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July 23, 2010
Economic Forum
Speaker Had Kathleen Cooper to Discuss Innovation's Impact on the Economy
Creating a statistical portrait of the United States of America is not an easy task. Just ask a census worker. There are barking dogs, people skeptical about government intrusion and the potential for paper cuts from opening envelopes returned from some 135 million households. But Kathleen Cooper has spent time working to make the process simpler, easier, and more accurate. And as a result, the Census Bureau has been able to continue reversing the declining participation seen only a few decades ago. Cooper served as Under Secretary for Economic Affairs of the U.S. Department of Commerce from 2001 to 2005, a position in which she oversaw the activities of the Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. She helped to advocate changes that netted a 72 percent "mail-back rate"--up from 69 percent in 2000 and 65 percent in 1990. Cooper, an economist and senior fellow at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, will be among the speakers at Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union's 33rd annual Economic Forum on October 26. In addition to providing a forecast on U.S. economic trends, Cooper will also discuss the impact of innovation on the economy. She has served on the Commerce Department's advisory committee for Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy. As census workers conclude their field work this month, Cooper remembers the challenges early in the planning cycle for this national head count. "One of the first things I learned is that this process is viewed with great suspicion by the public, and even by Congress," she said. Even though the once-a-decade census is constitutionally mandated and helps to determine seats in the House of Representatives and serves as an important guide as the Federal Government divvies up some $400 billion to support local infrastructures, the process is often viewed with public skepticism. Blame politics, increasing concerns over identity theft and fear of Big Brotherism. Also, blame the "long form." In the past, while most households received a short census form that only took minutes to complete, about one-sixth of households received the "long form" which contained nearly 50 questions and asked about such things as; mortgage payments, what time residents leave to go to work, and indoor plumbing. The "long form" questions are necessary to help understand the condition and character of America's population, Cooper said, but the process still seems intrusive to some. Among Cooper's recommendations was to "de-link" the long form portion from the actual head counting process that is more commonly associated with the Census. The idea was adopted and the long form process, now known as the American Community Survey, was implemented several years ago. The survey takes a more statistical approach to building the national portrait. As a result of the de-linking, this year all households received only the shorter, 10-question census form. Between the shorter form and an advertising campaign to promote awareness, participation continued to climb. The more people who return the forms, Cooper said, the fewer door-to-door census needed to complete the mandated count. Although the advertising campaign is costly, it actually reduces the overall cost of the census efforts by curbing the number of people needed to do the time-consuming door-to-door work. "I talked to the Census Bureau Director recently, and he is pleased with the results of this year's efforts," she said. Cooper will incorporate lessons learned from her time at the Commerce Department, as well as her experience in the energy and financial industries, as she presents her own portrait of the national economy during the upcoming Economic Forum. Prior to serving in the Commerce Department, Cooper was chief economist with the ExxonMobil Corporation for 10 years. Before that, she was executive vice president and chief economist of Security Pacific National Bank. Cooper has also held positions as president of the National Association of Business Economists and chair of the American Bankers Association's Economic Advisory Committee. Cooper will be among an impressive line-up of speakers set for the two-day annual event designed to help credit unions analyze, understand, and prepare for the future. For more information and to register for the event, visit www.swcorp.org. |
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Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union is a Plano, Texas-based institution that serves nearly 1,500 member credit unions nationwide. Southwest Corporate’s broad financial service portfolio includes item processing and remote deposit services, investment services, ACH origination and electronic bill payment, ALM services and advisory service through its subsidiary, Southwest Corporate Investment Services. --SCFCU-- |
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