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By Louis Uchitelle
(CNBC – The New York Times) A widening gap between data and reality is distorting the government’s picture of the country’s economic health, overstating growth and productivity in ways that could affect the political debate on issues like trade, wages and job creation.
The shortcomings of the data-gathering system came through loud and clear here Friday and Saturday at a first-of-its-kind gathering of economists from academia and government determined to come up with a more accurate statistical picture.
The fundamental shortcoming is in the way imports are accounted for. A … Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (Reuters – The New York Times) – Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives hustled on Thursday to count votes and round up support for a sweeping healthcare overhaul that was headed to a close floor vote on Saturday.
Failure in the Democratic-controlled House would be a huge political blow to President Barack Obama, who has made an overhaul of the vast $2.5 trillion healthcare system his top domestic priority.
Obama planned to visit the Capitol on Friday for a pep talk to House Democrats before the vote. House leaders have struggled to win over some party moderates with lingering … Continue Reading
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(The New York Times)
This interview with Drew Gilpin Faust, president of Harvard, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.
Q. Do you remember the first time you became somebody’s boss or supervisor?
A. I became chair of the department of American civilization at the University of Pennsylvania, and so it would have been in 1980. But a department chair is an interesting kind of boss, because it’s not clear … Continue Reading
