Category: United States

Opioid addiction costs many lives and harms livelihoods

June 15, 2018

by Douglas Sutherland, Senior Economist, US Desk, Economics Department. Case and Deaton (2017) highlighted increasing midlife mortality due to suicides and drug and alcohol abuse since the late 1990s contributing to relatively modest gains in life expectancy. In the past decade, overdose deaths have surged, particularly as (illicit) synthetic opioids have become more available. Opioid-related … More Opioid addiction costs many lives and harms livelihoods

Helping Americans Work Again

June 6, 2018

Douglas Sutherland, Senior Economist, US Desk, Economics Department. The economic expansion in the United States is now one of the longest on record, although it has been sluggish in comparison with previous recoveries. While job growth has reduced the unemployment rate to historically-low levels, many people still remain on the sidelines of the labour market, … More Helping Americans Work Again

Unleashing private sector productivity in the United States

December 6, 2016

By Douglas Sutherland, Head of the United States Desk, OECD Economics Department With the global economy mired in low- growth and no signs of strong acceleration, a lot of attention has been paid to the meagre pace of productivity growth in OECD countries. In the United States, the most watched indicator of productivity (nonfarm business … More Unleashing private sector productivity in the United States

Unleashing private sector productivity in the United States

November 2, 2016

By Douglas Sutherland, Head of US Desk, OECD Economics Department With the global economy mired in low-growth and no signs of strong acceleration, a lot of attention has been paid to the meagre pace of productivity growth in OECD countries. In the United States, the most watched indicator of productivity (nonfarm business productivity growth) decelerated … More Unleashing private sector productivity in the United States