Here are resources on topics that may relate to questions asked and issues discussed at the 10/20 candidate debate in Oregon City.
Inflation
Oregon Center for Public Policy: “Shine the light on corporate profiteering”
“Corporate Profits Drive 60% of Inflation Increases: Higher prices aren’t just a result of supply chain chaos or government spending. Inflation is being driven by the pricing power and higher profits of corporations, costing $2,126 per American…” Matt Stoller, December 2021
“[O]ver half of this [inflationary] increase (53.9%) can be attributed to fatter profit margins, with labor costs contributing less than 8% of this increase.” Economic Policy Institute, April 2022
Robert Reich explains the link between corporate greed and inflation in this short video.
Mark Zandi, Chief economist at Moody’s Analytics says in Fortune, June 2022:
- The American Rescue Plan represented only 0.1% year-over-year growth.
- For the most part wage growth is being driven by inflation and not vice versa.
- Higher energy prices have in turn spread into other sectors of the economy. “It’s led to higher diesel prices, which causes food prices to be higher…”
- The COVID-19 pandemic, mainly through its disruption of supply chains, was responsible for 2% year-over-year growth in consumer price inflation.
- Zandi added in his tweets that an unspecified “other” category—which he told Fortune denotes underlying inflation—contributed to 2.3% of the rise. “At an estimated 2.3%, it is consistent with the Federal Reserve’s inflation target. It suggests that if not for the factors accounted for in the analysis, inflation would currently be near the Fed’s inflation target.”
I-205 Tolling
Overview article: https://www.koin.com/local/clackamas-county/residents-call-i-205-tolling-disproportionate-detrimental/
Budget specifics and downsides of the project: https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/i-205-widening-oregon/
Business Strength
The U.S. Chamber advocates for policies that allow businesses to thrive and have a positive impact on our society. We build relationships among employers, communities, and governments to empower businesses to lead change. When businesses succeed, they support employees through steady employment and financial security. They invest in communities, respond to disasters, invent new technologies, solve global challenges, and more.
“Our Work” – U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Business Insider: “Americans haven’t been this pro-union since 1965” (“Roughly 71% of Americans now approve of them.”)
- GOBankingRates.com: “States Whose Economies Are Failing vs. States Whose Economies Are Thriving” (Oct. 2022) – Oregon is #5 in “Thriving”
COVID Response and Impacts
The Commonwealth Fund released new data in June showing that Oregon experienced better health outcomes from the pandemic than all but 4 states, as shown in key areas: hospital and ICU capacity; vaccination rates; and “excess mortality,” or death rates that exceed historical norms.
On the economy, Oregon’s economy rebounded by 5.8% from this time last year, whereas our economy had retracted only 2.8%. [CNBC: “Oregon Rebounds as America’s Most Improved State for Business,” July 2022]
However, COVID laid bare inequities impacting our frontline workforce, school personnel and healthcare workers – and the need for public support. Businesses were whipsawed between shut-downs. Without community support for basic measures preventing disease transmission, continued transparency by government decision-makers, and good-faith weighing of medical, social-emotional, and economic impacts, our community will be at greater risk, if COVID resurges or a new zoonotic disease emerges, as is statistically likely.
Of course, we have the luxury of hindsight now. Again, I rely on creating and maintaining coalitions and partnerships, bringing stakeholders together, which would include the business community, state and federal legislators, school districts, and healthcare professionals for a coordinated response to an inherently tragic event.
Long COVID
24.1% of people who have contracted COVID-19 experienced symptoms for three months or more… A study published in The Lancet, found that 22% of people with long Covid were unable to work due to ill health, and another 45% had to reduce hours worked.
Brookings: “New data shows long Covid is keeping as many as 4 million people out of work“
Oregon Tax Fairness
- Oregon tax fairness in charts and figures from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy