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Clinton enters the home stretch pushing his health legislation (Sunday, 4/30/00)
President Clinton is stepping up at least the frequency of his efforts to persuade Congress to pass legislation providing a "patients' bill of rights" and also a prescription medication benefit as part of Medicare. Other health issues are also much on his mind, though. We've already reported on the World Bank's concern that AIDS is already affecting the economic development efforts of many countries. Now, the American Administration says that the pandemic could become a threat to national security because of its potentially devastating consequences throughout the world. Europe required several centuries to recover from the "black death" of the mid-14th century, particularly so, because, in many regions, the plague revisited ever generation for several hundred years. In fact, even though Isaac Newton's birth was separated from the devastation of the mid-14th century by almost as long as we are separated from his death, the plague shut down Cambridge University while he was a student. He went home to the farm to wait it out, and, needing something to do, invented the calculus.

Editorial writers consider the way farm subsidies have been working (Sunday, 4/30/00)
Most of the government payments have been going to the larger farmers, rather than the smaller ones who are most likely to need help staying in business. The Minneapolis Star Tribune editorializes about this finding from a new study and its implications, saying that it's not surprising.

Blowing away $2 trillion? (Sunday, 4/30/00)
Here's another writer who isn't all that impressed with the job Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve have been doing. Among other things, he doesn't believe that the Chairman fully understands how new the new economy really is, meaning how much growth it can tolerate without inflation becoming a significant problem. Alan continues to worry about inflation, though, because, when it occurs, it simply screws up everything. Who's right? We can say with absolute certainty that we really have no idea. Stay tuned.

True entrepreneurship (Sunday, 4/30/00)
Many people starting dot-com companies really aren't entrepreneurs in the original sense, according to Jerry Heaster of the Kansas City Star. They really aren't interested in creating a company of long-term value, he says, and that's a problem for lots of people, particularly investors.

Today's very best tech-work collection (Sunday, 4/30/00)
Three major newspapers--the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning news, and the Austin American-Statesman have teamed up to produce today's "Top Tech" special section, which includes many articles worth reading. Among them are articles about the need for non-techies in technical firms, as well as ways non-techies can become techies, including some training options described by Angela Shah, getting girls interested in technical careers, the argument over age-bias in hi-tech, how some technical people are ending up in careers they didn't anticipate, the preference many have for contract work, as opposed to full-time positions, the difficulty some tech workers have in talking money, the unusual perks that may be part of a job offer, the causal work culture that may be an important perk for many, some tips for landing that important job, should you need them, such as making use of professional contacts, and the hi-tech competition among the three cities whose newspapers have done this series. You can take a breath here. Also, David LaGesse says that Congress can be expected to expand the number of visas necessary to bring technical workers into the U.S. This Houston Chronicle story tells about some very hot occupations you may not have heard about and which haven't existed all that long. Finally, Jennifer Montgomery tells what it's like to own and operate a business with your spouse. Whew!

A case study in how bad it's possible for things to get (Sunday, 4/30/00)
North Korea may not hold the global record for economic disaster, but it's certainly a finalist. Howard French writes from the prosperous country to the south about how North Korea is beginning to look to capitalism as a possible way of avoiding a complete and total meltdown of its society. Yes, North Korea. This is not a "misprint."

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Virtual Law Library (Sunday, 4/30/00)
Here's the Virtual Law Library from The Indiana University, including business law, but not confined to it.

Big conflict at Daewoo (Saturday, 4/29/00)
Twenty-thousand protesters clash with police over the troubled South Korean auto company's difficulties and some planned solutions.

Economic growth without job growth (Saturday, 4/29/00)
Why aren't more new jobs resulting in Australia's growing economy? There are reasons, and Matt Wade of the Sydney Morning Herald is willing to explain.

Vietnam fears too much Westernization (Saturday, 4/29/00)
Vietnam's economy can use some help, but, as this Washington Post story indicates, there is nervousness about how many of Western capitalism's procedures will be too many. Coincidentally, a number of former American G.I.s have been visiting Vietnam, including one very famous American, a Senator from Arizona, who spent more than five years in North Vietnamese prisons.

Microsoft employees not worried (Saturday, 4/29/00)
Many don't expect a breakup of Microsoft to happen at all, according to Allan Dowd, and, even if it does, it won't happen for quite a while. Moreover, in all likelihood, most of the 35,000 people who work for Microsoft could easily find jobs elsewhere in Silicon Valley, even without having to pack up and move. And, of course, if Microsoft does become two companies, both will need a lot of technical expertise, so why worry?

Ag Secretary says American organized labor has it all wrong (Saturday, 4/29/00)
The AFL-CIO shouldn't be worrying about the loss of American jobs from a trade deal with China. In fact, failure to enact the agreement could result in job losses, he says.

The other side of the story (Saturday, 4/29/00)
A Minnesota law school will not allow the Army to recruit on campus. A spokesperson for the William Mitchell College of Law (which has produced a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, incidentally) says it's because the Army will discriminate against some of the school's students because of its "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Anti-sweatshop group urges universities to work with manufacturers (Saturday, 4/29/00)
The Workers' Rights Consortium wants to improve conditions for the people who work in foreign factories that produce apparel marketed with various American university logos. Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times has more details on the effort to get universities and manufacturers together in order to solve the problem.

