Weekly Economic Snapshot 2/27 - 3/3

Economic Facts for this Week

• The Economic Policy Institute released a state-by-state breakdown of the impact of ACA repeal. For instance, if the ACA were repealed, in Ohio alone 964,000 people would lose their health insurance—an increase of 155 percent—and over 50,000 jobs would be lost. Click here to find the effects in your state.
• Evidence from Italy shows that politicians who do not divest their business holdings while they are in power can benefit hugely: Silvio Berlusconi’s company’s profits increased by one billion euros during his tenure as prime minister as a result of indirect lobbying channels.
• As Republicans begin to develop their budget priorities, it is important to remember that for millions of American families, programs like SNAP and SSI are all that stand between people and poverty: in 2015 SNAP lifted 4.6 million people out of poverty, SSI lifted 3.3 million people out of poverty, and housing subsidies lifted 2.5 million people out of poverty.

Chart of the Week:

Health-savings accounts (HSAs) are regressive not only because higher-income families are better able to save each month after family budgets are spent, but because they also give higher-income families a larger break from taxes. The higher the tax rate one pays, the more beneficial it is to have access to tax-sheltered saving accounts. For example, if $1,000 is exempted from taxes, an individual with a 35 percent tax rate saves $350 in taxes, while an individual with a 10 percent tax rate only saves $100. The chart above shows how much less households in each tax bracket save relative to households in the top tax bracket under the Republican HSA plan. Families in the lowest tax bracket (those making $18,650 or less in 2017) would get almost $4,000 less than families making about $470,000 or more.

ICYMI

• Reducing restrictions on Naloxone (a drug that temporarily counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose) is associated with a 9 to 11 percent decrease in opioid-related deaths.
• As Republicans move to make it harder for workers to save with the blockage of retirement auto enrollment plans and the fiduciary rule, new research shows that two-thirds of Americans don’t contribute to a retirement account, partly because only 14 percent of employers even offer a 401(k) or other defined contribution retirement plan.
• Eighty percent of the decline in investment in recent years can be explained by less competitive markets and increased ownership of stock by institutional investors.

Coming This Week

• Tuesday 8:30am: Gross Domestic Product, 4th quarter and annual 2016 (second estimate) - https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm
• Tuesday 10:00am: Regional and State Unemployment (Annual 2016) - https://www.bls.gov/news.release/srgune.nr0.htm
• Wednesday 8:30am: Personal Income and Outlays, January 2017 - https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/pinewsrelease.htm