News

BEA Releases Third Estimate of Third Quarter (Dec.2019)

12.23.2019

Real gross domestic product(GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the third quarter of 2019, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.0percent.  In the second estimate, the increase in real GDP was also 2.1 percent. With the third estimate for the third quarter, upward revisions to personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and nonresidential fixed investment were offset by a downward revision to private inventory investment.

The acceleration in real GDP in the third quarter reflected a smaller decrease in private inventory investment and upturns in exports and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by decelerations in PCE, federal government spending, and state and local government spending, and a larger decrease in nonresidential fixed investment.  The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected positive contributions from PCE, federal government spending, residential investment, exports, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by negative contributions from nonresidential fixed investment and private inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

A copy of the release is found in the pdf below

Department of Homeland Security Regulations Lawsuit Con't (Dec. 2019)

12.20.2019

Attached is a copy of EPR's Office of Managment and Budget (OMG) presentation on the EB-5 Program's national economic contribution study.  

Department of Homeland Security Regulations Lawsuit (Dec. 2019)

12.20.2019

On November 26, 2019, a complaint for Injunctive Relief and a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) was filed by Florida EB-5 Investments, LLC against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) challenging a November 21, 2019, DHS-issued final rule amending its regulations for the EB-5 program (Case 1:19-cv-03573 FLORIDA EB5 INVESTMENTS, LLC v. WOLF et al).  As EB-5 stakeholders know, the new DHS Rule proposed significant increases in minimum investment levels, and a new targeted employment area (TEA) designation process that eliminates the input of the individual states in designating such areas in which investments are made.  The complaint alleges the new DHS rules: (1) were developed in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), (2) exceed DHS’s authority, and (3) violated the Tenth Amendment, among others. The complaint further alleges that the Rule’s changes impact the U.S. economy and were proposed without adequate studies or analysis of the new DHS rules’ expected impacts.  EPR’s EB-5 Program economic contribution study—completed in cooperation with IIUSA and the EB-5 Investment Coalition—was used in support of the case filing.

The following pdf is a copy of EPR's study

Listen to Jeff and Mona discuss the study as well as the implications of the EB-5 Regional Center Program reform discussion in Washington, DC: (Dec. 2019)

12.18.2019

Jeff Carr was recently invited to participate on a podcast hosted by prominent EB-5 immigration attorney Mona Shah of Mona Shah & Associates Global (“MSA Global”) to discuss EPR’s newly released study on the economic impact of the EB-5 Regional Center Program’s capital investment activities during federal fiscal years 2014-15.  The study, developed through a collaboration of the EB-5 Investment Coalition (EB-5IC) and Invest in the USA (IIUSA), comes at a crucial time in the reform discussions regarding the EB-5 Regional Center Program.  The study found that capital investment under the regional center program resulted in significant and geographically broad-based economic impacts for the U.S. economy during the most recent period when the regional center program was operating near its unconstrained potential.  The study also shows the regional center program’s potential to support on-going economic growth across the U.S. economy, as long as the regional center program is allocated a sufficient number of Visas and without unreasonable restrictions on its economic development activities.

Gross Domestic Product, Third Quarter 2019 Second Estimate (Nov. 2019)

12.18.2019

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the third quarter of 2019, according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.0 percent.  The increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected positive contributions from PCE, federal government spending, residential investment, private inventory investment, exports, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a negative contribution from nonresidential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.  The acceleration in real GDP in the third quarter reflected upturns in private inventory investment, exports, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by decelerations in PCE, federal government spending, and state and local government spending, and a larger decrease in nonresidential fixed investment.  

The upward revision to the percent change in real GDP in the third quarter reflected upward revisions to private inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, and PCE that were partly offset by a downward revision to state and local government spending.