FW: BLS Daily Reportboundary=---- =_NextPart_000_01BCFBE6.98F1E210
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. -- =_NextPart_000_01BCFBE6.98F1E210 charset="iso-8859-1" BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1997 Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits rose 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 333,000 in the week ended Nov. 15, the Employment and Training Administration says. The new claims figure reached its highest level since Aug. 16 (Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_The Wall Street Journal (page A2) says analysts discounted the jump since it came during a week that included Veterans Day. The government has trouble seasonally adjusting for weeks that include holidays A new survey shows that more than half of major companies are coping with workforce reductions by using work/family programs to help remaining employees, the Conference Board reports. As rounds of layoffs reduce morale and increase employee stress, officials at the 41 firms polled said they are looking for new ways to address employee anxiety and uncertainty over the prospects of continued employment, the board says. Flextime schedules, including part-time work, are sometimes used as an alternative to layoffs (Daily Labor Report, page A-1). A survey finds that 81 percent of small and medium-sized employers are having difficulty attracting and retaining qualified employees. Sixty-nine percent of the 245 employers participating in the survey released by NovaCare Employee Services, a national employee services company, said attracting qualified employees was their number one human resource problem, while 39 percent ranked retaining employees second .(Daily Labor Report, page A-10). Employers have, on average, cut staff by 12 percent through various workforce reduction measures since 1992, according to a survey conducted by Hewitt Associates. Workforce reductions are not as common as they were in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and employers who make reductions are focusing more on the needs of the surviving workforce and providing increased levels of support to displaced employees. Early retirement windows are typically the first approach employers use in workforce reduction situations, Hewitt said (Daily Report, page A-9). Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan says that Social Security retirement age should again be raised and the annual cost-of-living adjustment should be trimmed to ensure the future solvency of the hugh retirement system .Greenspan made his comments at a meeting of a special Senate Budget Committee task force on Social Security Many experts have suggested 70 as a retirement age that would accurately reflect the changes in health and longevity since Social Security was adopted by Congress in 1935. The annual increase in Social Security benefits is linked to changes in the federal CPI, which overstates the "true cost of living," Greenspan said (Washington Post, page C1; New York Times, page A24). Manufacturing executives expect growth will moderate somewhat through January, while constructions executives foresee little change, according to Dun Bradstreet's latest monthly survey (Wall Street Journal, page B11A). The nation's trade deficit jumped to an 8-month high September, as exports declined while imports continued to rise strongly, the Commerce Department reported. Analysts attributed the growing trade deficit to the combination of rapid U.S. economic growth, slower growth in Japan and several other countries, and the rising value of the dollar. A number of analysts said that the financial crises in several Asian nations is too recent to have had much of an impact on U.S. trade. However, those nations' troubles are expected to widen the deficit in coming months as they export more to the United States while buying fewer imports (Washington Post, page A37; New York Times, page C1; Wall Street Journal, page A2). European Union leaders met in Luxembourg to confront the continent's high jobless rates. Europe has 18 million unemployed. The unemployment rate is more than double that of the United States and triple Japan's .(Wall Street Journal, page A19). -- =_NextPart_000_01BCFBE6.98F1E210 b3NvZnQgTWFpbC5Ob3RlADEIAQWAAwAOzQcLABwACgARABsABQA2AQEggAMADgAAAM0HCwAc AAoADwAvAAUASAEBCYABACEAAABFQzI2MUEyNkQ4NjdEMTExODg4RTAwMjBBRjlDMDMwOAAHBwEE gAEAFQAAAEZXOiBCTFMgRGFpbHkgUmVwb3J0AIcGAQ2ABAACAgACAAEDkAYAHBIAABwAAABA ADkAUMSpvBD8vAEeAHAAAQ0AAABEYWlseSBSZXBvcnQAAgFxAAEgAbz2xfLy EFUEb2KDEdGVBgJgjNtgKgABwJjgAVDiWiAeADFAAQ0AAABSSUNIQVJEU09OX0QAAwAa QAAeADBAAQ0AAABSSUNIQVJEU09OX0QAAwAZQAACAQkQAQAAAFMPAABPDwAA 3CMAAExaRnVVzkP8AwAKAHJjcGcxMjXyMgxgYzEDMAECAFABAUULYG4OEDAzMw8WZj5lD5IB9wKk A2MCAGNoEQrAc2V0AtFwcnFKMgAAKgqhbm8SUCAWMAHQAdA2D6AwNTDONBQhAdAUEDR9B20Cg+8A UAPUEf8TC2IT4RRQE7K/GPQU0AcTAoACkQjmOwlv6jAa32UOMDUcCh0hHN//Hekb9B4SHH8gTyAN
Condition Of Workers In Russia
Western style democracy and rule of law have resulted in the reality for Russian workers who face a massive backlog of unpaid wages. In many cases, starvation now looms. One Russian worker in four is no longer paid regularly. More than 20 million people in Russia do not receive their wages on time. Many are owed between six and twelve months' pay. The state and the employers owe some 10 billion US dollars in unpaid wages. And one Russian worker in eight is now paid in kind rather than in cash. It is not uncommon to see workers try to raise money by selling their employers' products on the streets after hours. This October, workers at a state farm in Vologda were "paid" in manure-delivered to their doorsteps. Workers have responded to non-payment in many ways. The trade unions have organised a series of strikes and demonstrations. This includes hunger strikes and workplace occupations. Acts of civil disobedience have involved the blocking of rail lines and roads. The new wave of protests throughout the Russian Federation marks the decision by Russian trade unions of all tendencies to make the payment of wage arrears a priority. TML DAILY, 11/28/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The New Yorker 10/20/97
