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Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge released the latest Tax Foundation "Fiscal Fact" in response to a new study from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). The OECD study shows that for the 17th consecutive year, the average rate of corporate taxes in non-U.S. countries fell while the U.S. corporate tax rate stayed the same.

The U.S. Import Price Index increased 1.7 percent in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported, after a 2.9 percent rise in June. Both petroleum and nonpetroleum prices contributed to the advance, increasing 4.0 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. Export prices rose 1.4 percent in July following a 1.0 percent advance the previous month.

The Deloitte Research Leading Index of Consumer Spending rose slightly in July due mostly to a slower pace of decline in home prices and the residual effects of the recent distribution of tax rebates. The Index attempts to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.

The findings of a new study indicate that future levels of immigration will have a significant impact on efforts to reduce global CO2 emissions. Immigration to the United States significantly increases world-wide CO2 emissions because it transfers population from lower-polluting parts of the world to the United States, which is a higher-polluting country.

On the last business day of June, there were 3.6 million job openings in the United States, and the job openings rate was 2.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. The job openings rate, hires rate, and total separations rate were all essentially unchanged in June.

From September to December 2007, the number of job gains from opening and expanding private sector establishments was 7.7 million, and the number of job losses from closing and contracting establishments was 7.3 million, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Over this period, firms with 1,000 or more employees experienced a significant increase in their share of gross job gains (19.3 percent).

Education, prior work experience and financial backing are crucial factors in the success of entrepreneurs, according to a new book by Robert W. Fairlie and Alicia M. Robb and funded in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

U.S. home values in the second quarter posted the largest year-over-year decline in the past 12 years, dropping 9.9 percent from the year-ago quarter and 1.7 percent from the first quarter to a U.S. Zillow Home Value Index (HVI) of $206,919, according to the Q2 Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. The median U.S. home value has not been this low since the fourth quarter of 2004, leaving nearly one-third (29.1%) of homeowners who purchased since 2003 with negative equity.

Experian Automotive study finds hybrid car owners are more likely to buy another vehicle of the same make than buyers of any other vehicle class.

There was good news in July. The seemingly inexorable rise in prices of crude oil, wheat, rice, corn, and even some metals (copper especially) eased. After briefly going as high as $145/bbl, crude oil prices backed down to just under $120. Was this a temporary blip? Perhaps but more importantly, odds of the price hitting $200/bbl are certainly much lower now - even if this turns out to have been a brief respite. And whether prices stay down or go back up, more tires will remain inflated (said to help achieve better mileage), fewer miles will be driven, and some consumers have switched to mass transit and may not return to basic driving (getting to and from work or school or similar trips).