A news story on Ch. 9 pursued the question of whether ethical and legal lines are crossed when local politicians criticize the UAW’s unionization efforts at the VW plant in Chattanooga. CRER director Howard Wall says that politicians exercising their first-amendment rights are not guilty of illegal or unethical “union-busting”. Read the story
3/25/2024: Chattanooga’s Manufacturing-Led Resurgence
Over the past decade, the economy of the Chattanooga metro area has outperformed that of the country as a whole. Between January 2014 and December 2023, the number of nonfarm jobs (also called payroll employment) rose by 18.8 percent in the Chattanooga metro area, but by only 14 percent in the United States. The COVID…
3/23/2024: Recession and Recovery in Chattanooga
Although recessions are usually thought of as national-level events, there can be substantial differences across states and metro areas in when they occur. This paper determines and compares the timing of recessions for Chattanooga and four nearby metro areas. The shaded areas in the chart are the periods of recession in the Chattanooga metro area.…
3/21/2024: Chattanooga and Its Regional Economy
The Chattanooga metro economy does not exist in a vacuum. Like every other metro area in the United States, it is subject to the ups and downs of the national economy. If the U.S. economy is doing well then Chattanooga’s probably is, too. Given its location, geography also plays a role. Chattanooga lies at the…
3/21/2024: The UAW, VW, and the Chattanooga Economy
A Channel 9 story on the UAW unionization drive at the VW plant in Chattanooga featured commentary from CRER director Howard Wall on the possible effects on the Chattanooga economy.