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This paper examines if internal migrants at the turn of the twentieth century have influenced the long-term economic development of the counties where they settled over 100 years ago. Using Census microdata from 1880 and 1910, the distance travelled by American-born migrants between birthplace and county of residence is examined to assess its relevance for the economic development of US counties today. The settlement patterns of domestic migrants across the 48 continental states are then linked to current county-level development. Factors influencing both migration at the time and the level of development of the county today are controlled for. The results of the analysis underline the economic importance of internal migration. Counties that attracted American-born migrants more than 100 years ago are significantly richer today. Moreover, distance is crucial for the impact of internal migration on long-term economic development; the larger the distance travelled by domestic migrants, the greater the long-term economic impact on the receiving territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1960s, many cities across the United States began to experience a series of social and economic crises. Painful desegregation, massive riots, white flight, and the near bankruptcy of New York City were indications that urban centers, pillars of the American industrial juggernaut, were in serious trouble. The realization of this instigated massive government response and vigorous academic debate: how it was possible that in a little over three generations, while the overall American economy had grown, the major urban centers of the East and Midwest had fallen into such debt and decay?. This paper critiques some of the theories of 20th century urban dynamics by analysis of one major urban center, the city of Cincinnati. In particular, it asks whether urban planning policy, in response to the needs of a city in crisis, has been an effective tool in revitalizing the city. The efficacy of city redevelopment strategy has long been a seminal question for academics. The city of Cincinnati has entrusted its economic redevelopment future to entities such as the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), a private nonprofit organization, which has overseen almost $1 billion in investment in Cincinnati's urban core. In the thirteen years since the creation of 3CDC, Cincinnati's inner city has changed dramatically in terms of higher property values, lower crime rates, and significant restoration of its historic structures. However, it is far from clear that redevelopment, as a model for urban revival, works to the overall benefit of the city, as reflected by traditional statistical measurements like population growth, median income, poverty rates, crime rates, and tax revenues. Therefore, this paper questions whether city policies encouraging gentrification are worthwhile given the costs and benefits. Understanding the dynamics of Cincinnati's decline from the point of view of urban theory helps provide a view of how much a city's policies affect its economic condition, and which policies it should pursue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the high rates of economic growth of the US economy and the remarkable acceleration of productivity growth since the mid-1990s which is widely attributed to the modern information and communication technologies (ICTs). Design/methodology/approach After identifying three key factors for Solow's productivity puzzle and examining ICTs as a general purpose technology, three main channels of ICTs' impact in the economy are discussed: the first transmission channel is direct and consists of the effects generated by rapid technical progress within the ICT-capital goods producing sector. The second one is due to the increasing accumulation and application of ICT goods and services in the user sectors. ICTs' positive spillover effects comprise the third transmission channel, i.e. they lead to "disembodied" increases in efficiency in the sense of "learning by doing" in the end-user sector. Findings - The diffusion of ICTs requires investment in all industries, i.e. the improvement of competitiveness on the macro level is strongly linked to investment activities and skill qualifications on the micro level. Research limitations/implications The paper concludes with some comparisons between the US and the German economy where the acute need for infrastructure investment in East Germany in the 1990s limited the possibilities for investment in ICTs exactly at a time of high-technological dynamism at the start of an upswing of a new Kondratieff cycle. Although some comparisons with the EU are made the impact of ICTs in other countries except the USA and Germany is not discussed more intensively. Practical implications A very useful source of information for graduate students and policy makers alike on the theoretical and empirical impact of new technologies on economic development. Originality/value - This paper fulfils an information need for comparing growth in international perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores the determinants of the EU–US TFP growth gap using EU KLEMS. As found in previous analyses, TFP growth appears to be driven by catching-up phenomena associated with the gradual adoption of new technologies. TFP growth is also significantly driven by developments at the “technological frontier”, especially since the mid-1990s. Industries with higher R&D expenditures and higher adoption rates for ICT-intensive technologies appear to exhibit higher TFP growth rates, whilst human capital has mostly a significant effect across countries. Regarding determinants in industries relevant for the different TFP performance of the EU versus the US, ICT-producing industries appear to benefit from R&D in terms of stronger spillovers from TFP gains at the frontier, network utilities are strongly affected by product market regulations, whilst the retail and wholesale trade industry is significantly influenced by consumption dynamics which permit a better exploitation of scale economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic climate in the United States has reached near apocalyptic proportions. Unemployment is at an all time high and a significant portion of available homes are in foreclosure. There appears to be no foreseeable alternative to continued economic decline. Most economists have suggested short-term, stop gap solutions that do not address the crack in this country's economic foundation. A long-term solution addressing the moral decay in the United States is the only hope for true reform and a stable economy. This paper provides a brief history of our current economic climate. It summarizes the ideological origins of capitalism and then gives a brief history of modern philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relationship between house prices and private consumption of the US economy. Based on Granger's causality test, we ask whether this relationship is driven by causality or whether it is merely an ambiguous connection. Based on latest quarterly data, our results show that there is indeed a causal relationship with changes in house prices affecting private consumption, fundamentally supporting economic theory. Considering existing research, it is therefore suggested that the US economy is at the outset of a severe economic downturn, confirming pessimist's expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence of a non-linear relationship between real GDP growth and oil price changes for the US economy. We also argue that this non-linearity is not merely due to the use of data from the mid-1980s onwards, as most authors, so far, seem to believe. In fact, we find the existence of non-linearity with the use of data earlier than 1984, and even before 1977. Furthermore, we question that the non-linear transformations of oil prices proposed in the literature are the most appropriate ones for reflecting such non-linearity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of immigration on the US trade flows. The model hypothesizes that immigration facilitates international trade with home countries by lowering transaction costs. Immigrants also demand products from their country of origin and thus stimulate trade. Using a panel data set we estimate a dynamic semiparametric fixed-effect model. The immigrant stock, a proxy for transaction costs, enters the model non-parametrically, whereas other variables enter the model log-linearly, as implied by the gravity model of international trade. To estimate this semiparametric model, we develop a new instrumental variable estimator with desirable asymptotic properties. The results indicate that the immigration effect on imports is positive for both finished and intermediate goods, but the effect on exports is positive only for finished goods. The findings supports the hypothesis that for finished goods where country specific information is crucial for trading, immigrants have a pro trade effect for both US imports and US exports. This pro trade effect of the information and knowledge carried by the immigrants is not observed for the US exports in the intermediate goods. Immigrants also have a strong demand effect both for the consumer and intermediate imports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new economic geography (NEG) has become a mainstay of regional science in the last two decades, as signified by the awarding of Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize. Yet, most American regional scientists and urban/regional economists do not use NEG in determining regional growth patterns. Instead, they rely on factors such as natural amenity migration, whose roots lie back to the work of Philip Graves in the mid 1970s. Conversely, two of the world's leading economic geographers – Allen Scott and Michael Storper – have strongly argued that job availability not household amenities have determined US regional dynamics. Given the disparity of views over the largest developed economy in the world, we hold a competition to determine which of these leading contenders accurately predict US interregional growth dynamics over the last 40–60 years. The runaway winner of the duel is natural amenity led growth with the crown going to Graves. Implications are drawn for both empirical research and EU economic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]