Employment implications of Amway reorganization still unclear (Saturday, 4/29/00)
Amway will be changing itself, and many workers will have to reapply for jobs in the restructured company, but it's still unclear how many jobs will be affected.

Washington families to get Medicaid coverage back (Saturday, 4/29/00)
As part of Washington state's welfare-reform program, Medicaid coverage to many families was cut off, and that was wrong. Now, those benefits are being restored to 29,000 families.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Internet Timeline v5.0 (Saturday, 4/29/00)
Robert H. Zakon has played a number of technical roles in the private sector and refers to himself as an Internet evangelist. Here's his Internet Timeline.

Argentine president to get his labor reform law (Friday, 4/28/00)
President Fernando de la Rœa has wanted to have legal authority to counteract the power of organized labor and reduce employers' labor costs as part of an effort to reduce his country's 14 percent unemployment rate. The Argentine Senate is controlled by the opposition, but they've passed his bill anyway.

Unemployment better than forecast, but still a record (Friday, 4/28/00)
In March, Japan's unemployment rate remained at a record 4.9 percent. At first glance, the number looks good compared to unemployment rates in other countries, particular in the European region. However, there are no consistent criteria for defining "unemployment" across different nations. In Japan, the smallest amount of work during a reporting period puts you technically among the employed. In actual fact, 4.9 percent in Japan represents an extremely serious unemployment problem. Incidentally, the elderly are not protected from age discrimination in Japan, where employers routinely advertise job openings and specify desired ages of candidates. Attitudes toward older people seem to be changing too, suggesting that the Japanese culture is undergoing significant modification. Japan may be a very different kind of place during the next thousand years, compared to the last thousand years.

Corruption in what used to be Saigon (Friday, 4/28/00)
In some ways, less has changed than you might imagine in Ho Chi Minh City. Don Kirk reports from there for the International Herald Tribune on how people are trying to make their own way within a rigid communist nation. For one thing, there's still a lot of corruption in a city that was once familiar to hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Trade deal threatened (Friday, 4/28/00)
The United States has been almost ready to grant new trade privileges to Africa, the Caribbean and Central America, but an argument over textiles has, for the moment at least, put the brakes on.

More on the increased assertiveness of America's janitors (Friday, 4/28/00)
Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times writes from Chicago today, and has some observations about recent militancy of janitors in that city, in Los Angeles, and elsewhere.

Hi-tech will benefit those in outlying areas (Friday, 4/28/00)
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve said yesterday that he expects the tech revolution to be of major benefit to those in small towns and rural areas.

More workers have been dying on the job in Massachusetts (Friday, 4/28/00)
Boston Globe columnist Diane Lewis writes about the new AFL-CIO report on job safety in Massachusetts. For one thing, workplace deaths have been on the increase.

New jobs at Corning (Friday, 4/28/00)
Corning has been in the glass business for a very long time, and is now best known for hi-tech fiber optics products. It will double its capacity and add 300 jobs at its Bedford, Massachusetts plant.

Here's something to make American boomers feel better about their unimpressive retirement savings (Friday, 4/28/00)
Experts have been worrying that many in the huge baby-boom generation are not making adequate financial preparations for their retirement, but it's nothing like the situation faced by 90 percent of the world's workers, according to a new report from the International Labor Organization, an agency of the United Nations.

Preparing early for the new work world (Friday, 4/28/00)
H.J. Cummins, who told you about his concerns for America's boys yesterday, takes a look at "Take Our Daughters to Work Day" why it works well for many girls.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: DOL Employment and Training Administration (Friday, 4/28/00)
Here's the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, which is a useful starting point for individuals, employers, and various other persons, including professionals, who have a special interest in employment and training issues.

Economy still surging, and still stimulating inflation fears (Thursday, 4/27/00)
Labor shortages are translating into increased pay and benefits, which increased faster during the first quarter than at any time in the past decade. Here are more details from today's New York Times.

Physicians strike in Israel (Thursday, 4/27/00)
Actually, it's a previous strike resumed. Other parts of the country's health care system have joined in following unproductive talks.

The feds want to shorten the work day of truckers (Thursday, 4/27/00)
Recent fuel price increases were putting the squeeze on truckers trying to make a living out on the highways. Now, the Transportation Department wants truckers to be driving no more than 12 hours during a 24-hour period, rather than the current 18 hours. This is likely to be unpopular with many truckers who already are having difficulty making a living and who could point to recent research indicating that when a truck and automobile are involved in the same accident, it is more frequently caused by the automobile rather than by the truck, despite widespread beliefs. Speaking of over-work, Australian authorities are investigating a case in which a teacher at an exclusive school apparently had been scheduled for a 100-hour work week as well as 34 consecutive work days.

Troubled Australian Mitsubishi plants to cut jobs (Thursday, 4/27/00)
Operations are being scaled back at two Mitsubishi plants in Australia, which will also mean a reduction in jobs at both. In the U.S., European-based Philips Electronics will cut 1,500 jobs at its Ohio plant and export much of its operation to Mexico.

Drug price increases exceeded overall inflation last year (Thursday, 4/27/00)
The cost of prescription medications needed by the elderly increased faster last year than prices in general.

