Archives

May 4, 2013 - Video: Google Glass, Facebook 22% mobile boom

Video: Google Glass, Facebook 22% mobile boom Two video news item of the week. Video #1 is CNN doing a demonstration of Google Glass showing how it can be used to take pictures and get up to date news in your own glasses. Video #2 is a Wall Street Video […]


May 3, 2013 - Immigration reform may pass with 70 votes

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and John McCain (R-AZ), the two lead negotiators in the Senate’s Gang of Eight immigration reform group, said that they believe their immigration reform bill will not just have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate—but majority support from both parties and the president. […]


May 2, 2013 - White House eyes Oregon infrastructure idea

By Oregon State Treasurer Oregon-led infrastructure effort gaining traction in Washington D.C., garners White House attention — State Treasurer leads Oregon delegation that is promoting new approach for projects A year ago, a west coast effort to look regionally at infrastructure development was only a concept on a whiteboard. Today, […]


May 1, 2013 - How Oregon compares on taxes, freedom

By Jan Meekcoms Oregon NFIB (Originally published in Salem Business Journal) Oregon recently came under the scrutiny of two institutions making their annual examination of all 50 states’ economies. In March, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation released its yearly Facts & Figures, How Does Your State Compare? Fortunately for Oregon, our […]


April 30, 2013 - Where the jobs are growing in Oregon

 County Population Forecast By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog. A quick follow-up on previous post on improving employment in regions of the state outside of Portland. Using the latest QCEW again, the first graph illustrates over-the-year job gains for the state overall, the Portland MSA (5 county […]


April 29, 2013 - California economic comeback? (Real or hype)

By Bill Watkins, Oregon Economics California Lutheran University A “Comeback” in Name Only The New York Times loves California. Well, parts of it, anyway. Adam Nagourney, writing a few weeks after voters approved a temporary income- and sales-tax hike, reported that the state’s economic gloom was “starting to lift,” even […]


April 27, 2013 - Chart Shocker: How iTunes killed the music industry

CNN did this graph from data of the Recording Industry Association of America showing how the advent of digital music has taken a giant hit to sales in the music industry. See sales chart below.


April 26, 2013 - Top 7% income rise, bottom 93% decline

.Pew Research by Richard Fry and Paul Taylor Overview During the first two years of the nation’s economic recovery, the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped […]


April 25, 2013 - Bill bucks Wall Street in favor of loans local

Boquist bill would buck Wall Street, aid community banks, businesses Senator Brain Boquist Press Release A Senate committee considered a bill introduced by Senator Brian Boquist (R-Dallas) on Thursday that would empower the Oregon Growth Board to help community banks offer more business loans to Oregon Main Streets. “In my […]


April 24, 2013 - Senate passes social media privacy bill

Senate Passes Bipartisan Social Media Privacy Bill SB 344A prohibits higher education institutions from demanding access to social media accounts By Senate Majority Office, The Oregon Senate today passed a bipartisan bill designed to protect the privacy rights of college students. SB 344 A focuses on privacy protection for higher […]