Friday, February 29, 2008

a very cool government document

Does anyone out there know that the Economic Report of the President has useful information in it? Admittedly, I didn’t know until recently. As of late I’ve been dabbling in government documents, and I’m learning that there is a lot more to government information than endless statistics, propagandistic posters, and dry transcripts of senate session agendas. Take the above report, for example, the 2008 Economic Report of the President. Chapters include: Year in review and the years ahead; Credit and housing markets, Importance of health and health care, Tax policy, Nation’s infrastructure, and Searching for alternative energy solutions. If you follow the news even a little, you know that these are all pertinent, potent, well-covered, and often controversial topics. If you don’t, well, the first chapter is an excellent read to get up to cocktail-party speed. In need of statistics on income, employment, and production? This book has them from 1959 through 2007. (By the way, don’t forget to boost your grades by including statistics in those research papers you’re writing-- professors just love them.) Maybe you’re concerned about nuclear power or interested in the government’s official perspective on alternative energy sources. Regardless of which sides of theses issues you’re standing on, you’ll find useful information. What about universal health care? Be impressed at the strategic tip-toeing around this subject. Perhaps the most likable part of this government document is that it is readable (albeit with a fair share of jargon). The conclusions and summaries throughout are biased towards pro-growth policies (more is better, to put it simply), and remember that real bracket creep is more of a reality than say, homelessness, as far as this book is concerned. So, while you may need to seek other perspectives, which are probably covered in other government documents, this is nonetheless a positive, accurate and accessible reflection of our current economy.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, library folks. The link is broken. Is this an in-library resource only?

-kat

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I fixed the link. Click on Text and PDF to view the document online. Cute cats on your homepage!