It's "Take our Daughters to Work Day," and what about our sons? (Thursday, 4/27/00)
H.J. Cummins tells why we should be concerned about boys as well as girls. Overall, women still suffer an economic disadvantage in a number of areas, but this does not mean that many men are not disadvantaged in their own ways. For instance, men don't live as long as women, on average, they're more likely to die a violent death, more likely to be incarcerated, more likely to suffer a range of illnesses that cannot easily be attributed to their essential genetic maleness. In fact, there is reason to believe that America has a national emergency on its hands when it comes to the male members of its population.

Does it pay to attend a famous, expensive college? (Thursday, 4/27/00)
There's been something goofy about the attitude of many Americans toward higher education for a long time, and much of it is clearly obsolete. There are a lot of myths as well, among which might be the common belief that a "good" college necessarily is an expensive one. You may or may not get what you pay for, and the college that is just right for you may not be the one that puts your family mostly deeply into long-term debt. But, at least you can expect to earn more if your degree is from a "prestigious" school, right? Well, no, not necessarily, according to new research by Alan Krueger and Stacy Dale. Here's the news story about it, and here's the research report: Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College.

Things just got harder for whistleblowers (Thursday, 4/27/00)
You've blown the whistle on some wrongdoing in your company, and you're fired because to it. From now on, it's going to be harder for you to invoke RICO in a suit against your former employer under those circumstances. It's because the Supreme Court has said so.

If J. C. Penney is acquired, things will be better now for many of the company's executives (Thursday, 4/27/00)
To older Americans, at least, J. C. Penney is one of the most familiar brands. However, the company is decades past its peak in the American retailing universe, and, recently, its stock price has been very low, making the company a prime candidate for takeover. If that happens, top Penney executives will be better situated, given a new severance program adopted in February.

Ohio State researcher has some bad news about retirement savings (Thursday, 4/27/00)
A majority of American households haven't been saving enough to cover the costs of retirement, according to analyses performed on Federal Reserve data by Professor Catherine Montalto.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Not The Final Exam (Thursday, 4/27/00)
Okay, listen up! It's time for a test. Not on economics, but on economists. It's trivia that could be from TV's "millionaire" show. Not The Final Exam tests your knowledge of economists lives more than their ideas.

Machinists vote today at Lockheed (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
If approved, the new three-year contract would provide each worker with $2,100 up front, among other things.

Both employment and unemployment increase in Israel (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Moti Bassok reports that there were 85,000 new jobs in 1999, but also an additional 27,000 persons without jobs. Nehemia Strasler attempts to clarify what seem to be confusing and contradictory data.

Things get fairly nasty at South Korean auto plant (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Daewoo Motor has been having problems, and a possible sale of the company has been in the wind, an idea which workers have been protesting. Yesterday, police conducted a raid and arrested a number of the leaders. Then, about a thousand protesters sealed off the plant. Thousands of miles to the south and west, Cambodian workers strike at a Ralph Lauren clothing plant.

Massachusetts hasn't been enforcing its worker's compensation law (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
At least, that's what an auditor is saying. Fines of $22 million haven't been collected. Here are details from columnist Diane Lewis of the Boston Globe.

Pinning Nasdaq's collapse on somebody (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Steven Syre and Charles Stein report that some are blaming Janet Reno for sabotaging the new economy. Here's their explanation.

Has it all been a misunderstanding? (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Just when you've become convinced that IRS agents have been suffering from a bad attitude, the General Accounting Office says it may be just your imagination after all. Here are details from Curt Anderson in America's capital.

Workers call on National Labor Relations Board to help recover privacy (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal reports that a worker backlash seems to be building against employers who monitor employee email. Workers have a legal right to organize and communicate freely with each other about work terms and conditions, and the NLRB has come down on the side of workers on the email monitoring issue in some recent cases. Speaking of the NLRB, they've ruled in support of a vote for unionization at a Wal-Mart store in Texas.

Maybe you haven't noticed the similarity (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Does the European Union resemble decadent ancient Rome? Austria's Joerg Haider seems to think so. He's the individual who has had some recent kind things to say about Adolf Hitler as well.

How to lie (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Brad Norington of the Sydney Morning Herald writes about federal government training for managers on how to lie to employees.

Some illegals become legals (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
A number of illegal immigrants tried to form a union and were reported to the INS. Now, they will be able to stay in the United States for a while as part of an agreement worked out yesterday.

Farm subsidies more likely to go to large operators (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
A study conducted by the Environmental Working Group finds that a small percentage of large farmers have been collecting a large percentage of subsidies under the Freedom to Farm law.

Breaking up is hard to do (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Bill Gates believes that it is consumers who would suffer if Microsoft were broken into multiple "Baby Bills." Steve Ballmer, the company's CEO, doesn't expect it is going to happen, and the company has been trying to reassure its employees. Microsoft is trying to hang on to them too by providing another round of stock options based on current values. The very large drop in Microsoft's stock recently has essentially made previous stock options useless, at least for the time being, and, in a hot job market, many of Microsoft's 35,000 talented techies might jump ship. Billionaire Bill himself holds a lot of Microsoft stock, and, while he's still the richest man in the world, he's no longer the richest hi-tech stockholder. Larry Ellison of Oracle has just passed him. If you're wondering what it all means for Microsoft's future, Paul Andrews in Seattle has some questions and some answers.

$900 million supports more than 900 million people each day, sort of (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
The Asian Development Bank says that Asian countries need to focus more of their energies on helping to lift the vast multitudes out of poverty, now that they're well along on their recovery from the "Asian contagion" of three years ago.

Many college towns offer hot job opportunities (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Neil Irwin writes in today's Christian Science Monitor that some of the best job opportunities can be found in places you might not expect.

Hi-tech Budapest (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Daniel Langencamp reports that Hungary has become one of newest of the world's hi-tech centers.

Why are these people trying to play golf in their office? (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
Kansas City Star columnist Diane Stafford says it helps build camaraderie, and that may be good for business.

The role of medical bills in bankruptcy (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
A new study indicates that nearly a half-million personal bankruptcies in the U.S. last year occurred, at least in part, because of medical bills. Speaking of going broke, most of Europe's governments may be headed in that direction because of a combination of an aging baby-boom generation and pension obligations, according to the Washington Post.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: CareerBabe (Wednesday, 4/26/00)
You might want to think of CareerBabe as the Ann Landers of the work world, and you're free to ask her for advice. But, who is CareerBabe, really? She's Fran Quittel, recruitment consultant and author of FirePower! from 10 Speed Press. She's also written for the Washington Post and other major publications and has appeared on major national broadcasts.

Janitors ratify contract (Tuesday, 4/25/00)
A three-week strike of thousands of janitors in Los Angeles is over, as union members celebrate a new contract and what they consider to be a major victory.

More details on that agreement at Northwest that's been a very long time coming (Tuesday, 4/25/00)
Tony Kennedy of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says that union leaders seem happy with the tentative agreement finally reached between Northwest Airlines and its flight attendants, who have been working without a contract for several years. Quick ratification of the agreement is expected. The news isn't quite so nice at American Airlines, where negotiations have broken off between the airlines and its pilots. They've been attempting to agree on a contract extension. Meanwhile, aviation in Russia has different kinds of problems. The weak Russian economy is resulting in the shutdown of entire airlines, while other fleets are getting smaller.

A Bachelor of ArsDigita? (Tuesday, 4/25/00)
Hiawatha Bray reports in the Boston Globe on the intensive program in computer science offered free from ArsDigita University. Qualifications are tough, though, but every effort will be made to make the program highly substantive, according to officials of the new corporation-sponsored institution.

What are those American vets in Vietnam doing today? (Tuesday, 4/25/00)
A group of American business leaders, most of who once served in Vietnam as combat personnel, are visiting Hanoi as hi-tech consultants and helpers this time. Among other things, they're helping Vietnamese university students get connected. Back home in America, Business Week examines the great "swooosh" that occurred on and around Wall Street as air was let out of a lot of excessively inflated Internet stocks. Also, in one of Business Week's multiple editions, here's a cover story on Germany's reformer, a man who has been causing a lot of astonishment on the part of German business leaders. Finally, here's an analysis of poverty in Latin America, and the unlikely coalitions that are being formed in an effort to do something about it.

Your government may not want you to be reading this (Tuesday, 4/25/00)
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the Chinese government has created a special agency to keep track of Internet news, in part to help them stamp out "harmful" information, and we have reason to believe that NewWork News is on their list. Apparently, China has been trying to block domestic access to a large number of web sites for a long time. Totalitarian governments don't like the free flow of information and ideas. The Chinese government also intends to make state-operated web sites more attractive with the hope that their citizens will want to choose them instead of free sites from outside the country. Speaking of China, the American government is trying hard to get Congressional support for opening trade with China on a permanent basis, but U.S. organized labor is opposed, and is stepping up its efforts to head off the proposed agreement.

If you want to be safe, where should you go? (Tuesday, 4/25/00)
Go to work, says the National Safety Council. Despite a lot of highly publicized incidents, the American workplace is safer than a lot of other places, including your home.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: How to Write a Resume (Tuesday, 4/25/00)
How to Write a Resume is what it sounds like, and comes to you from folks at Bowling Green State University.

L.A. janitors vote today (Monday, 4/24/00)
By the end of the day, we should all know whether the thousands of striking janitors in Los Angeles will have accepted the terms of a new contract. A different strike is disrupting flight schedules today in Portugal. In other labor news, the contest between Lockheed and its striking machinists has moved to the Internet, and graduate assistants at New York University are voting today on whether to unionize. For generations, graduate students have worked long hours for little pay, medical students have been worked to exhaustion for more hours each week than they are likely to be able to remain lucid, and new hires at major law firms are ground into a fine particulate by work schedules that routinely produce early burnout and a questioning of the decision to become a lawyer.

It all suggests that the reputation of universities as places where there are a lot of smart people may be undeserved. What on earth is going on? Why so much irrationality? Minnesota psychologist Dr. Malia Huchindorf says it may be the familiar "cycle of abuse" that one also finds in highly dysfunctional families. Those who have suffered tend to pass it on and make the next generation suffer as well. It also brings to mind the concept of "cognitive dissonance" from social psychology which can help explain "initiation" rites in fraternities, the military, and other organizations where there is a need to build cohesion and encourage individuals to value group membership. People are more likely to come to love that for which they pay heavily for which they suffer.

