By Kathryn Hickock Cascade Policy Institute Struggling parents with children’s clothing and toys on layaway are finding that anonymous strangers have paid their balances down to a penny at Kmart and other stores across the country. Retailers have known “Secret Santas” for years, but this Christmas season appears to be […]

Business Video Pick of the Week: CNBC business video interview gives gold a positive forecast but with big caution.

Portland’s Economic Health- By the Numbers Portland area employment and income still lagging BY Oregon Prosperity Project A group of Oregon’s leading business associations released a report this week detailing how the Portland Metropolitan economy ranks with other metropolitan economies throughout the US. Some interesting findings: • Portland-metro’s employment per […]

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting Real estate markets are unbalanced in most parts of the country: vacancy is too high, but construction is too low. That sounds contradictory, because construction should be low when vacancy is high. Looking forward, however, we’ll find insufficient supply when the economy improves. Underlying […]

Oregon’s 20 worst charities list By Oregon Attorney General Press Release Oregon donors should avoid giving to charities that spend most of their funding on telemarketing and administration Attorney General John Kroger today issued the annual list of Oregon’s 20 Worst Charities. “Most charities in Oregon do important work, helping […]

Paul Allen’s Ambitious Plan to Revolutionize Space Flight — Video press conference below By Oregon Small Business Association Billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has turned his attention and money to an endeavor that has eluded corporate and government rocket scientists for decades: launching satellites into space from and ascending […]

By RON WYDEN AND PAUL RYAN Few issues draw more heated partisan rhetoric than the future of Medicare. Seniors are a reliable and powerful voting bloc, and both Republicans and Democrats are guilty of exploiting Medicare to frighten and entice voters. But turning discussions of Medicare’s future into the third […]

By U.S. Chamber of Commerce All Clark Griswold wanted was to add some Christmas cheer to his home. He spent days stringing thousands of lights up and down his house and jury-rigging extension cords into outlets just to brighten up the holiday. Sure, his family didn’t appreciate it, but he […]

Retail in Reverse with surge in Black Friday gift returns The video below talks about one terrible trend this holiday shopping season about the surprising rise in returned goods weeks before Christmas. They call it buyers remorse and retailers will call it a vile omen. Please watch below: Visit msnbc.com […]

State Tax Revenues on the Rise By Patrick Emerson Oregon Economics Blog Or so says the Rockefeller Institute who tracks state tax revenue from 48 states: “Preliminary tax collection data for the July-September quarter of 2011 show growth in overall state tax collections, as well as for personal income tax […]