I just got around to reading the article arrowed below and found it pretty nifty, especially juxtaposed with the $500 paperweights, $2K watches, etc. This is the one those get-ahead friends and classmates of yore can relate to. Generally an interesting issue. valis The New Yorker 10/20/97 __ Table of Contents COMMENT What Next? Adam Gopnik THE MAIL GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN THE TALK OF THE TOWN An expanded section on the shape of things to come. [..."Next this" and "Next that" ad nauseam deleted for space...] THE NEXT FRONTIER Only the Fast Survive Ken Auletta An E-mail exchange with the C.E.O. of Intel about technological warfare MEMO The Dawn of Technomania Nathan Myhrvold THE NEXT THINKER // The Return of Karl Marx == John Cassidy \\ Why Wall Street should be consulting the scourge of capitalism. BOOKS Stephen Jay Gould's "Questioning the Millennium" John Updike
RE: BLS Daily Reportcharset=iso-8859-1
Dave: First, thank you for posting these reports. Second, do you know if the CPI is also used as a basis for the IRS' annual income tax schedule adjustments? If so, it would seem that the new CPI calculations could have the added impact of increasing the tax burden on wage earners. Jeff Fellows -- From: Richardson_D To: Jorgensen_Helene; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: FW: BLS Daily Report Date: Friday, November 28, 1997 10:17AM BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1997 Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits rose 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 333,000 in the week ended Nov. 15, the Employment and Training Administration says. The new claims figure reached its highest level since Aug. 16 (Daily Labor Report, page D-1)_The Wall Street Journal (page A2) says analysts discounted the jump since it came during a week that included Veterans Day. The government has trouble seasonally adjusting for weeks that include holidays A new survey shows that more than half of major companies are coping with workforce reductions by using work/family programs to help remaining employees, the Conference Board reports. As rounds of layoffs reduce morale and increase employee stress, officials at the 41 firms polled said they are looking for new ways to address employee anxiety and uncertainty over the prospects of continued employment, the board says. Flextime schedules, including part-time work, are sometimes used as an alternative to layoffs (Daily Labor Report, page A-1). A survey finds that 81 percent of small and medium-sized employers are having difficulty attracting and retaining qualified employees. Sixty-nine percent of the 245 employers participating in the survey released by NovaCare Employee Services, a national employee services company, said attracting qualified employees was their number one human resource problem, while 39 percent ranked retaining employees second .(Daily Labor Report, page A-10). Employers have, on average, cut staff by 12 percent through various workforce reduction measures since 1992, according to a survey conducted by Hewitt Associates. Workforce reductions are not as common as they were in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and employers who make reductions are focusing more on the needs of the surviving workforce and providing increased levels of support to displaced employees. Early retirement windows are typically the first approach employers use in workforce reduction situations, Hewitt said (Daily Report, page A-9). Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan says that Social Security retirement age should again be raised and the annual cost-of-living adjustment should be trimmed to ensure the future solvency of the hugh retirement system .Greenspan made his comments at a meeting of a special Senate Budget Committee task force on Social Security Many experts have suggested 70 as a retirement age that would accurately reflect the changes in health and longevity since Social Security was adopted by Congress in 1935. The annual increase in Social Security benefits is linked to changes in the federal CPI, which overstates the "true cost of living," Greenspan said (Washington Post, page C1; New York Times, page A24). Manufacturing executives expect growth will moderate somewhat through January, while constructions executives foresee little change, according to Dun Bradstreet's latest monthly survey (Wall Street Journal, page B11A). The nation's trade deficit jumped to an 8-month high September, as exports declined while imports continued to rise strongly, the Commerce Department reported. Analysts attributed the growing trade deficit to the combination of rapid U.S. economic growth, slower growth in Japan and several other countries, and the rising value of the dollar. A number of analysts said that the financial crises in several Asian nations is too recent to have had much of an impact on U.S. trade. However, those nations' troubles are expected to widen the deficit in coming months as they export more to the United States while buying fewer imports (Washington Post, page A37; New York Times, page C1; Wall Street Journal, page A2). European Union leaders met in Luxembourg to confront the continent's high jobless rates. Europe has 18 million unemployed. The unemployment rate is more than double that of the United States and triple Japan's .(Wall Street Journal, page A19).