More women achieve top management posts, according to the Census Bureau (Monday, 4/24/00)
The "glass ceiling" doesn't appear to be in danger of shattering just yet, but it does have cracks, according to a new report from the United States Bureau of the Census. Speaking of top management, it appears that a key attribute of the new economy is that many processes which have been underway all along have accelerated. For instance, Carol Hymowitz of the Wall Street Journal says that CEOs have less time to produce now before they are unceremoniously shown the door. David Leonhardt of the New York Times writes about the changes in the new economy in how top managers are compensated. The amounts are a bit startling too, perhaps to the point of "insanity," according to Ephraim Reiner of Israel's Ha'aretz, particularly considering the overall condition of Israel's economy. More on that from Moti Bassok, who reports that there is reason to expect additional strength before long.

Canada lags in production of new Internet companies (Monday, 4/24/00)
Canadians are certainly making use of the Internet for a wide variety of purposes, but startups in Canada are having difficulty attracting the attention of Canadian venture capitalists.

More on the dark side of the new economy (Monday, 4/24/00)
Slavery seems to be one attribute of the new economy that is about the same as in the old, very old economy. Still, it's been on the rise again in many regions of the world. The Washington Post reports that this most primitive of human institutions--in this case sexual slavery--is flourishing in Kosovo.

Protectionism or not? (Monday, 4/24/00)
The New York Times' Steven Greenhouse writes that American organized labor is trying to explain why its opposition to increased trade liberalization does not constitute a resurgence of protectionist attitudes on its part. Meanwhile, Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith believe that American workers have a case against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Here's their article today via the Kansas City Star.

Wall Street's mood swings and the larger economy (Monday, 4/24/00)
The dramatic ups and downs of the North American stock market is leaving the overall economy largely unfazed, according to John Valozi, who writes from Canada.

Expect good news and bad news (Monday, 4/24/00)
Jerry Heaster writes that a report to be released Thursday will probably show about 6 percent growth during the first quarter of 2000. The bad news, he says, is that this will almost guarantee another interest rate increase next month. Scott Burns of the Houston Chronicle thinks he can see inflation all around him.

American vets return to Vietnam (Monday, 4/24/00)
This time, it's in the role of consultants rather than combatants. American hi-tech experts have been advising Vietnam leaders on how to make it in the new global information economy. Incidentally, here's another interesting U.S.-Vietnam connection. The Roman Catholic Church in America has been suffering a shortage of priests since long before labor shortages started to show up in other sectors. Now, the Church is getting help from Vietnamese immigrants. If you're surprised at the number of Vietnamese Catholics, remember that Vietnam used to be part of what was once called "French Indochina."

But, what does face-to-face contact really tell you? (Monday, 4/24/00)
For many years, employers have felt it necessary to conduct an unstructured interview with job candidates in order to make a hiring decision, despite the fact that correlations between decisions based on such unstructured contact and employee success have always been distressingly low. That is, if this is how you're going to decide whom to hire, you might save yourself some time and money by simply flipping a coin. Little has changed, however. Despite the increased use of the Internet to bring job seekers and employers together, eye contact and body language are deemed essential in the hiring process. That is, recruiters want to direct contact before forming a judgment.

Of course, judgments are easy; people make them all the time, just as juries render verdicts day in and day out. The important question is how frequently these judgments turn out to be accurate, and, for a clear picture of that, systematic research is necessary. It's easy to make up one's mind, but not necessarily easy to be right. It shouldn't be good enough to simply make something up. Speaking of recruiting, Joseph Herbulock is distressed because a Minnesota Law School won't allow JAG officers on campus to recruit for the Army. For those who don't watch U.S. television, "JAG" stands for "Judge Advocate General," and this story is NOT about Sarah MacKenzie.

You'll soon see more working seniors (Monday, 4/24/00)
Dave Carpenter discusses the consequences of the new law that eliminates the income test for Social Security beneficiaries between ages 65 and 70.

Religious diversity in the American workplace (Monday, 4/24/00)
Diversity of all kinds has been increasing in the new economy. In the United States, for instance, one finds a greater variety of religious groups represented in the workforce, and, sometimes, a greater variety of ways of discriminating.

What happens to North Koreans who make it to the South (Monday, 4/24/00)
At first glance, South Korea can seem like paradise to someone who has suffered from the regimentation and poverty of North Korea. However, Calvin Sims reports from Seoul that can still be hard for North Koreans who have managed to defect.

Postal worker nailed (Monday, 4/24/00)
A Florida worker with the Postal Service has been told to cut her inch-long fingernails. She's taking medical leave.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Action Science /Organizational Development (Monday, 4/24/00)
Chris Argyris has been one of the brighter lights in the field of organizational development for fifty years. The Action Science Network intends to make his ideas clear and demonstrate how they can be used in practical ways to make your work organization function more effectively for the benefit of all its constituencies.

Agreement ends L.A. janitors' strike (Sunday, 4/23/00)
The three-week janitors' strike in Los Angeles appears to be at an end as a tentative agreement is reached.

