Seattle Economics Council

Spencer Cohen from Community Attributes will present on the current topic of "CHINA-WASHINGTON STATE TRADE & TARIFFS" on Wednesday, October 3rd as the featured lunch speaker for the opening of the Seattle Economics Council (SEC) 2018-19 season. Lunch prices are $17 for members, $25 for non-members. Seating will be limited so early registration is encouraged! Details on lunch registration, event location, and annual membership can be found at https://www.seattleeconomicscouncil.com/

Hal Varian, Google’s Chief Economist (on right), visits with SEC Officers Nina, Bill, and Samrat at the NABE Tech Economics Conference at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront earlier today.

This Gallup Poll from June 2017 provides a snapshot and a trend analysis on the public confidence level that Americans have in 14 US institutions. The poll shows increasing confidence in newspapers, public schools, banks, & organized labor. That said, there is a dismal level of public confidence in Congress (just 12% of Americans say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the nation's legislative body and 44% say they have very little confidence). Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the poll indicates that the view of the institution of the Presidency shows a swing of a positive 46 points from 2016 to 2017 by Republican respondents, and a negative 49 point swing by Democratic respondents for that same period. We, as a nation, appear to be reasonably bi-partisan in our assessment of Congress as an institution but bi-polar in our assessment of the Presidency as an institution. The report highlights "what Americans themselves say is the nation's most important problem: a dysfunctional government that has lost much of its legitimacy in the eyes of the people it serves".

Americans' Confidence in Institutions Edges Up Americans' confidence in major institutions edged up in 2017 after dropping to record lows in previous years. Republicans' increased confidence is behind most of the overall rise.

Brian McCartan from Sound Transit speaking at SEC lunch today.

Those millenials!