Global Financial Crisis II
In response to the exchange between Tom, Doug and Max, there is recent evidence from Canada that they are both right. Yesterday the Canadian Council on Welfare issued its report on child poverty in Canada in which my home province, Manitoba, was third on the list after New Brunswick and Newfoundland. It is interesting that in both Manitoba and New Brunswick the governments have adopted low wage policies to entice in low wage employers (e.g. telemarketers). The rise in child poverty has come *as a result of falling unemployment* as a consequence of the growing proportion of low-wage jobs, even where both parents are employed. Manitoba, for instance, has had the highest percentage drop in unemployment -- and one of the highest increases in child poverty. The welfare council is calling for a rise in the minimum wage and in the social welfare system -- exactly the opposite of what is being advocated by the neoclassicals and business and the Conservative gov't. Paul Phillips, Economics, University of Manitoba
from Ward Morehouse (fwd)
COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 777 United Nations Plaza, Suite 3C New York, New York 10017 Tel. (212) 972-9877 - Fax (212) 972-9878 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] November 26, 1997 To the Forum on Labor in the Global Economy: We have made arrangements through our publishing arm, The Apex Press, to distribute in the US Maude Barlow's and Tony Clarke's new book on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment which is, to the best of my knowledge, the first book-length treatment of this critical issue. Time is of the essence in deepening public understanding of MAI. I hope you will give Maude's and Tony's book as much visibility as possible as soon as possible. Enclosed is an announcement of the MAI book along with a companion volume by Tony Clarke, Silent Coup. MAI is bad news for working people all over the world. Can you post this announcement on the Forum list-serve? Sincerely, Ward Morehouse President WM/td Forum on Labor in the Global Economy e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] THE APEX PRESS 777 United Nations Plaza, Suite 3C New York, New York 10017 Tel. (212) 972-9877 - Fax (212) 972-9878 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TO ORDER, CALL/FAX 1-800-316-APEX HOT OFF THE PRESS! First Book-Length Analysis of MAI A Primer for Activists and Other Concerned Citizens MAI: THE MULTILATERAL AGREEMENT ON INVESTMENT AND THE THREAT TO CANADIAN SOVEREIGNTY By Tony Clarke and Maude Barlow MAI, the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, is now being negotiated at OECD in Paris and is scheduled to be completed in mid-1998. It will go far beyond NAFTA to allow transnational corporations to vie for control of public education, health care, telecommunications and cultural industries, public utilities and municipal services, and more. The agreement is deeply anti-democratic. It will grant corporations, for the first time in history, equal legal standing with nation-states. And under the MAI, transnationals will have access to domestic courts to challenge any legislation - labour laws, copyright protection, environmental regulations, local content rules - that could be seen as contrary to the interests of foreign investment. Most alarmingly, the MAI will compromise our democratic right to participate in decisions on all these matters. With this book as a tool for action, concerned groups and citizens can stop the MAI before it destroys the services and programs people have fought for decades to build and maintain. Although written for a Canadian audience, this trenchant and hard-hitting book is equally relevant to Americans - and indeed to persons everywhere committed to resisting corporate rule and restoring democracy. THE AUTHORS: Tony Clarke is the Director of the Polaris Institute in Ottawa and chairs the Committee on Corporations for the International Forum on Globalization. Maude Barlow is the national volunteer chairperson of the Council of Canadians. Distributed in the USA by The Apex Press. 206pp. 1997. US ISBN 0-945257-91-0. $15.95. To order, call 1-800-316-APEX. AND A COMPANION VOLUME ON THE CORPORATE ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY AND THE ENVIRONMENT SILENT COUP: CONFRONTING THE BIG BUSINESS TAKEOVER OF CANADA By Tony Clarke This is a book full of lessons for Americans because a similar story is unfolding here through the machinations of the Business Roundtable and other powerful formations of giant corporations. Silent Coup tells how the CEOs of large corporations in Canada planned and executed their takeover of the country. It alerts us to the destructive effects of corporate rule on the economy, jobs, social programs, and political democracy. This book outlines a detailed and workable plan for challenging and ultimately rescuing Canada from its corporate masters. Tony Clarke shows how social movements and community organizations can be retooled and revitalized, how they can effectively confront the transnational corporations and restore true economic, social and political democracy in Canada. Distributed in the USA by The Apex Press. 273pp. 1997. US ISBN 0-945257-92-9 $17.50. To order, call 1-800-316-APEX. (11/97)
Re: Global Financial Crisis II
Quoth Valis: Quoth Tom re Max: The disruption and the socialization of the losses are not random processes. Life goes on more or less for some people and just less for others. While Chossudovsky may have been hyperventilating, Max's and Doug's sanguine comments about the "low rate of unemployment" reveal a quaint U.S.-centric parochialism. . . . Good one, Tom. Sometimes I think a few of this list ought to be paradropped into Bangladesh -or even just Spain - without a passport; nothing permanent, one purgatorial week should do. A full fridge and certain basic structural assurances can be corrosive of ideological moorings, it seems, and all of us are susceptible. Hey, anybody actually read my original message? Where I never said "low" unemployment more or less everywhere, but "relatively low" UE in the U.S.? Eh? It ought to be possible to logically separate the issue of historic landmarks of utter, systemic breakdown (e.g., "crisis") from value judgements about how lousy things are for the workers and peasants of Spain, Bengla-Desh, and the places you-all live. Now if you'll pardon me I have to load the fridge with my latest cargo of sumptuary indulgences. Champion of Full Employment == Max B. Sawicky Economic Policy Institute [EMAIL PROTECTED] Suite 1200 202-775-8810 (voice) 1660 L Street, NW 202-775-0819 (fax) Washington, DC 20036 Opinions here do not necessarily represent the views of anyone associated with the Economic Policy Institute. ===
Re: Global Financial Crisis II
