House Prices Move Further Out of Reach for Young Families

  By Amanda Mayoral   Summary Americans are working harder and waiting longer to buy homes The cost of a home is 6 times median household income today, versus 3.2 times in 1967 The disparity between house prices and median incomes was exacerbated by the COVID pandemic which drove a 37% increase in house prices…

U.S. Challenges in EV Battery Production

By Amanda Mayoral   The U.S. is lagging behind China and the European Union in production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Forecasts show the U.S. will fall further behind China by 2025 and remain dependent on imports for more than half of its EV battery needs. This CPA Policy Paper by CPA Economist Amanda…

Tariffs Could Have Helped Us Avoid the Current Inflation Spike

  By Amanda Mayoral   Summary Global supply-chain crises, over-dependence on foreign production and government stimulus best explain the current inflation problem. Policy makers should learn from current crises and enact policies to reduce our strong dependence on unreliable foreign suppliers. Tariffs can cause a one-time rise in prices, but they don’t cause persistent month-after-month…

War in Ukraine Highlights Critical US Dependencies on Russia-China Axis

War in Ukraine Highlights Critical US Dependencies on Russia-China Axis By Jeff Ferry and Amanda Mayoral   Summary Points The Russian invasion of Ukraine reveals the weakness of US industrial strategy and our over-reliance on imports in manufactured goods and raw materials. The US is import-dependent in many industries critical to US national security. A…

We Need to be Better at Industrial Policy

We Need to be Better at Industrial Policy By Amanda Mayoral, CPA Economist   Industrial policy is critical to competing in a global economy and maintaining our national security. In the world of U.S. economic policymaking, we need to stop wasting time debating whether to “do” industrial policy and rather debate how to improve it.…

U.S. Trade Policy: Over Half a Century of Unreciprocated Tariff Cuts

U.S. Trade Policy: Over Half a Century of Unreciprocated Tariff Cuts By Amanda Mayoral, CPA Economist   Summary Points: The US held high tariff rates from 1816 until the middle of the 20th century The US then cut tariffs more than most countries, often unilaterally, without also requiring tariff reductions by others Today, the US has…

Quantifying Job Quality for U.S., Black, Hispanic, and Asian American Workers

CPA’s Job Quality Index reveals that Black Americans and Hispanic Americans suffer from far worse job quality than the total workforce, as measured by the weekly wages of all U.S. production and nonsupervisory employees. These disparities are due to the decline of high quality jobs such as those in the manufacturing sector and the rise…