Each month at the Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon, a W. P. Carey School of Business expert analyzes economic conditions in Arizona and in the nation. On February 17, Dean Robert Mittelstaedt reminded his audience that this recovery is different.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently released an update of its World Economic Outlook. The current forecast by the IMF for the U.S. economy calls for real output (Gross Domestic Product or GDP) to increase by 3.0 percent in 2011 and then slip back to 2.7 percent growth in 2012.

According to the preliminary estimate from the BEA, the overall U.S. economy grew by 2.9 percent in year 2010 compared to the previous year. The 2.9 percent gains for 2010 were the strongest in the past four years.

Since 1980 China's economy has grown at an average rate of 9.8 percent a year — that's compared to 2-3 percent for developed economies like the U.S.

Measuring the performance of workers on an assembly line is simple: Count the objects produced and find out how long the process took. That should reveal the productivity of the factory workers. But how do you determine the performance of knowledge workers?

Those looking for good news in the jobs data became more optimistic as the second half of 2010 unfolded. Starting in July, payroll employment figures for each month were up compared to the same month in the year before.

The newly released census reports that Arizona's population was just about 6.4 million as of April 1, 2010 — a number considerably lower than estimated. In fact, the Census Bureau's own 2009 estimate was 204,000 too high, and the Arizona Department of Commerce overshot reality by 291,000.

Annual employment revisions recently issued by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics brought more bad news for the Arizona economy. Preliminary monthly job growth figures had previously indicated improving labor market conditions as the year ended.

Elinor Ostrom, the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, told the audience at the Economic Club of Phoenix Luncheon that there's ample evidence to prove that polycentric, or multilevel, approaches — even relatively easy fixes that can be implemented by local communities, busines

For decades, visitors to the office of the dean in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University have asked about the Latin words Sine Emptore Nullum Negotium inscribed on a brass plaque on the door.