BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2000:
> Today's News Release: "U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes - August
> 2000" indicates that the U.S. Import Price Index rose 0.2 percent in
> August. The increase was attributable to a rise in both petroleum and
> nonpetroleum import prices. The Export Price Index decreased 0.3 percent
> in August, following declines of 0.1 percent in each of the previous 2
> months.
>
For much of the past decade, an extraordinary windfall in the form of cheap
oil has helped fuel prosperity in the United States, subsidized Europe's
social welfare programs, and helped much of Asia recover quickly from
financial meltdown. But as crude oil prices continue their dizzying ascent
-- at nearly $35 a barrel, they have more than tripled in less than 2 years
-- many economists believe the good times may be ending (William Drozdiak in
an article in The Washington Post, page 1, datelined Vienna).
> Policymakers and top private economists predict that the seemingly nonstop
> pace of technological innovation related to the Internet has the potential
> for providing the fuel to keep the U.S. economy expanding for the
> indefinite future. Persistently high energy prices pose a threat to core
> inflation, but oil price surge should be a short-term development that
> will not hamper the expansion, officials said as they scan the horizon for
> factors that might derail the expansion. Martin Baily, chairman of the
> President's Council of Economic Advisers, tells a session of the National
> Association for Business Economics that he believes strong demand from
> traditional businesses will support continued investment in computer
> software and hardware that is produced by new economy industries (Daily
> Labor Report, page A-12).
>
U.S. per-capita income grew 4.5 percent last year, led by gains in
Massachusetts and four Western states, the Commerce Department reports. The
increase brought U.S. income up to $28,542 from a revised $27,322 last year.
In 1998, income grew by 5.6 percent (Daily Labor Report, page D-1).
Although the Federal Government says poverty in New York City officially
ends at $14,150 for a household of three, many residents have found that
getting by takes tends of thousands of dollars more, says Nina Bernstein,
writing in The New York Times (page A27). She is quoting from a study to be
released today by the Women's Center for Education and Career Advancement,
the New York Community Trust, and the United Way of New York City.
> New phenomenon of "high productivity poverty" is growing in the global
> economy and is posing a threat to workers both in this country and abroad,
> a veteran labor specialist and university president tells the
> International Association of Machinists convention delegates. He urged
> delegates to forge global ties and cooperate in efforts aimed toward
> achieving minimum international standards of workers' rights (Daily Labor
> Report, page C-1).
>
> Acknowledging that its traditional prescriptions of balanced budgets,
> sound currency and free trade have failed to significantly reduce poverty
> around the world, the World Bank yesterday called for a fresh approach
> that puts equal emphasis on giving the poor more power and more income
> security in times of crisis. The publication of the bank's World Bank
> yesterday called for a fresh approach that puts equal emphasis on giving
> the poor more power and more income security in times of crisis. The
> publication of the bank's world Development Report represents a
> significant dissent from the widely held consensus among economists that
> the best way to alleviate poverty is to foster economic growth -- and the
> only way to foster growth is through free and open markets. A chart
> accompanying the article indicates that despite a decade of economic
> growth, the percentage of people living on less than $1 a day has declined
> only modestly -- if at all -- in many regions of the world (The Washington
> Post, page E1).
> __The World Bank, frequently accused by outsiders of favoring corporate
> and elite interests in developing nations, issued a study concluding that
> the antipoverty programs won't help much unless they secure more political
> power for the poor themselves. The bank, owned by the U.S. and 180 other
> nations, found that economic growth alone won't alleviate global poverty
> in part because political and economic systems favor the rich over the
> poor, and the powerful over the powerless. Facilitating "the empowerment
> of poor people -- by making state and social institutions more responsive
> to them -- is also key to reducing poverty," the report said (The Wall
> Street Journal, page A2).
> __Globalization has generated unprecedented wealth, but left nearly half
> of humanity living on less than $2 a day, the World Bank says. The bank,
> in a massive study of poverty, noted the "extraordinarily unequal" gains
> from globalization and concluded that poor countries are falling further
> behind. The bank's chief economist said the bank "shares responsibility"
> for flawed policies that have failed the world's poor. The average income
> in the 20 richest countries is 37 times the average in the 20 poorest
> nations -- double the gap of 40 years ago, says the World Development
> Report (USA Today, page 5B).
>
> Many readers of The Wall Street Journal's column "Work & Family" by Sue
> Shellenbarger (page B1) who responded to a recent column on workplace
> discrimination against caregivers to the elderly and disabled had their
> own stories of being treated badly at work because of caregiving duties,
> says Shellenbarger. Among about 50 readers who responded, several said
> they had to lie to gain the flexibility they needed. Others were forced
> out of their jobs. Some said they found elder care took a back seat to
> other family needs.
>
application/ms-tnef