And another thing. Are you saying that _I_ sympathize with Chossudovsky's politics or excuse failures in logic and careless use of data? Or are you just setting up a bogus dichotomy as a platform to pontificate from? I simply was pointing out that Doug and Max were citing low unemployment data as if the significance of that data was self-evident. [Walker] Obviously, in light of this thread, very little of what I said was self-evident. I merely pointed out that the U.S. data of *relatively* low unemployment contradicted one of Cho's several breathless generalizations, but most of my post was a set of questions about the issues of financial fragility and market fixing, which you and Valis turned into a discussion about who had bigger calluses. That doesn't make me a Chossudovsky "sympathizer" or an "adversary" of either Henwood or Sawicky. Henceforth, the names of Walker and Chossudovsky will be forever intertwined, their ethnic contrast notwithstanding, though there may be some truth to the rumor that Chossudovsky's real name was Lodge and he changed it to make it as a radical economist. By the same token, Walker's original name was Lobachevsky and he changed it to make it as a Canadian wilderness guide. Jeez, Colin, what a thin-skinned exercise in guilt by non-association. I sure hope Doug and Max take my points more constructively. As indeed I have. I will say, however, that pooh-poohing the apocalypse can be as much of a pose as apocalypticism itself. It might even be interesting to ask whether apocalyptic pooh-poohing isn't itself just a variation on the theme of apocalypse. In other words, Sawicky's rhetorical labelling of Chossudovsky's tract as "apocalyptic" was itself an apocalyptic gesture. The logic of this utterly escapes me, my hostility to it notwithstanding. Think about it. Hmm. Nope. Nothing. MBS "One man deserves the credit, One man deserves the fame, And Nicolai Ivanovich Chossudovsky is his name! (Hey!)" (First one to trace this gets a free drink at my expense at the AEA meetings.) == Max B. Sawicky Economic Policy Institute [EMAIL PROTECTED] Suite 1200 202-775-8810 (voice) 1660 L Street, NW 202-775-0819 (fax) Washington, DC 20036 Opinions here do not necessarily represent the views of anyone associated with the Economic Policy Institute. ===
Re: Global Financial Crisis II
Doug Henwood wrote, Are you waxing deconstructive here, Tom? Being anti-apocalyptic requies an (unacknowledge) dependency on the notion of apocalypse? If so, what is the unnarativizable other? The answer to the first question is, "yes". As for the second, I wouldn't say that the dependency is all that unacknowledged. After all, Max was pretty explicit in calling Chossudovsky's tract "apocalyptic" (BTW, I agree). Obviously Max had a model narrative in mind with which to compare Chossudovsky's. He also has a critique of that apocalyptic narrative. As far as that goes, it's fine. It's only when Max starts asserting the counter-narrative of "life more or less goes on" as the way it _really_ is that Max's critique begins to slide over into anti-apocalypse. And this is where the "low unemployment" discussion becomes tendentious, too. Within the context of "life more or less going on", unemployment is just another expression of flux. "U goes up, u goes down, nothing really happens." Yes, I guess that means that the "other" to apocalypse _is_ unnarrativizable -- it's a critique, not a counter-story. It seems to be an almost unbearable temptation to go beyond the critique, though. Regards, Tom Walker ^^^ knoW Ware Communications Vancouver, B.C., CANADA [EMAIL PROTECTED] (604) 688-8296 ^^^ The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
Re: Global Financial Crisis II
Max Sawicky wrote, Henceforth, the names of Walker and Chossudovsky will be forever intertwined, their ethnic contrast notwithstanding, though there may be some truth to the rumor that Chossudovsky's real name was Lodge and he changed it to make it as a radical economist. By the same token, Walker's original name was Lobachevsky and he changed it to make it as a Canadian wilderness guide. Ah, Max, your reckless jest has forced from my lips the sad tale of my appellation. Until a decade ago, I went by the name "Max Sawicky". Then, sometime in the mid 1980s, when I could no longer bear being dogged by skip tracers and the odd shotgun toting dad (and his even odder daughter), I adopted the handle of Rip van Winkle. To make a long story short, when I awoke I changed my name again, this time to another Washington Irving character, and I have remained Tom Walker to this very day. Max also said, Obviously, in light of this thread, very little of what I said was self-evident. I merely pointed out that the U.S. data of *relatively* low unemployment contradicted one of Cho's several breathless generalizations, but most of my post was a set of questions about the issues of financial fragility and market fixing, which you and Valis turned into a discussion about who had bigger calluses. Max is right. Chossudovsky's characterization of the unemployment fundamentals was bombastic rather than substantive. But Max is only half right. His "evidence" refuting Chossudovsky's breathless generalizations consisted of the statement "Employment is relatively high now, even taking non-standard work arrangements into account." Not a breathless generalization, to be sure. But a generalization equally laden with ideological baggage (not necessarily Max's). And as for the question about who has bigger calluses and who turned Max's post into such a discussion. Let's just go back to Doug Henwood's breathless snapshot of US employment: Doug Henwood wrote, Relatively high? The US EPR is at a record high, part-time employment has actually fallen over the last year, temp employment hasn't grown at all over the last six months even as overall employment has risen by about a million, and real wages are rising at around 2% a year. Unless of course the BLS is making this all up. Taken at face value, the selected data above portray an image of robust good times. Not exactly the "plenty of misery 40 blocks south" nor the "sick with overwork", "plagued by deprivation" or "stagnant and/or declining real hourly wages" that Doug later cited. Or was there something written between the lines that I missed? All I did was point out that one doesn't have to believe the BLS is making up the above data to question it's self-evident relevance to the big picture. Real wages are rising at around 2% a year? So what? For how long have they been rising and for how long before that had they been falling and by how much? Etc. etc. etc. Doug knows those data better than I do. You'll have to excuse me, now, chaps. I have to go feed my moral high horse his oats. Regards, Tom Walker ^^^ knoW Ware Communications Vancouver, B.C., CANADA [EMAIL PROTECTED] (604) 688-8296 ^^^ The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
How did we get into this mess?
