ITC Report: Free Trade Harms Minorities, Manufacturing Workers, and Workers Without College

A new International Trade Commission (ITC) report on the distributional effects of trade points out that import competition has negative and disproportionate effects on minority workers, workers without college education, and workers in manufacturing.             In October 2022, the ITC published a report entitled “Distributional Effects of Trade and Trade Policy on U.S. Workers.” (https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub5374.pdf)…

Looming Copper Shortage Threatens U.S. Resiliency and Geopolitical Order

The “Green Revolution” promises to produce electric power in a climate-friendly, low-emissions  manner for homes, businesses, cars, trucks and other vehicles. There’s just one giant stumbling block. All these clean-energy sources use large amounts of copper. Global copper demand is forecast to double between now and 2035. But copper supply may not keep up. If…

Production Tax Credits Unleash Tidal Wave of Investment in Manufacturing

$22 Billion of Investment to Create 15,000 Jobs The manufacturing incentives tucked into the Inflation Reduction Act have unleashed a tidal wave of investment in U.S. manufacturing unlike any we have seen in decades.  According to CPA calculations, and our calculations are a work in progress, so far $22 billion of investment dollars have been…

Job Quality Index Falls to 81.07

WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today announced that the U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index (JQI) fell 0.45% to 81.07 in August, as low-quality job additions exceeded high-quality additions. Low quality jobs, i.e. jobs that pay weekly wages below the national average for all production and nonsupervisory workers, increased in the latest month, particularly…

US Rare Earths Industry Making Inroads Into China’s Global Dominance

America’s dependence on China for rare earth supplies is one of the most serious issues for the U.S. supply chain. Rare earths are critical minerals with uses in military equipment such as fighter jets. On the civilian side, rare earths are required for the motors in electric vehicles, a market that is destined to be…

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…