PP430: Planning for Economic Growth and Development

PP430: Planning for Economic Growth and Development Faculty Sheila Toppin, DPA (abd), MPA

Welcome to the Class • Greetings • Availability • Office hours: Monday & Thursday 6:00 - 8:00 pm EST • AIM ID: Sheila Toppin • Telephone • Appointments: send an email message • Faculty & Student Introductions • Personal Triumphs

Course & Syllabus Info • Units (10 weeks), Wednesday to Tuesday • Discussion Board – 1 to 2 discussions per Unit • Seminar meets every Thursday at 8 PM EST • Assignments • Announcements: Informational & Reminders • Holiday Break: Independence Day, July 4th(No Seminar on July 5th – Midterm break) • Last day to request an Incomplete: Aug 6th • Last day of class: Tuesday, Aug 14th

Course & Syllabus Info • Assignments: • Unit 4, PowerPoint presentation • Unit 7 (begin in Unit 5), paper/statistical analysis • Unit 8, short paper • Unit 9 (Final Project), paper • Discussion Board (20 pts ea) • Seminars (10 pts ea)

Unit 4 Assignment – PowerPoint • You will combine research with data and convey your findings in a 6-8 slide PowerPoint presentation (excluding title and references slides). This assignment will help you learn how to effectively convey data and/or statistical results that are easy for viewers to understand. • For the presentation, you will use primary national-level data (see table below) to make observations regarding the influence of the political process and Economic Growth and Development. In your presentation, summarize the data, your statistical manipulations, the political parties’ platform stances on the related issue, and your analyses of them.

Unit 7 Assignment - Paper • Write a 5-7 page paper that uses basic statistical analysis of state-level empirical data to assess the relationships between the two major political parties’ articulated policy positions and the ensuing public policy initiatives. • The purpose of the paper is to analyze the efficacy of major policy initiatives as they pertain to Economic Growth, Development, and Economic Conditions within the broader philosophical context of the Republicans’ and Democrats’ expressed policy stands. • You may include as many graphical and statistical displays as you deem appropriate.

Unit 8 Assignment – Written Debate • Debate the proposition, “International agencies and policies that promote free trade are good for economic growth and development in the United States. • Write a 1-2 page position paper, debate your “side” of the above proposition. • The purpose of a debate is to argue the “pros” and “cons” about an issue and persuade the audience that your position is more valid than the other side’s position.

Unit 9 - Final Project • Write a 6-8 page paper assessing President Obama and the Congressional Majority Democrats’ stimulus, budgetary, and health care initiatives in the context of promoting Economic Growth and Development. • Are the Democrats’ policy initiatives aimed more at encouraging Economic Growth or Economic Development? Or are they aimed at both? • Address questions related to the challenges of business cycles and social policy; economic theory for policy development; and ideological legacies of the political parties and national platforms.

Unit 4 To-Do List • Readings (text & web sources) • Discussion (1 Topic) • Assignment • Seminar (See the To-Do Checklist PDF that is available in the classroom to keep track each Unit) Questions??

Economic Growth & Development

Economic Growth & Development • Economic Growth is the increase in a nation’s, regions or state’s productive output, usually over one year. Involves fiscal, monetary and regulatory policies aimed at promoting economic gains. • Economic Development is the distribution of output across income classes, regions or demographic distinctions. Refers to the achievement of a quality of life for the average citizen of a country. • Main Point - Economic growth is essential for Economic development.

Measuring Economic Growth Economic statistics are used to: • Develop concepts, definitions, classifications and methods that describe the state of and movements in economic phenomena, both in time and space. • Analyze the behavior of economic operators, forecast likely movements of the economy as a whole, make economic policy and business decisions, and weigh the pros and cons of alternative investments, etc.

Measuring Economic Growth Economic statistics are produced to satisfy user demand, which is extremely varied and can be classified according to a number of different dimensions: • Users interested in analyzing the level of economic variables or the way they change over time. • Users interested in how a particular variable changes over time (for example, the variation in production between the latest year and the one before).

