Congressional Quarterly's Desk Reference on the Economy

by Carroll, Richard J.

• ISBN13: 9781568025254
• ISBN10: 1568025254
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

New in the celebrated series of desk references from Congressional Quarterly, CQ's Desk Reference on the Economy includes more than 600 questions and answers covering U.S. economic issues in the context of our government institutions, as well as presidential and congressional policy. Students, researchers, and interested citizens can easily find understandable information they need about front-page, high-profile economic issues.

CQ's Desk Reference on the Economy is designed to help voters, teachers, and students gain a basic understanding of the most important policies and issues in the U.S. economy. Readers will see the light go on "perhaps for the first time ever" as they begin to make more and more sense of such complicated issues as:
-- Medicaid spending and the impact of managed care.
-- Social Security funding for future generations.
-- Is the federal budget really balanced?
-- What are the implications of the U.S. trade deficit?

CQ's Desk Reference on the Economy also includes an historical context by tracking presidential and party-bas

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	1	(4)
Major Indicators and Trends in the U.S. Economy from 1946 to 1999	5	(61)
Gross Domestic Product	5	(6)
Employment and Unemployment	11	(4)
Inflation	15	(3)
Money and Interest Rates	18	(7)
Investment and Savings	25	(7)
Productivity and Compensation	32	(5)
Poverty	37	(4)
Stock Market	41	(5)
International Trade	46	(4)
Federal Budget Growth	50	(2)
Federal Budget Composition	52	(5)
National Debt and Deficit	57	(4)
Federal Taxes	61	(5)
Events That Made Today's Economy: Great Depression to Y2K	66	(37)
1930s	66	(6)
1940s	72	(5)
1950s	77	(4)
1960s	81	(4)
1970s	85	(6)
1980s	91	(5)
1990s	96	(7)
Top Economic Issues: What Matters Most Now and for the Future	103	(178)
Fiscal and Monetary Issues	104	(1)
The Funding and Reform of Social Security	104	(18)
Tax Reform	122	(16)
Maintaining Low Inflation and Low Unemployment	138	(5)
Saving and Investment Rates	143	(6)
The National Debt	149	(5)
The Pitfalls of Economic Indicators	154	(9)
Private Sector Issues	163	(1)
Technological Advances and Economic Progress	163	(15)
Corporate Restructuring: Stockholder Greed or Competitive Necessity?	178	(7)
Regulation and Deregulation	185	(9)
The Costs of Civil Litigation	194	(5)
Corporate Welfare	199	(3)
Social and Environmental Issues	202	(1)
Health Care Costs, Reform Proposals, and Medicare	202	(8)
The Economy and Environmental Protection	210	(16)
Poverty and Income and Wealth Distribution	226	(9)
Economic Costs of Illegal Drugs	235	(4)
Natural Resources	239	(6)
International Issues	245	(1)
Globalization	245	(8)
NAFTA and Its Record on Trade and Jobs	253	(7)
Immigration: Costs and Benefits for the United States	260	(5)
The Asian Financial Crisis: Impact on the United States	265	(7)
The Use of Economic Sanctions	272	(3)
The Euro and Its Effects on the U.S. Economy	275	(6)
Evaluating Economic Performance	281	(51)
Setting the Standard to Rate a President's Performance	281	(3)
Tracking the Economy: Truman to Clinton	284	(10)
Political Parties and the Economy	294	(2)
Today's Economy and Priorities for Tomorrow	296	(5)
Reference Materials
Economic Institutions and Resources	301	(8)
Glossary	309	(8)
Statistical Appendix of Economic Indicators, 1945--1999	317	(10)
Bibliography	327	(5)
Index	332