HOW DID WE GET INTO THIS MESS? By Rod Hiebert, President Telecommunications Workers Union Over the last few months, business publications like The Economist and Business Week have traced the fragility of the world's stock markets and the increasing threat of deflation to the global oversupply of cars, computer chips and other manufactured items. The irony is that we have arrived at this dangerous state of affairs thanks to the success of free market ideology. In the drive to improve their competitive positions, each corporation has been acting as if it operates in isolation, reducing costs and increasing productivity. The underlying assumption is that by doing this, they will be able to sell whatever they produce. Ironically, it is this unrelenting effort which has created the deflationary situation that business writers are worrying about. Companies are now sitting on supplies of products that greatly exceed the demand for them. Corporations faced with an oversupply of inventory reduce their prices in hopes of selling their products at a lower price than their competitors. But their competitors are responding the same way. Both the circumstances of this situation and corporations' reaction to it are similar to the factors that led the world economy into the Great Depression of the 1930s. When I was in grade school in the Okanagan, I remember echoing my teacher's complaints about anti-competitive fruit marketing boards to my dad, who worked in a local fruit packing plant. He explained to me that before there were fruit marketing boards, local farmers regularly overproduced the same crop. They would then engage in fierce competition, dropping their prices in hopes that they could undersell their neighbours. In this cutthroat environment, farmers were unable to eke out a decent living, let alone recover their costs of production. None of them realized that there was only a certain amount of fruit needed and that people would not would not significantly increase the amount they consumed no matter how much the price of fruit dropped. I learned from my dad that the creation of fruit marketing boards stabilized the industry by preventing overproduction as well as the cutthroat pricing and destructive competition that went with it. In the ensuing years, I have watched governments deregulate entire sectors of the economy, including the airline, trucking and telephone industries. In each one, prominent players tried to become the most competitive supplier by lowering their costs. In the process they generated an oversupply of their products and drove prices down to the point where their costs exceeded their revenues. In this environment, companies like Greyhound Air offered bargain basement prices that seemed too good to be true. They were. Greyhound Air recently went bankrupt, along with 200 North American airline companies before it. A host of companies have suffered a similar fate in other deregulated industries. In this ruthlessly competitive atmosphere, countless workers have been laid off, with the attendant effects on their families, communities and local economies. Our politicians tell us that the loss of workers' jobs and the upheaval this causes are part of the sacrifice that is necessary to make their industries more productive and internationally competitive. They insist that we will all benefit from lower prices and better service. But income differentials are larger than at any time since the 1930s, with workers over 45 and those coming out of school finding it nearly impossible to get jobs that pay more than the minimum wage. At the same time, companies are compromising safety standards and ignoring environmental standards as they go all out to reduce their costs. All this has resulted from the mindless promotion of competition as our guiding principle. If our leaders had been paying attention to the insights offered by people like my father, they would have realized that they are recreating the conditions which led to the crisis of the 1930s. Faced with fallout from the "success" of the competitive model, governments are signing deals like the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and N.A.F.T.A. which weaken their ability to control corporate behaviour. Now Ottawa wants to go even further by signing the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, which will enshrine deregulation in an international level trade agreement. Under the prevailing circumstances, a further extension of free trade could turn the current economic crisis into a world wide depression, as countries compete against each other in an insane race to the bottom. It's time to acknowledge a simple fact: unregulated competition and uncontrolled market forces will not build the kind of society we want to live in. If we don't admit this and start acting accordingly, Canadians may be forced to relive the disaster of the 1930s before
FW: BLS Daily Reportboundary=---- =_NextPart_000_01BCFC07.361BBF50
This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. -- =_NextPart_000_01BCFC07.361BBF50 charset="iso-8859-1" BLS DAILY REPORT, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1997 The demand for workers is likely to remain strong during the first quarter of 1998, according to Manpower Inc. The firm says the forecast is the strongest for a first quarter since its survey began in 1976. The Milwaukee-based international temporary help company found that 24 percent of the 16,000 businesses that were surveyed said they plan to hire additional workers during the January-to-March period next year. Only 10 percent plan cutbacks in staff, and 62 percent expect no change in the size of their payrolls (Daily Labor Report, page A-1). BLS data is cited for comparison. Continued robust growth in high technology industries and in aerospace will continue this economic expansion beyond 2000, making it the = longest