James Pethokoukis

Saturday, May 25, 2013

James Pethokoukis is the Money & Politics columnist-blogger for the American Enterprise Institute. Previously, he was the Washington columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. Pethokoukis has written for many publications including USNews & World Report, The New York Times, The Weekly Standard, Commentary, USA Today, and Investor's Business Daily. Pethokoukis is also an official CNBC contributor. In addition, he has appeared numerous times on MSNBC, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, The McLaughlin Group, CNN, and Nightly Business Report on PBS. A graduate of Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism, Pethokoukis is a 2002 Jeopardy! champion.

Economics, U.S. Economy

Why the official 8.3 percent unemployment rate is a phony number—and what it means for Obama’s reelection

James Pethokoukis | February 3, 2012, 11:47 am

The January jobs report is out and it seems pretty strong, at least superficially. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent, the lowest rate since February 2009. And the economy added 243,000 jobs, the most since April … read more >

Economics

Mitt Romney, meet Jack Kemp

James Pethokoukis | February 3, 2012, 6:38 am

Jack Kemp believed in the wonder-working power of entrepreneurial capitalism to make all Americans more prosperous and more capable of achieving their dreams. I cannot imagine Kemp talking about “the poor” the way Mitt Romney did the other day. Recall … read more >

Politics and Public Opinion

Why the unemployment rate might fall to 8.1 percent by Election Day—and why it’s bad news for Obama

James Pethokoukis | February 2, 2012, 3:51 pm

The big brains over at Hamilton Place Strategies have produced a new white paper that tries to project the unemployment rate on Election Day in November. Now, the U-3 rate has dropped rather sharply since August, to 8.5 percent from 9.1 percent. … read more >

Economics, U.S. Economy

A chart that finally reveals the real unemployment rate

James Pethokoukis | February 2, 2012, 3:10 pm

The official, U-3, unemployment rate is 8.5 percent. But that number plays off a shrunken base of potential workers that the Labor Department considers part of the active work force. But what if you started counting as unemployed all those … read more >

Economics, U.S. Economy

Like Steve Jobs said, those manufacturing jobs aren’t coming back

James Pethokoukis | February 2, 2012, 2:53 pm

Pew has put together five charts looking at the long-term unemployed. They’re all pretty incredible/scary, but this one really stands out, I think: And here is some context: The Great Recession and its aftermath saw a significant increase in the … read more >

Also of Interest

Bernanke’s much-needed optimism

It’s hardly an encouraging sign of a nation’s economic vitality when its most optimistic policymakers are its central bankers.

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The IRS and big government

The expanding Internal Revenue Service scandal could hardly be any more Drudgeriffic.

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Ferguson's blooper on Keynes

It was an unusually feisty weekend in corners of the blogosphere and Twitterverse where dwell economists and economic-policy wonks.

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