TAXES AS POLICY

摘要

Like many economists, I am up early on the first Friday of every month to interpret the Bureau of Labor Statistics' release of new data on U.S. employment and earnings. I feel "in the know" to be poring over a detailed spreadsheet seeking to discern what a 0.1-percentage-point change in the employment rate means as I watch global markets reacting to that same number in real time. Knowing that President Barack Obama and congressional leaders will have to react to the new data adds a little bit of grandeur to what could otherwise be an early morning plod through tables and figures.