In two new analyses published today, EPI's Robert Scott parses the latest data and explains why, for further progress on taming our trade debt, all eyes are now turning to Asia. Today's International Picture shows that the combination of progress on revaluing the dollar and growth abroad has begun to level international playing fields. Today's Economic Snapshot, which compares the dollar's value against the currencies of its trading partners, shows that further gains on the trade deficit will depend on convincing Asian nations, especially China, to end policies that are continuing keep the dollar artificially high against their currencies.

Now that falling home prices and tightening lending standards have squelched mortgage equity withdrawals, a drop in consumption spending may not be far behind. This week's Economic Snapshot reviews the data behind spending and home equity loans.

How much has state spending on higher education grown in comparison to that on prisons over the past 20 years? This week's Snapshot tells the tale.

Listen to an interview with Gregory D. Squires, author of, "Do subprime loans create subprime cities? Surging inequality and the rise in predatory lending."

For same-day analysis of the latest employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, read EPI's Jobs Picture.

For same-day analysis of the latest employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, read EPI's Jobs Picture.

The ability to effectively educate the nation's children hinges on the quality of our teachers. And to recruit and retain quality teachers requires that they receive pay commensurate with that offered in other career opportunities available to them. Unfortunately, teachers' pay increasingly lags significantly behind that found in comparable occupations or those requiring similar levels of education and experience. When all college graduates' inflation-adjusted wages began to stagnate in the 2000s, teachers seemed to be hit harder, widening the pay gap even more. A new EPI study, The Teaching Penalty: Teacher Pay Losing Ground, expands upon the research published in How Does Teacher Pay Compare? (2004) by providing new insights and updated data on the erosion of relative teacher pay, including new analysis that takes into account seniority levels for the first time.

In 2006, public school teachers earned 15.1% lower weekly earnings than other employees with comparable education credentials and experience, more than three times what this gap was just a decade before. Read how teacher pay is losing ground in this week's Economic Snapshot.

A new Briefing Paper published by EPI as part of its Agenda for Shared Prosperity contends that increasing economic inequality and diminishing access to conventional financial services have become inextricably linked. Read Do Subprime Loans Create Subprime Cities? for a full analysis.

As the Democratic primary in Ohio enters its final week, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama both agree that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is hollowing out America's industrial heartland. While NAFTA has increased automotive trade between the United States and Mexico, the effects on Ohio and other industrial states have been overwhelmingly negative. See the data in these week's Economic Snapshot.