Aetna settlement hits a snag (Sunday, 4/23/00)
The deal reached between Aetna and the Texas attorney general isn't looking so good to many physicians as well as attorneys general in other states. Aetna had been offering financial incentives for limiting treatments, and the agreement had at first been seen as a model for the rest of the country. After a close look, though, many physicians and others are saying that it isn't quite what it first appeared to be. Little additional control of determining which treatments are necessary has shifted from the insurer to physicians, they say. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, leading HMOs are doubting the need for an "external review law" enabling appeal to an outside authority when a treatment is denied.

Retiring to the workforce (Sunday, 4/23/00)
Marlise Simons reports from Amsterdam on the large number of Dutch for whom retirement is simply a career change. The Netherlands is a conspicuous exception to the European unemployment problem.

The world's hungry amid its overfed (Sunday, 4/23/00)
Obesity is a major health risk in the United States, while vast numbers of people in Africa and other regions are going hungry. There is an abundance of food in the world, and American farm product prices have been lingering at historic lows, driving thousands of American farmers out of business each year. It's a strange world. The Minneapolis Star Tribune editorial writers have been giving the problem much consideration, and offer some thoughts about a better-late-than-never effort to head off catastrophe in Africa.

Betting the house (Sunday, 4/23/00)
Tim Huber reports that more and more people have been financing their stock purchases with home equity loans. Given what has happened to many Internet stocks, this suggests cause for concern. Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan has expressed concern about the "irrational exuberance" which seemed to be supporting much of the stock market's spectacular gains in recent years, and a highly speculative climate does seem to encourage many persons to abandon good sense and take unjustified risks. Here's a St. Paul Pioneer Press article about the role hype has played in all this, and Laura Holson and Saul Hansell discuss the inflated parts of the market that have undergone deflation lately, and Serge Wilson says that the Internet stock game resembles the old game of musical chairs in which you can easily be left standing.

What will happen if Ford decides to close the Dagenham plant in Britain? (Sunday, 4/23/00)
Three other plants could be shut down by strikes, according to a leading UK business publication.

Six-month program creates computer specialists (Sunday, 4/23/00)
Jennifer Beauprez writes about a program in Colorado that is re-training professionals in fields where demand has weakened for high-demand computer jobs, and it's being done FAST.

More workers are skipping lunch (Sunday, 4/23/00)
Health experts have worried for years about people who skip breakfast, but, now, a lot of people are skipping lunch too. Columnist Amy Gage writes that this can damage your career as well as your health, according to experts. In Japan, Toho University researchers find that when Japanese workers are put in charge of their own schedules, they don't tend to take it easier, but, instead, are harder on themselves than a boss would be. The tendency to overwork is not new in Japan, but, as Stephanie Strom reports, hi-tech entrepreneurial attitudes, efforts, and vocabulary are fairly new but are becoming more prominent as Japan attempts to make the transition into full membership of the new global information economy.

Is the retreat from military service really all that mysterious? (Sunday, 4/23/00)
The U.S. Army is losing young officers in large numbers. Thomas Ricks writes about the survey that has been ordered to help the DOD better understand why.

Meterorological vs. economic forecasting (Sunday, 4/23/00)
Weather forecasting has improved considerably during recent years, given the greater access that meteorologists have to relevant data, even though chaos theory indicates that there is an inherent limit in the level of accuracy that is possible. An economy is also a complex dynamic system, and, like the atmosphere, seems to be a nonlinear system as well. If that's the case, one might expect the mathematics of chaos theory to apply to economics as well, meaning that may be a point beyond which it is not possible to go, so far as predictive accuracy is concerned. However, as the Toronto Star's Steven Theobald writes, so far, economic forecasting seems to fall far, far short of that point, and may be little better than chance in many cases? If so, why is that? The reasons are likely to be numerous, but one possibility may be that economic theory's psychological assumptions seem so outdated and may have little to do with the realities of human nature as we are best-able to understand them at this point. Most of the genuine systematically verifiable knowledge of nature, including human nature, is a product of very recent years, but many institutions have their roots in the information base of our ancestors.

In what occupation can you earn more than $100,000 your first year? (Sunday, 4/23/00)
There are a number of them, actually, but some, such as "movie star," may be a bit iffy. Graduate from a leading law school, though, and you may have to get a restraining order to get prospective law firms to leave you alone. They won't be trying to harass you; they'll be trying to hire you, and they're likely to be waving considerably more money at you this year than last. However, they may nearly work you to death too. The work load and hours can be absolutely crushing, and, in fact, do crush many. Burnout is common and can occur quickly.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For (Sunday, 4/23/00)
In the judgment of Fortune magazine, here's the latest list of the top 100 companies to work for. The labor market is tight. Desirable workers are scarce. These companies are going all out to attract and hold the people they need. Fortune updates their list each year.

Forty die in coal mine explosion (Saturday, 4/22/00)
Three miners are also missing following a gas explosion in a coal mine in northern China.

Talks to get underway at Lockheed (Saturday, 4/22/00)
Machinists at Lockheed have been on strike for two weeks. Talks will begin on Monday. Negotiations are underway between United Airlines and its pilots as well, and the head of the union says that job preservation is a key issue.

Layoffs at Compaq (Saturday, 4/22/00)
Once on top, Compaq Computer Corporation has been feeling the squeeze in the fast-moving computer industry. Dwight Silverman reports in the Houston Chronicle that the company is laying off 450 workers.