Measuring Economic Growth • In the world of business, medium-to-large companies are interested in receiving timely information not only about national and international macroeconomic developments, but also on various aspects concerning the sectors in which they operate, at a meaningful level of territorial detail. • Small businesses want information more limited in scope, possibly relating to the local market in which they work, or to their own sector of economic activity.

Measuring Economic Growth • Research centers, either public or private, whose needs for information go in all directions, depending on the subject matter. • Households mainly want information that is quite general, expressed in a form they can understand. Households received their economic info via the different media (television, the press, Internet, etc.). • Questions??

Dimensions of Quality of Statistics • Relevance - reflects its ability to satisfy the needs of users. • Accuracy - represents the level at which the statistical information correctly describes the phenomenon it has been developed to measure. • Timeliness and Punctuality – reflects the time it takes to disseminate it with regard to the reference period and the existence of a timetable for releasing statistical information. • Accessibility - reflects the ease with which it can be identified and utilized by a user.

Dimensions of Quality of Statistics • Interpretability - reflects the ease with which the users can understand the basic characteristics of the statistic and thereby evaluate its utility for their own needs. • Coherence - relates to the degree to which a particular statistic can be analyzed from a temporal and spatial standpoint, or related to other information within analytical and interpretation models. • Credibility - refers to the confidence that users have in the person or entity producing that statistic.

Socioeconomic Data Analysts wanting to gain an understanding of the workings of a local economy usually do so by developing a statistical grasp of various dimensions of economic activity and well-being. The three most basic of socioeconomic data categories are… 1. Demographics – population change (growth, decline), the components of population change (migration, births, deaths), and population characteristics (i.e., age, race, gender, and educational attainment, etc.)

Socioeconomic Data 2. Employment and unemployment – numbers of jobs, by industry and occupation, and numbers of people who are employed, unemployed and looking for work, and unemployed and happy to be that way 3. Income and earnings – annual income (from a variety of sources,including work, income, and transfer payments), and hourly wages by occupation Questions??

Socioeconomic Data To facilitate access to its statistics, the Census Bureau sponsors three programs through which approximately 1,800 state and local organizations receive and disseminate Census data products: • State Data Centers (SDCs) – make Census data and related services available to users. • Business and Industry Data Centers (BIDCs) – complement the work of SDCs, focuses on economic data and assistance to businesses and economic development agencies in their respective states. • Census Information Centers (CICs) – seek to disseminate Census data to special population groups, particularly those less likely to use SDC/BIDC participants.

Class Activity – Data Sources Primary Data Sources • U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics are widely used for examining statistical data and getting technical assistance. • The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains the FedStats Web site, at http://www.fedstats.gov/, that provides links to the websites of over 70 federal data organizations. • http://www.fedstats.gov/aboutfedstats.html Questions??

Class Activity – Data Sources Statistics of Income Program, Internal Revenue Service • Measures: Year-to-year gross domestic migration flows (inflows, outflows) • Geography: County-to-county and state-to-state for entire U.S. • Frequency: Annual • Method: Uses various tax forms to identify year-to-year address changes for taxpayers and their families • http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=133521,00.html#_grp1

Class Activity – Data Sources Monthly labor force estimates, Bureau of Labor Statistics • Measures: Labor force, employment, unemployment, and unemployment rate • Geography: All states, metropolitan statistical/primary metropolitan statistical areas, • Frequency: Monthly estimates • Method: Estimates based on some combination of data. • http://www.bls.gov/bls/newsrels.htm#OEUS

Class Activity – Data Sources The Bureau of Economic Assistance (BEA) provides regional economic accounts provide statistics about: • Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for states and metropolitan areas • Personal Income for states, counties, metropolitan areas, micropolitan areas, metropolitan divisions and combined statistical areas, and BEA economic areas. • http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm

Unit 4 Seminar Summary • Reviewed upcoming assignment expectations • Discussed process of measuring economic growth • Identified economic statistics user preferences • Distinguished economic statistics quality criteria • Identified key sources of economic data • Class Activity – Surveyed Economic Data websites • Final Questions??? • Dismissal

PP430: Planning for Economic Growth and Development