The Council of Economic Advisers has released the 2010 Economic Report of the President.  You can find a link to the full report, as well as a summary of the highlights, here. 


Quick summary: The economy was a mess when President Obama came into office, because of problems that were a long time in the making, including stagnating middle class incomes, rising health care costs, and flawed and under-regulated financial markets.  The economy is still not great, with a slow recovery and lagging job formation expected, but it is in better shape than it would have been if the stimulus bills had not been implemented.  We should still do more.  Pass jobs support and health care reform now!

Just finished Tracey Kidder's latest, Strength in What Remains.  I highly recommend it. It is the story of a refugee from Burundi's 1994 ethnic civil war who comes to New York City as an illegal immigrant.

Quick facts about Burundi: Burundi is a small country located in central Africa, just south of Rwanda.  Burundi has a population roughly equal to that of New Jersey, and an area is a little larger. Like Rwanda, its recent history has been dominated by conflict between the Hutu majority and Tutsi minority. The CIA estimates that Burundi's per capita GDP was $400 (in PPP terms) in 2008; the third lowest in the world after DR Congo and Zimbabwe.  In comparison, U.S. per capita GDP is about $47,000.   Burundi's real GDP per capita is growing more slowly than U.S. real GDP per capita.  That means that if current growth rates continue, Burundi will never catch up to U.S. standard of living; rather, the gap between the two countries will grow wider and wider.