Highest priority when North and South Korean leaders get together (Saturday, 4/22/00)
The two Koreas have scheduled a summit in June, and have agreed to concentrate first on arranging for the reunion of families separated for decades.

Argentine police arrested for beating labor demonstrators (Saturday, 4/22/00)
Clifford Krauss reports from Buenos Aires on the aftermath of a labor demonstration that turned ugly, and, according to government officials, resulted in a bad case of police brutality.

Ethics and the Internet (Saturday, 4/22/00)
Dave Plotnik reports that ethicists are working on the development of a set of ethical rules appropriate for the world of cyberspace. In a slightly related story, George Colony of Forrester recently conducted a survey of CEOs of Internet companies and, on average, finds them to be shallow and greedy, when compared to CEOs at traditional companies.

The "paperless office" and other unrealistic fantasies (Saturday, 4/22/00)
Andrea Orr says that hi-tech hasn't resulted in the paperless office as expected. In fact, he seems to have resulted in even more paper use than before.

Easier for older Americans to find jobs (Saturday, 4/22/00)
Labor shortages in many sectors and regions of the country are making it easier for older people to find jobs, according to a new report from Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Adult Learning Australia (Saturday, 4/22/00)
Adult Learning Australia is a comprehensive resource for those interested in adult and community education.

Agreement at Northwest (Friday, 4/21/00)
After years of working without a contract, it appears that Northwest Airlines' flight attendants have made a deal on a new contract.

In a sense, there are still two Vietnams (Friday, 4/21/00)
However, the division is economic rather than political at this point. Mark Landler reports in today's New York Times that Vietnam's economic gap is widening.

No evidence that recession has reasserted itself in Japan (Friday, 4/21/00)
The latest data suggest that the Japanese economy is still on track for recovery, according to the Japanese government. Reed Stevenson has details from Tokyo.

Holding on to workers during Chapter 11 reorganization (Friday, 4/21/00)
MicroAge is in bankruptcy, but they don't intend to go out of business. Dawn Gilbertson reports in the Arizona Republic on how the company plans to keep its employees during the time it is reorganizing under protection from its creditors.

Less money for home health care (Friday, 4/21/00)
Medicare spending on home health care services has dropped 45 percent during the past two fiscal years, and many are alarmed. Here's more from Robert Pear of the New York Times.

How to fix the gender gap in hi-tech occupations (Friday, 4/21/00)
It's well known that male and female bodies are constructed differently in some key ways, but do these differences include the brain? There is some tentative evidence that male and female brains are constructed differently, and that this might have implications for both abilities and interests in some areas. Of course, whatever differences may exist must be thought of in terms of averages. An example would be differences in height. While it is true that men, on the average, are taller than women, it is also true that there are a great many exceptions. One can expect this to apply to possible sex differences in, say spatial aptitude, as well. However, social learning also plays a major role, and the sum of the evidence so far provides no reason to believe that men are inherently better suited for work in the new economy than women, despite the tremendously larger number of men in technical occupations. According to a recent Sun-Sentinel report, major companies such as IBM, Motorola, and Xerox are trying to find ways to overcome traditional beliefs, mostly unfounded, that tend to support the lingering sex bias in engineering and other technical fields.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: WorkdayTV (Friday, 4/21/00)
WorkdayTV is a wireless Internet television service from the streets of downtown Toronto.

Jobless claims decrease dramatically (Thursday, 4/20/00)
First-time claims for jobless benefits hit their lowest level since December 1973 last week. South of the U.S. border, the overall employment situation has improved too. Mexico's jobless rate was down in March.

BIG cuts at Winn-Dixie (Thursday, 4/20/00)
The supermarket chain will close 114 stores and cut 11,000 jobs.

Coke chairman celebrates diversity (Thursday, 4/20/00)
Douglas Daft announced to shareholders that diversity is "indispensable" to Coca-Cola. Jesse Jackson is urging Coke to settle a discrimination suit.

Clinton looks to business for support in his effort to normalize trade with China (Thursday, 4/20/00)
President Clinton has been on the telephone today trying to persuade top American business leaders to get behind the effort to open up trade with China. Meanwhile, a major Democrat won't be supporting the President. The man who could become the next Speaker of the House, Congressman Dick Gephardt, says he will oppose permanent trade benefits for China.

Paper strike ends in Finland (Thursday, 4/20/00)
Thirty-thousand paper workers have been on strike for a week. However, with the help of a mediator, an agreement has been reached on a new contract.

The '90s weren't too good for Canadians (Thursday, 4/20/00)
Over the decade of the 1990s, living standards declined in Canada, according to a new report.

Surprise! South African whites expect business to be better under President Mbeki (Thursday, 4/20/00)
Rachell Swarns reports from Johannesburg about Afrikaner business support for South Africa's president, which represents a major change of attitude for many.

Which direction the causality? (Thursday, 4/20/00)
Do improved economic conditions lead to better health? Seems to make sense, but maybe not. Sanjay Kumar writes about a new report that indicates that the correlation between economic level and public health may be best-explained the other way around. Improved health leads to an improved economy, according to data from a Harvard University study. However, single cause-effect models have been largely replaced by complex system models, meaning that, in the real world, one may not have to make a choice between the two interpretations. If health improves economics, it doesn't preclude the possibility that economics improves health as well, which may lead to further improvements in economics, and so on.