in post war history, says a comprehensive trade and industry report by the Commerce Department and McGraw Hill. The report, "U.S. Industry Trade Outlook '98," predicts that exceptionally strong growth in information technologies will continue, with this high technology = sector being a catalyst for continued job growth. The senior economist at DRI/McGraw Hill says the unemployment rate has fallen too low to be sustainable, but he does not expect a large increase in joblessness. High-tech industries, however, should continue to see fast job growth, the report says "Computerworld"'s 1996 annual salary survey indicates that salary increases in the information services area (professional computer services) are well ahead of those in other professions (Daily Labor Report, page D-1). The vast majority of professionals working part time are women with children, according to a survey of 2,000 employees. The survey, A New Approach to Flexibility: Managing the Work/Time Equation, examined the effects of part-time work in a large pharmaceutical company, a large technology company, a leading law firm, and a leading consulting firm. It found that 82 percent of employees working part time were women, of whom 89 percent have children and 74 percent have children under 18 .(Daily Labor Report, page A-11). =20 The share of total U.S. output that comes from the manufacturing sector has grown over the last five years, as the contribution of labor to = that production has declined, according to an analysis published by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. Across the whole U.S. economy, the labor share (employee compensation) decreased slightly, from 58.4 percent in 1992 to 58.0 percent in 1996 (Daily Labor Report, page D-5). Money managers are shifting their focus to women, says The Wall Street Journal (page B14A) The Journal article cites Labor Department = data, saying that 47 percent of Americans with assets of $500,000 or more are women The 60 million working women currently account for 46 percent of the U.S. labor force, and they are expected to comprise 48 percent = of a bigger work force by the year 2000. Women accounted for 60 percent = of the growth in the U.S. work force from 1984 to 1994 U.S. figures show they are getting better jobs. Women hold 48 percent of U.S. professional jobs now, up from 42 percent in 1984 =20 Under welfare reform, recipients must move off the rolls and into jobs within two years. As welfare-to-work deadlines approach this year and next, many big cities say they won't have enough low-skill jobs to meet the demand. Estimated shortfalls for some of the major cities are listed in USA Today (page 3A), the result of a survey of 34 cities by the U.S. Conference of Mayors who reported that out of 13 able to = supply job market data, 12 won't have enough low-skilled jobs to meet the = law's work requirements. The survey estimated a total shortfall of more than 194,000 jobs in nine of the cities in 1997 and 1998, when Federal welfare-to work deadlines begin expiring. These are Boston, Detroit, Knoxville, Tenn., Little Rock, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Seattle, St. Paul, Minn., and St. Louis. Officials in Baltimore, East Orange, N.J., and Rockford, Ill, also predicted an inadequate number of jobs. However, they declined to release data. Officials in only one city reported they expect to have enough jobs for recipients moving off the rolls. That was Alexandria, Va., where the economy is humming =20 -- =_NextPart_000_01BCFC07.361BBF50 b3NvZnQgTWFpbC5Ob3RlADEIAQWAAwAOzQcLABwADgAKADMABQBLAQEggAMADgAAAM0HCwAc gAEAFQAAAEZXOiBCTFMgRGFpbHkgUmVwb3J0AIcGAQ2ABAACAgACAAEDkAYAyBIAABwAAABA ADkAAFTbVzH8vAEeAHAAAQ0AAABEYWlseSBSZXBvcnQAAgFxAAEgAbz5Fg7a m6qfF2S6EdGVBgJgjNtgKgAEzmEgAMH3CdAeADFAAQ0AAABSSUNIQVJEU09OX0QAAwAa QAAeADBAAQ0AAABSSUNIQVJEU09OX0QAAwAZQAACAQkQAQAAAP0PAAD5DwAA
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This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. -- =_NextPart_000_01BCFC05.C50AD9F0 charset="iso-8859-1" BLS DAILY REPORT, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1997: Consumer confidence increased in November, regaining most of the ground lost in an unusual downturn in October, the Conference Board reports. The Consumer Confidence Index rose nearly 5 percentage points to 128.3 percent of its 1985 base in November, after dropping nearly 7 points in October (Daily Labor Report, page A-2). __The Washington Post (page C9) reports that the Conference Board attributed the increase to Americans' apathy toward the turbulence in global financial markets and their focus on the healthy U.S. economy. __The New York Times (page D4) carries a Bloomberg News story that says that consumer confidence increased in November, while home resales rose in October, suggesting that the economy could end the year on an unexpected high note. A separate index of consumer confidence, calculated by the University of Michigan, also increased this month, rising to 107.2 from 105.6. With unemployment at its lowest level in a quarter century, "consumers are feeling pretty flush as the holiday season approaches," :said an economist at John Hancock in Boston. On page D10 The Times "Credit Markets" column reports on the jump in the Conference Board's consumer confidence index, and says that the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 2.1 percent, to a record annual rate of 4.4 million in October. __The Wall Street Journal (page A2) reports that shoppers are heading into the Christmas season feeling plenty spirited, but that doesn't necessarily mean they plan to be more generous. The consumer confidence index shot up about five points to 128.3 this month, nearly making up the seven points it lost in October, according to the Conference board. Apparently consumers are paying more attention to the healthy U.S. economy than to the turmoil in