3 posts and columns on Real Time Economics

E-Commerce Surge May Hit Tax Revenue

in News on February 18, 2011 at 12:00 am PT

The rapid growth in internet sales is great for online retailers. But it’s not such good news for state and local governments. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that e-commerce retail sales totaled $44 billion in the fourth quarter last year, up from $38 billion a year earlier. E-commerce sales now account for 4.3 percent of total retail sales (which include lots of things that don’t get bought online, like new cars, gasoline and restaurant meals), up from one percent a decade ago. For the year, e-commerce sales totaled $165 billion.

Online Shopping Up From Last Year, but Well Below Trend

in News on November 25, 2009 at 9:27 am PT

Internet researcher comScore said consumers spent more shopping online in the first 22 days of the holiday season than they did during the same period last year. But even though they are expected to spend more this season than during last year’s downtrodden holiday season, consumers are likely to keep their online spending tempered, the group said.

Current Recession Offers Redemption to Tech Industry

in News on July 29, 2009 at 2:45 am PT

Information and communications technology companies, whose bust dragged down the world economy in 2001-2002, are much less of a problem and much more of the solution in the current recession, a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development suggests.