the Waxman-Markey bill that the House … -
How Low-Income Consumers Fare in the House Climate Bill
Updated October 7, 2009
On June 26, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454). The legislation, which would place a cap on emissions of greenhouse gases to combat global warming, includes important provisions to help ensure that the legislation does not increase hardship by making poor families poorer or … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the September Employment Report
October 2, 2009
Today’s jobs report shows that employers will need stronger evidence of a reviving economy before they will start adding workers to their payrolls. Employers shed jobs for the 21st straight month in September (see graph) and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.8 percent. … -
Harsh Labor Market Conditions Justify Extending Unemployment Benefits in Hard-Hit States
Updated September 23, 2009
On September 22, the House passed H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of 331 to 83. This legislation, which if enacted would provide additional weeks of unemployment insurance benefits in states with the highest unemployment rates, is an appropriate response to the continuing harsh conditions in the … -
Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion
September 9, 2009
Two-thirds of the nation’s total income gains from 2002 to 2007 flowed to the top 1 percent of U.S. households, and that top 1 percent held a larger share of income in 2007 than at any time since 1928, according to an analysis of newly released IRS data by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez.[1] During those years, the … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the August Employment Report
September 4, 2009
Today’s employment report shows little evidence that the emerging economic recovery is reviving the job market. Although job losses continued to moderate in August, the percentage of Americans with a job reached its lowest level since 1984 (See figure). Economic activity seems to be increasing, but employers remain reluctant to hire, … -
Changing Climate Bill To Give More Allowances To Electric Utilities Would Likely Hurt, Not Help, Consumers
August 11, 2009
In a July 6 letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) called for an even larger allocation of free allowances to the electricity sector than the substantial share it would receive under the House climate bill, as well as a more protracted phase-out of these allowances. In advancing these requests, the EEI … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the July Employment Report
August 7, 2009
Today’s employment report shows that labor market conditions remain extremely harsh for job-seekers, generating a record level of long-term unemployment. One third of the unemployed (33.8 percent) have been looking for work for 27 weeks or more — the highest percentage ever … -
Statement by Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the Second-Quarter Economic Growth Report
July 31, 2009
Today’s report on second-quarter economic growth shows that the economy is no longer in free fall. It also provides evidence that the economic recovery legislation that the Administration and Congress enacted earlier this year is doing what it was reasonably expected to do. No … -
Senate Can Strengthen Climate Legislation By Reducing Corporate Welfare and Boosting True Consumer Relief
July 10, 2009
Executive Summary The House’s June 26 passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act represents a milestone in climate policy, moving the nation closer to enacting legislation that combats global warming while mitigating the burden of higher energy costs on the most vulnerable households. The Senate can improve on this … -
New EPA and CBO Estimates Refute Claims That House Climate Bill Would Impose Large Costs on Households and the Economy
June 25, 2009
The costs of fighting greenhouse gas pollution are modest and manageable, according to analyses of climate change legislation coming to the House floor that both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Congressional Budget Office have issued in recent days. These analyses decisively refute opponents’ claims that … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the May Employment Report
June 5, 2009
Today’s jobs report shows a labor market that is still deteriorating but that offers signs that the worst of the current recession may be over. Job losses in May, while still high at 345,000, were less than half of January’s level. The unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent but, for the second month in a row, the labor force grew as more people … -
Holding Down Increases in Utility Bills Is a Flawed Way To Protect Consumers While Fighting Global Warming
Revised June 3, 2009
Policymakers who are sensitive to the impact on consumers of higher energy prices stemming from climate-change policies should be wary of approaches to consumer relief that keep utility bills artificially low. A more straightforward — and effective — way to provide consumer relief is to refund money directly to … -
Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill Fully Offsets Average Purchasing Power Loss for Low-Income Consumers
May 20, 2009
On May 19, 2009, the House Energy and Commerce Committee began consideration of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454), introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA). The legislation, which would place a cap on emissions of greenhouse gases to combat global … -
Statement by Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the April Employment Report
May 8, 2009