the world's equity markets. The Journal's page 1 chart is of consumer confidence, 1995 to the present. As leaders of Pacific Rim countries ended their meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia yesterday with a strong pep talk about their region's future, U.S. economists were starting to tote up the disproportionate damage likely to be felt by various U.S. states from Asia's financial woes. Economists believe the overall U.S. economy will weather the Asian turmoil in good shape, but they expect there will be a disproportionate negative impact on such states as Alaska, California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Texas, because U.S. Census Bureau data show that 59 percent of exports from the Northwest and 50 percent from the Southwest go to 11 Asian countries - China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea. Standard Poor's DRI chief regional economist sees the West's employment growth - which has been running a full percentage point above the national average -- undergoing the sharpest deceleration in the country over the next few years. She says that forecast was in place before the Asian crisis erupted, but it will cut another 0.3 percentage point from the Western region's employment growth in 1998 - to 2.2 to 2.5 percent. The dimmer prospects stem from recent Asian currency devaluations that make U.S. goods more expensive and hurt local Asian economies. That combination means less demand for U.S. goods, which in turn means less hiring and slower demand for housing and office space in the U.S., as well as cutbacks in corporate profit-sharing for employees, business for local suppliers, and tax revenue for the states most affected. An accompanying chart shows major products, by states, 1996 exports (in billions) of these products, and indicates that a slowdown in exports to Asia could hurt these state's industries. Exports to Asia as percent of total exports, by region, are shown by a map. Business Week (November 24, page 8) says that raises aren't the only way to keep employees happy and shows the percent of 1,600 large and mid-sized companies surveyed that offer various perks, including recognition awards, flex-time, wellness programs, job sharing, and telecommuting through a chart. Business Week (November 24, page 39) includes a "Commentary" article by Christopher J. Farrell that says the labor pool is deeper than it looks, and points to a wave of women, immigrants, and older men, that are helping strong U.S. economic growth. For example, Farrell says "Today's elderly workers are better educated and in far better health than earlier generations. In addition, working with computers is less physically taxing than laboring all day long on an assembly line." He quotes an economist at Syracuse University as saying that the baby-boom generation has a much greater stock of human capital and skills than older
Re: Global Financial Crisis II
Tom Walker wrote: I will say, however, that pooh-poohing the apocalypse can be as much of a pose as apocalypticism itself. It might even be interesting to ask whether apocalyptic pooh-poohing isn't itself just a variation on the theme of apocalypse. In other words, Sawicky's rhetorical labelling of Chossudovsky's tract as "apocalyptic" was itself an apocalyptic gesture. Are you waxing deconstructive here, Tom? Being anti-apocalyptic requies an (unacknowledge) dependency on the notion of apocalypse? If so, what is the unnarativizable other? Speaking of which, has anyone ever deconstructed the productive/unproductive labor binary? Doug
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This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. -- =_NextPart_000_01BCFC02.EA407C00 charset="iso-8859-1" BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1997 While the U.S. economy is likely to keep its balance over the next year, labor shortages and a poorly prepared workforce are among the growing concerns highlighted by the latest survey conducted by the National Association of Business Economists Inflation will remained subdued, with the NABE panel forecasting a 2.4 percent rise in the CPI in 1998. This year, the CPI will most likely rise by about 2 percent, which would make it the smallest annual increase since 1986, when world oil prices fell The unemployment rate will average 4.9 percent next year, about where it has been this year. Nonfarm payroll employment should moderate to a 1.8 percent rate of expansion next year after rising 2.2 percent this year, the survey showed (Daily Labor Report, page A-8). The United States economy looks well balanced in its seventh year of growth, with surprisingly low inflation despite tight labor markets, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report. The OECD said that keeping prices in check would probably require the Fed to raise short-term borrowing costs by as much as three-quarters of a percentage point "to curb some interest-sensitive demand" (New York Times, page D4). Employers and workers can get guidance on interpreting a variety of workplace laws through an interactive Internet system (www.dol.gov/elaws) announced by Labor Secretary Herman. The new system - a collection of nine electronic "advisors" - is particularly helpful for small businesses that may lack the resources to hire an employee to oversee compliance with various labor laws, Herman says (Daily Labor Report, page A-1). Low-income working families are, in many ways, the forgotten class in the national debate over child care. They make too little to afford the choices of professional women - whether to use a nanny or an au pair, to work part time or full time. And many make too much to qualify for a government program. Others make little enough to qualify, but are low on the waiting lists while priority is given to women leaving the welfare rolls for jobs (New York Times, page