Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Fact of the Week: Durable Goods, Volatility and the Economy

By SBE Council at 24 May, 2013, 11:54 am

The news on durable goods orders released on May 24 was positive for the month of April. The only problem is that this data is very volatile from month to month, as illustrated by the fact that durable goods orders were down markedly in March. In April, orders rose by 3.3 percent, while March orders [...]

FACT OF THE WEEK: An Attack on SBE Council’s Policy Index is an Attack on Economic Realities

By SBE Council at 14 May, 2013, 10:19 am

…new “report” that attempts to undermine pro-entrepreneur, pro-growth state Indexes lacks economic fundamentals, substance and common sense The political Left does not like to deal with economic reality. After all, economic reality can be very inconvenient for their agenda. For example, the fact that governmental costs such as taxes and regulations at all levels of [...]

FACT OF THE WEEK: Worries are Widespread Regarding ObamaCare

By SBE Council at 10 May, 2013, 12:14 pm

Economic common sense dictates that all of us should be worried about the implementation of ObamaCare, which pretty much fully hits next year. After all, increased taxes, more mandates and regulation, expanded government spending, and simply more government control over health care are not the means to lower costs, and expanded and improved health care [...]

FACT OF THE WEEK: Latest on U.S. Productivity and Why it Matters

By SBE Council at 2 May, 2013, 4:40 pm

First quarter productivity numbers were released on May 2. Before we get to them, however, let’s take a moment to talk about why productivity matters. So much of sound economics today is about knocking down economic myths. Unfortunately, there are so many economic myths around that it’s clear that we need to be doing a [...]

FACT OF THE WEEK: Key Points on “Gang of 8″ Immigration Reform

By SBE Council at 24 April, 2013, 12:58 pm

The comprehensive immigration reform proposal from the “Gang of Eight” U.S. senators has pushed ahead an issue that our nation must deal with for a variety of reasons, including economic growth. Consider a few key points included in the Gang of Eight comprehensive reform legislation. • High-Skilled Visas. The annual cap on H-1B visas would [...]

FACT OF THE WEEK: The Jobs Picture

By SBE Council at 18 April, 2013, 12:19 pm

Labor Force Participation Rate Hits 1979 Low– Where is the U.S. on jobs? It’s time for a quick review of some of the most recent numbers, and where we are in the longer trend. • On April 18, the latest weekly jobless claims were announced, and during the week ending April 13, initial jobless claims [...]

Fact of the Week: Obama’s Budget and Spending

By SBE Council at 12 April, 2013, 8:42 am

There’s a great deal to sift through and pick apart in the President’s proposed budget plan. Some say: Why bother? After all, it’s not only some two months late, but it’s also D.O.A. since Congress already is working on budget matters. True enough. But this budget plan obviously does tell us what the President wants, [...]

Fact of the Week: An Unfortunate One-Year Anniversary

By SBE Council at 3 April, 2013, 7:20 pm

Unhappy one-year anniversary, USA! That’s right, one year ago on April 1, 2012, the U.S. gained the dubious title of having the highest corporate income tax rate among developed economies. That’s when Japan reduced its rate to make the U.S. rate highest among OECD nations. Here are a few points and findings to keep in [...]

Fact of the Week: Public Gets It on the Budget

By SBE Council at 19 March, 2013, 10:55 pm

Do the American people get it on the budget? That is, do they understand that our huge annual federal budget deficits and mounting federal debt are all about too much government spending and not enough private-sector growth? A poll released by TheHill.com on March 18 reports that, for the most part, voters do get it. [...]

FACT OF THE WEEK: A Look at the State of Small Business in the Economy

By SBE Council at 14 March, 2013, 4:34 pm

The SBA’s Office of Advocacy just released (March 2013) its “Small Business Quarterly Bulletin” for the fourth quarter of 2012. The positive take on the data was characterized this way: “Small businesses across America continue to modestly improve as the nation pushes through its economic recovery. The most promising indicators of Advocacy’s latest economic analysis [...]