By Fred Thompson, Oregon Economics Blog So Portland has a problem with affordable housing.  Rents are high and increasing, which sucks for all those looking for rental housing (and is great for those with property to rent) and property values are soaring which is great for those who own homes […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog Average wages in Oregon are picking up as the economy approaches full employment. The graphs below aim to help place these gains in a better historical context. The first chart shows inflation-adjusted wages in Oregon in recent decades. The figures noted […]

Wall Street Journal Editorial, Jan 18, 2017 If you start a rock band and give it a shocking name, can the government prevent you from trademarking it? That’s the question for the Supreme Court Wednesday as the Justices decide if the feds can discriminate against trademark applications based on the […]

by Shawn Narancich, CFA Executive Vice President of Research Ferguson Wellman, A leading Oregon financial firm What has become known as the Trump Trade has delivered strong equity returns since election day last fall, with the benchmark S&P 500 rising by 6.5 percent over this period. More remarkable is the […]

Associated Builders and Contractors, ABC, along with a broad coalition of 380 stakeholders, sent a letter to Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) urging him to make the Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA) an early priority for the 115th Congress. The bill seeks to improve the transparency of regulations […]

By Dr. Eric Fruits, Oregon Economist On Demand Newsletter Employee of the Month. Sounds like a great idea. For the price of a cheap plaque and a good parking spot, bosses can motivate employees to deliver superior service. So the thinking goes. Academics call it “status competition.” And sometimes it […]

By Oregon Employment Department, Our latest quarterly job vacancy survey results show Oregon businesses reported 52,300 job vacancies in fall 2016. That’s an increase of 7,400 job vacancies compared with the prior fall. The job vacancy numbers reflect continued, strong employment growth in the state. This fall the 2-to-1 ratio […]

By Fred Thompson, Oregon Economics Blog With the start of another legislative session, calls for wholesale tax reform are again being heard. Frankly, most state tax-policy specialists are dubious of big reforms. My Georgia State University colleague, Carolyn Bourdeaux, for example, boils the typical reform process down to the following […]

by Ralph Cole, CFA Executive Vice President of Research Ferguson Wellman, A leading Oregon financial firm January 13th — After rallying into the end of 2016, both interest rates and the stock market took a little breather this week. The S&P 500 finished the week basically flat, while the yield […]

Oregon Congressman Greg Walden, Committed to growing the economy and protecting small businesses in Oregon, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) supported bills passed by the House this week to rein in costly, burdensome, and overreaching federal regulations. Below is a transcript from Walden’s video release applauding the legislation: “Regulations […]