A1). -- =_NextPart_000_01BCFC02.EA407C00 b3NvZnQgTWFpbC5Ob3RlADEIAQWAAwAOzQcLABwADQAnABQABQBIAQEggAMADgAAAM0HCwAc AA0AJgAdAAUAUAEBCYABACEAAABGNzI2MUEyNkQ4NjdEMTExODg4RTAwMjBBRjlDMDMwOAD8BgEE gAEAFQAAAEZXOiBCTFMgRGFpbHkgUmVwb3J0AIcGAQ2ABAACAgACAAEDkAYA1A8AABwAAABA ADkAYJWb8Cz8vAEeAHAAAQ0AAABEYWlseSBSZXBvcnQAAgFxAAEgAbz52D+6 lL2O9WWNEdGVBgJgjNtgKgAG0RmgAI5N8LAeADFAAQ0AAABSSUNIQVJEU09OX0QAAwAa QAAeADBAAQ0AAABSSUNIQVJEU09OX0QAAwAZQAACAQkQAQsNAAAHDQAA NCAAAExaRnWZjzCMAwAKAHJjcGcxMjXyMgxgYzEDMAECAFABAUULYG4OEDAzMw8WZj5lD5IB9wKk A2MCAGNoEQrAc2V0AtFwcnFKMgAAKgqhbm8SUCAWMAHQAdA2D6AwNTDONBQhAdAUEDR9B20Cg+8A UAPUEf8TC2IT4RRQE7K/GPQU0AcTAoACkQjmOwlv6jAa32UOMDUcCh0hHN//Hekb9B4SHH8gTyAN H48dv/McDxBgMjgl2ibxJq8nuf8b9CfiJk8qHyndKV8njytUfjkOUC6kMAEoIzAAAoJzqHR5bAeQ aAngdAAAYQPwZGN0bAqxAGBkzGp1MXAFEGdoBUIWMh0MAWMJwDJAAzBzbmW+eBcwB7AFsADAAnNz JmL6YRcQZAIgNOA0hjHQMtD5OhEgMTEzDlA13zbvN/P/AFE4fACgM646/zwGMSQPwP89Dz4fN/MO UDhvQM9B3zwz9jMCghMQYzWgSKEy0DwwJHRpOBAgRAEQYXUqbAVAUArAYQnAYXA4aCBGAiE1ZCVA Zml6LQ+QOAFAN7BNMzI4Yj0LIHIJUE6SFqBOknc0+yVBFwBwAdBKcjL/R59Ipm9M0EuQBRACMC1M MANhOgggVG9T8FN1YmoFBZB0U/BEYXRlOv01ZDZM/04PTx9QLjHAPCO/DiFIoTk2DlBRr1K+UjgB uRcBIEg8EQSQNWQ3Va//Vr9Xz0ihN49ZPw+QZDAI0PJiCrB0OEb6D1RD0Fs/z1xGZMBdUAtQeS9M QFgw+wsRXcVzNWQoAF6/X89g339QP1FPZt9n6lQSU7RU6Tl3Mi9tRWRzOW2fbq9z4ET4b2N1B4AC P/+BT4JfYe+Dn2QPZR+Fz30l/jNnv2jDf6UPwIlPil+Lb/96r3u/kW9v/3EIf6WQkJQ/35VPll+X b5h/hns0fa9UTf40PJRM753Pnt+f74RfhW//oi+HjwSQpQVVn6aPp5+MX9+o345/j4+Qn4a3N5JP aMP/pQVen6+fsK+or6D/tq+af/9w6qUFaX+6j7ufvK+9v4Zd/7Swox9UXEnDC/ByAMI/w0//xF+o z6nfqu/Hr60PymQUEP/K78v/zQ+xz85Ps++0/9B//TR1Mw6Qt79o0tN1gB/U///WD84Pxl/cD7/f cOrTdYkv39/v4P/iD+Mf5C0yyG9UTf9DNZQf6I/pn+qvzx/QL+zv/9JPBJBDNZy/8U/yX9cf85// 2T/aT9tf5IdTIN0f3iJDNf+lf/pf+2/zb+u/AW/lP3Dqf0M1ro8FTwZfB28If+QtNvftz+7dPIQz uX8N7w7/EA//9H/1jxJP96854BUlwh8Wr/8Xv/x/GP/+n/+vAL/kh3Pg/wJ/3iIVJcrfH78gzxjP ER9/Js8Kn3DqPINKEkPgSnlcO0tgSiBm7bAut0pRSHn2cDngIkFrMdfc8DKOGkDDM5tMQGxsb3dI YDRpHn1yEjfQclArcWZ0bn9UcEqAdoBKoHZALcAoQG1pI8JlXDohdDRxPOB20Glld2siUGQmEDuS GHNjYSKAJDFccGevK0JCsjz1OmBvLaJlQoAbSfIU8G0n8FTxIEM6VFxcEzBvS+FtTDBpQyKAK+Bc TWljMSBzom85gCBPZimwYzrgolxBVkVtYUBQLkhwvnQ4wPhAclAukSJCeNPgdTnxbklAcjrgQwNL NGMkbCBJ8nBuQwFsdlZs3tBFkHVA0G1FgnTfcpBTAEWBO+F2gTcuIUWQLxngGiBMoEWQdFLwYSD+ LjiwRVo7cEYyS3ArIEav/0e/SM/wMEWQ+KA6QEp/S493TJ8mEEWQbEovTu9P9SkfSPwsYE3PUq9P 5GIgKP9eQVPPRcMM0FF/Vj9XT1hf/0XwFZBZokZ/Ww9cH0j8HqD/Wa9fL2A/YU9F8CmQXi9jv/9k z2XUPPAocTzwJaAiUCHwF3IvLX8ugXsx8mJrbXJrZ6MgX3bAQFDvcWEQfUJMU3YgQUlMAlknwEVQ T1JULFET8FVFU2+QWXBQTgBPVkVNQkVSIIelYHBQdgA5Nw0KaqKSIHIVV2hAUSB0RCDAIFUuUy4g
Re: Global Financial Crisis II
On Fri, 28 Nov 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: It's magic: lower incomes + higher labour force participation = a lower rate of unemployment. This precisely confirms the right-wing nostrum that there is no such thing as involuntary unemployment. At a low enough wage, there is a job for everyone who wants to work. Kick out the "barriers" to "labour flexibility" and unemployment will fall. The "right-wing" analysis is not entirely untrue. Provide no welfare state, or dismantle an existing one, and you can force lots of people to work any kind of crappy job at any kind of crappy wage. The problem with this isn't its untruth but its brutality. Anecdotal evidence at least from New Zealand's experience with the Employment Contracts Act 1991 would seem to confirm what Doug is saying. At least in its early days as employers were dismantling penalty rates (overtime, shift premiums, etc) workers were lining up for no-wage, experience-only jobs. The problems was especially acute for younger workers for whom the law provided NO minimum wage. By 1993, even the conservative National Government, the author of the law, recognized that conditions were so bad they had to enact a Youth Minimum Wage. I have copies of some contracts that, aside from wages, provide some amazing provisions. My personal favorite is the contract that exists minute to minute and can be terminated at any time. One can only speculate about the meanness of the company that would want to employ its workers in this way and the conditions of the workers that makes them willing to accept this. Ellen J. Dannin California Western School of Law 225 Cedar Street San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: 619-525-1449 Fax:619-696-
Re: Global Financial Crisis II
Tom Walker wrote: There's nothing fishy about the *numbers* -- they measure what they're intended to measure. There is something fishy about the *relevance* of those numbers in terms of the lives of working people. A family in which one adult is working full time and earning enough to support the entire household contributes one active participant to the labour force. A family in which two adults have to be working full time to earn a similar level of income contributes twice as many participants to the labour force and thus "improves" the employment picture. Surprisingly enough, I not only know this, but I've written about it many times. American society is sick with overwork, at least as much as it's plagued by deprivation, and stagnant and/or declining real hourly wages are a big reason for this. But the kind of analysis I was responding to - a cliche of left writing, which features "part-time" work, and the undermeasurement of unemployment - can't make this point. It's magic: lower incomes + higher labour force participation = a lower rate of unemployment. This precisely confirms the right-wing nostrum that there is no such thing as involuntary unemployment. At a low enough wage, there is a job for everyone who wants to work. Kick out the "barriers" to "labour flexibility" and unemployment will fall. The "right-wing" analysis is not entirely untrue. Provide no welfare state, or dismantle an existing one, and you can force lots of people to work any kind of crappy job at any kind of crappy wage. The problem with this isn't its untruth but its brutality. Doug
