Research shows that African Americans are newer to the Internet than many other population segments, but also more active in using mobile technology to access the Internet. This means that African Americans rely on search engines to help them find information they need online -- and they know that the Internet is often the only place to find key information on jobs, health care, and other topics. Policymakers must, therefore, cultivate an environment where search results are trusted and reliable -- while ensuring that the companies that provide search services can continue to innovate in a rapidly evolving online ecosystem.

As the Federal Trade Commission examines practices of companies providing search services, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is ready to work with all stakeholders to ensure that search engines serves the needs of consumers -- in an environment that supports innovation.
 

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For more than a year, Americans have heard a steady drumbeat about the dangers of the proverbial fiscal cliff from politicians, pundits and others.

When the clock strikes 12 on December 31, we've been told, an economic and financial time bomb will be triggered that will drag the country back into recession, cause stock markets to tumble, unleash another layer of unemployment and saddle middle-class Americans with thousands of dollars of additional taxes each year.

While dramatic, this scenario is unlikely to play out as forecast, said one local economist.

"On January 1, we will have started down a path where a range of people in a wide swath of life will suffer. We're expecting a hatchet on January 1 and everyone will be bleeding but it won't work out that way," said Wilhelmina Leigh, Ph.D., a senior research associate on economic security issues at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Northwest. "I think there are some clear, negative likely implications if we go off the fiscal cliff. Lights wouldn't go off but people may have to burn lights six hours a day and eat two meals instead of three. All the cuts will be spread out over the next decade so you won't see its effects instantly. This might have been done for people to buy time or it might have been the least painful way – if you have to suffer, it's better to spread it out."

Read more at The Washington Informer.

The impending and dreaded so-called fiscal cliff is a deadline on a group of bills and legislative acts that currently govern almost all facets of the federal government, with many of the current laws, tax codes and more set to change or expire simultaneously.

This is a deadline that if not avoided by timely and effective congressional action, will trigger severe and nearly immediate funding cuts—sequestration—in federal programs and services along with tax increases estimated in the $650 billion range, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The major portion (approximately $500 billion) would be caused by increased taxes when the Bush and other tax cuts expire, combined with Congress’ refusal to patch the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

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Many in the nation’s economic community feel these actions, or Congress’ lack of action, by midnight Dec. 31, 2012., could possibly trigger another deep recession.

Economist Wilhelmina Leigh said this impasse is not due to any one thing, nor is it attributable to recent economic shortfalls, but has been brewing for years. Leigh is a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C.

“The U.S. has been on a collision course for the last decade or so, where we’re spending more and taking in less in revenues,” said Leigh. “We haven’t been able to change that pattern of behavior because members of Congress weren’t really willing to, and now all sorts of things have converged—our deficit each year has been adding up over time, so now we have a huge debt.”

Read more at Our Weekly.

If Republicans and Democrats don’t reach a 12th hour deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” many lower-and middle-income families will feel deep pain, according to analysis by economists and respected think tanks.

The Budget Control Act, set to expire at the end of the year, will usher in draconian social spending and defense cuts along with tax hikes on all Americans if lawmakers can’t get a deal done. Much of the impact of such a decision –or non-decision – will come later in the year, some changes will be immediate.

“The most immediate one is the payroll tax,” said Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a fiscal policy and public program research group. “That’s going to come right out of your paycheck, your first is one going to change.”

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Wilhelmina Leigh, a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, an independent research group in Washington, D.C., said that uncertainty about the direction of the country’s economic policy is just as bad the specter of the fiscal cliff, because it becomes harder for businesses, domestic and abroad, and American families to plan for the future.

“You don’t know exactly where the shortfall will hit you,” said Leigh. “It’s going to show up in a lot little ways.”

Read more at the Greene County Democrat.

Politic365 recently went on record with Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee, Vice President and Director of the Media and Technology Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and Harold Crumpton, Chair of the NAACP National Board’s Media, Telecom and Broadband Taskforce and former Missouri Public Service Commissioner, to discuss the important issue of wireless taxation and its potential impact on marginalized communities.

A supervisor's Guidebook for Supporting and Retaining New Workforce Entrants in Today's Multicultural Workforce

This book outlines methods for integrating entry-level workers into the workplace through a strong assimilation process. The assimilation process is designed to help them adjust to the organization's culture, understand job expectations, and build their skills. It also provides guidance in helping new employees develop successful work relationships and build basic business literacy, while providing continuous performance support.

Only Available in Hard Copy.

To order a hard copy of this publication, download the publication order form. [click here]

All prices do NOT include shipping and handling fees. Please see form for more details.

Date Published: October 2002
 

Price: $20.00

The following analysis addresses one of the most important developments affecting the economic, social, and political life of African Americans in the new century. Generational cleavages are altering the bedrock of both national life and black life in the United States. These changes are governed by time and history, and they reflect the nation's economic, political, and social change as well as the differences in personal experiences that comprise and result from those changes.

It should be understood at the outset that this study is but the beginning of an effort by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies to understand and anticipate the consequences of these changes for the future of African Americans. These differences only began to surface in Joint Center national opinion polls in the early 1990s. Since then, there has been an accumulation of evidence allowing for not only the documentation, but the investigation, of these shifting policy views as a function of generational identity.

Available in Hard Copy Only.

To order a hard copy of this publication, download the publication order form. 

All prices do NOT include shipping and handling fees. Please see form for more details.

Date Published: 2001

Price: $20.00

It seems that the spring won't be much more favorable to the economy than the winter--while the April showers may have brought May flowers, according to recent job data, they also brought another 500,000 pink slips.