[PEN-L:9927] FW: BLS Daily Report

BLS DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, MAY 6, 1997 The May 1997 issue of the AARP Bulletin contains a profile of Commissioner Abraham based on an interview -- "Custodian of the CPI: Low-Profile Bureaucrat Stands Her Ground on Index." An editorial in the Washington Post, "Ducking the Hard Ones," says

[PEN-L:9928] Re: jobless growth

At 06:57 PM 5/6/97 -0700, Anthony P. D'Costa wrote: I am intrigued by some of the comments below, especially because of labor shortage situations and because somehow the dependency idea that the "periphery" is condemned to remain where they are is smuggled in. It does not capture the learning

[PEN-L:9931] Feudalism?

I am not saying it has not. I am simply arguing against the standard modernisation theory line (also present in the so-called vulgar marxism) that industrialisation necessarily brings modernisation. Japan, especially the Meji restoration, is a clear example that it does not have to. To my

[PEN-L:9938] RE: Globalization

Tavis, you obviously haven't heard about the Virtual U model that is being promoted across North America and Europe. Sid This is true. But it's not the same kind of export competition. Harvard, MIT, and Mass general don't argue to their workers that they have to lower wages to compete

[PEN-L:9939] Tavis, you're *still* wrong

Tavis: My contention is that service markets aren't as globalizable as manufacturing markets. Sid: I don't think this is anything more than a contention. Tavis: The same types of jobs you describe in telecommunications (operator services) have their analogues in many other sectors: Claims

[PEN-L:9942] Re: telecoms

Doug: Add a column showing total telecom employment; another showing % unionization. It would make for a more interesting story. Michael At 05:14 PM 5/7/97 -0700, Doug Henwood wrote: Sid's tales of telecoms made me wondering how U.S. telephone workers are faring. A trip to the BLS web site

[PEN-L:9940] telecoms

Sid's tales of telecoms made me wondering how U.S. telephone workers are faring. A trip to the BLS web site and some quick work with Excel show the following. EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS IN TELECOMS, U.S. share of hourly earns, % of avg total

[PEN-L:9941] Re: Tavis, you're *still* wrong

I agree with Sid on this. Some examples in New Zealand: - a life insurance company recently taken over by a UK one will now have all its investments managed from in Australia - the local office is closing. Presumably they still have agents here. - as with Canada, dozens of bank branches are

[PEN-L:9936] Well maybe I'm just possbly sorta kinda right Sid

Hmm... what response could I possibly have to such an assertive title? Of course you can find examples of international outsourcing within any industry. It's part of what firms attempt to do with their labor process: Deskill and standardize their inputs, then figure out how to expand the

[PEN-L:9935] RE: Globalization

On Tue, 6 May 1997, Laurie Dougherty wrote: This is related to the point Tavis is making. While it's true that people tend to use services locally, it is not true that those services must be offered in any given location. Look at the inner cities which are lacking in many of the retail

[PEN-L:9934] more on feudalism

I had written: In the Marxian tradition, "feudal exploitation" involves "direct repression" as "the main mode of labor control" but NOT "the abundance of cheap labor" which "makes it more rational [for the employer] to employ more human labor [rather] to invest in labor-saving technology."

[PEN-L:9933] Re: Feudalism?

Louis, Please read my posting to the list under "feudal exploitation" which is a reply to a smiliar criticism voiced by Jim Devine. To reiterate, while I agree that class and institutional arrangement of feudalism are much different from capitalism, that does not mean that capitalists cannot

[PEN-L:9932] Re: feudal exploitation

At 09:50 AM 5/7/97 -0700, Jim Devine wrote: In the Marxian tradition, "feudal exploitation" involves "direct repression" as "the main mode of labor control" but NOT "the abundance of cheap labor" which "makes it more rational [for the employer] to employ more human labor [rather] to invest in

[PEN-L:9930] feudal exploitation

Wojtek S writes that "Feudal exploitation", by contrast, obtains when the abundance of cheap labour makes it more rational to employe more labour than to invest in labour saving technology. I call it "feudal" because the volume of human labour was the main factor under the human control affecting

[PEN-L:9929] You're wrong, Tavis

Tavis: "But with hardware services [the opposition is generally between hardware on the one hand and services on the other] everything must be provided locally, which means that it can't be shipped off or gotten from elsewhere. This is really just sort of a tautology, but I think it's an