north carolina

March 7, 2008 - Today's job report coming out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics has some grim news: for the first time in eight five years*, the country has seen two straight months of job losses. The net job loss for February was 22,000.

June 13, 2007 - In a recent debate on North Carolina Public Radio, N.C. Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue (D) insisted that there are "no downsides" to her plan of expanding military bases and defense industries in the state. I disagreed, citing the Institute's recent report North Carolina at War, which documents the social, economic and other costs of being "the most military-friendly state in the nation."

May 14, 2007 - Last week on "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's popular call-in show, N.C. Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue stated that she saw "no downsides" to dramatically expanding the role of military bases and contractors in the state, a new campaign she has launched (you can listen to the show here).

May 10, 2007 - We had a spirited discussion today on "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's popular public affairs show, about military business in North Carolina. Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue -- who recently launched the North Carolina Military Foundation -- started off with an interview where she extolled the benefits of luring more defense dollars to North Carolina (even saying she didn't see "any" downsides or social costs to it).

May 10, 2007 - Tomorrow at noon, the popular North Carolina radio show "The State of Things" will feature a program on "North Carolina and the Military." I'll be part of the program, which will also include Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue and a spokesman from the N.C. Military Business Center.

March 20, 2007 - One of the issues the Institute investigated the report we released last week on the impact of war in North Carolina -- "America's most military-friendly state" -- is the lengths the armed forces will go to recruit new soldiers.

May 13, 2006 - As we reported earlier, one of the most striking features of the "Day Without Immigrants" boycott earlier this month was the almost total capitulation of business leaders to the events.

May 10, 2006 - In what is being called the first state-by-state breakdown of Latino birth rates in the country, the National Center for Health Statistics has new statistics showing how dramatically the South is being changed by new immigrants. Here's how a story from the Associated Press begins:

May 2, 2006 - Those who count themselves as friends of immigrant rights, but who doubted the wisdom of today's May Day boycott, predicted two things: 1) that the boycott would be meaninglessly small, and 2) that it would invite widespread reprisals againt wor