Today’s jobs report brings more sobering news about the depth and duration of the recession. Even if the economy hits bottom soon and begins growing again, it will take time to reverse the severe job losses and sharp increase in unemployment that have already occurred. The official unemployment rate hit 8.9 … -
How to Use Existing Tax and Benefit Systems to Offset Consumers’ Higher Energy Costs Under an Emissions Cap
April 20, 2009
This report outlines the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ proposal to create a “climate rebate” for low- and middle-income consumers that offsets the impact of higher energy-related prices resulting from climate change policies. It also explains how this rebate could be delivered efficiently through the tax system and existing benefit systems. Introduction … -
Statement by Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the March Employment Report
April 3, 2009
With the continued sharp deterioration in the labor market in March, the pace of job losses in this recession now is far worse than even during the deep 1981-82 recession. Thus, Congress acted wisely this week in rejecting calls to cut federal spending in 2010, at a time when the economy clearly will still be quite weak and need continued … -
Statement by Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the February Employment Report
March 6, 2009
The sharp deterioration in the job market that continued in February was, as expected, grim, underscoring why it was so important that Congress enact an effective economic recovery law last month. No one should expect that law to put the economy back on track immediately. But if federal, state, and local governments implement the law … -
Cap and Trade Can Fight Global Warming Effectively While Also Protecting Consumers
March 3, 2009
Some critics of President Obama’s budget have argued that the proposal to place a cap on greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming represents a tax increase for virtually all Americans. That claim is misleading because it focuses on just one aspect of the Administration’s cap-and-trade proposal. It ignores … -
Extending "Climate Rebates" to Include Middle-Income Consumers
February 19, 2009
Policies that restrict greenhouse gas emissions will significantly raise the price of fossil-fuel energy products — from home energy and gasoline to food and other goods and services with significant energy inputs. Such policies are necessary to encourage energy efficiency and greater use of clean energy sources. They will, however, cut into consumers’ … -
Why Utilities Are Not Well-Suited To Deliver Relief To Low- And Moderate-Income Consumers In A Climate Bill
February 19, 2009
Comprehensive climate change legislation is expected to include measures to mitigate the effects of higher energy-related prices on low- and moderate-income family budgets. Those higher energy prices play an important role in achieving efficient emissions reductions under a cap-and-trade system (or under a carbon tax), and they are an inevitable result of measures that limit the supply of fossil-fuel energy.… -
Statement by Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the January Employment Report
February 6, 2009
With job losses mounting and the recession deepening, there is no time to waste enacting the economic recovery package now before the Congress. That package will provide needed benefits to unemployed workers, and it would help stem the tide of job losses and moderate the severity of the downturn. The recession that began in December 2007 has … -
Attacks on Congressional Recovery Package Don't Withstand Scrutiny
February 5, 2009
The public debate over the economic recovery package working its way through Congress[1] has become more muddled and incoherent than the critics’ caricature of the package itself. New York Times columnist David Brooks, for example, describes the package as a “sprawling, undisciplined smorgasbord.”[2] Those words may be more appropriately applied to the case … -
New Analysis Shows Strong Job Effects from Including Aid for Hard-Pressed Families and States in a Recovery Package
January 15, 2009
Temporary programs to protect people who are the most vulnerable in a deep recession will have a powerful impact on job creation relative to their cost, based on an analysis of the job creation effects of the proposed Obama economic recovery plan by Christina Romer, who will be chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein, who will be Chief … -
Statement: Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the December Employment Report
January 9, 2009
Another dismal jobs report shows that the recession is deepening and confirms the need for a substantial and well-targeted economic recovery package. The assistance for unemployed workers described below should be a key component of that package. The recession that began in December 2007 is … -
Assistance for Hard-Pressed Families Is One of the Best Ways to Preserve and Create Jobs
January 9, 2009
In negotiations over the forthcoming economic recovery package, some policymakers have argued that various measures aimed at low- and moderate-income families would serve a “safety net” function but that the package should focus more heavily on creating jobs. This argument reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the … -
Unemployment Insurance Reforms Should Be Part of Economic Recovery Package
January 6, 2009
As part of the forthcoming economic recovery package, Congress and President-elect Obama are reportedly considering a series of reforms to the unemployment insurance (UI) system. These reforms, based on the recommendations of a bipartisan advisory council, would encourage states to modernize the program (which was designed in the 1930s) so that fewer workers — …