Poverty and the digital divide (Thursday, 4/20/00)
A new study from Forrester Research finds that the digital divide is best-explained in terms of economics, not race. Katie Hafner reports that another study from Cheskin Research finds a significant increase in the number of Hispanics who are online, and also finds that household income makes a difference. Meanwhile, as additional evidence that the Internet is working its way into all areas of life, yesterday's Washington Post reported that the new director of the Peace Corps says that his organization can help narrow the global have vs. have not gap by helping people learning how to use computers. Also, the U.S. Army intends to make increasing use of the Internet in recruiting.

The workplace generation gap (Thursday, 4/20/00)
Columnist Diane Stafford finds that younger people in a new work situation have different perceptions of "loyalty" than the older generation which was formed by the old industrial economy. Meanwhile, Houston Chronicle columnist Jim Barlow tells about how his readers responded to his recent piece on keep valued workers.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality (Thursday, 4/20/00)
Once upon a time, 1984 seemed far in the dangerous future. Then, 2001 loomed on the horizon. After next year, we'll be looking in the rear view mirror at both years, but how about the things they were intended to represent? Orwell's fears haven't materialized, and, in fact, the year he selected for his book's title turned out to be the year the Macintosh computer was released and personal computers generally seemed to be countering the sort of centralization of power that many people feared from the post-modern period. Critics of the IMF and the World Bank see an increasingly centralized global economic system, while others emphasize the inherently decentralized nature of the Internet and its growing importance in the world's infrastructure. Speaking of hi-tech, remember "HAL" in 2001? If you wonder how the bossy computer's name was arrived at, just check the letters in the alphabet that follow each of the letters in Hal's name. Now that 2001 is nearly here, how real is Hal? How real can she/he/it be? Here's an online version of a 1996 book edited by David Storck and published by MIT press. It's Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality.

Jiang tours Israeli hi-tech industries (Wednesday, 4/19/00)
The President of China is finishing up a six-day visit to Israel aimed at broadening the relationship between the two countries, particularly their economic relationship. Here are more details from Ha'aretz.

More post-mortem on the D.C. protest (Wednesday, 4/19/00)
Leo Rennert thinks that many protesters of the IMF and World Bank meetings are aiming their resentment at some of the wrong targets.

Hutchinson makes cuts (Wednesday, 4/19/00)
A leading hi-tech company finds that demand for its products is a little flaccid, so it's cutting back its workforce by about 15 percent. Huchinson Technology is about to lay off 950 workers. Another industry may lose jobs, in this case, to the Internet. More people are booking travel online, and that may mean fewer travel agents before long.

Discrimination alleged at Coca-Cola (Wednesday, 4/19/00)
Eight African-American employees have filed a discrimination lawsuit, and supporters are attempting to make themselves heard at Coke's annual meeting.

Clinton on the great divide (Wednesday, 4/19/00)
President Clinton spoke to an audience of hi-tech industry insiders yesterday at COMDEX in Chicago, saying that he's worried about the growing "digital divide" and would like to see the technology industry help close the gap. If poorer citizens manage to acquire a computer, presidential candidate Bush would like for them to have some place to use it. George W. has proposed a $1.7 billion plan for helping to increase home ownership among the nation's poor.

The debate over OSHA's proposed national ergonomics standards (Wednesday, 4/19/00)
Kansas City Star columnist Diane Stafford explains how ergonomics has gone so quickly from being an arcane topic to a subject of great interest to people in millions of American work sites.

How do Australians see themselves? (Wednesday, 4/19/00)
While many North Americans may see Australians as being upside-down, how do they see themselves? John Vinocur writes from Sydney in the Paris-based International Herald Tribune.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Designated Teacher Shortage Areas (Wednesday, 4/19/00)
A serious national shortage of teachers is building very rapidly. Designated Teacher Shortage Areas tracks the shortages. Education Week is in the process of building a national database to help teachers and school districts with shortages to find each other. The database should be ready by September, they say. A study released by the Department of Education last year predicted that American education will need 2 million new teachers will be needed during the next ten years in the United States.

Follow the bouncing ball (Tuesday, 4/18/00)
Tech stocks have bounced back, but the ball may still be in play, so expect more ups and downs. Anthony Hughes reports in the Sydney Morning Herald that Friday's speculative tech stock deflation has radiated all the way over to the underside of the globe, greatly affecting Australian shares. Tom Allard worries that Wall Street's woes in the U.S. might affect the American economy as a whole, which could have an even more disruptive effect on other economies, including Australia's. Japan's political leaders have similar concerns, particularly now that the Japanese economy has begun a tentative, perhaps easily disrupted recovery. Also, in Japan, where work violence has not been as prevalent as in the U.S., the stresses of unemployment are taking their toll. A former Suntory worker has shot a man, a woman, and himself.

Has the new economy suddenly become old and obsolete? (Tuesday, 4/18/00)
Annette Sampson provides an analysis of the tech stock roller-coaster and advises a well-considered reality check. Investors still seem to believe that the Internet is going to be nearly as important as the invention of written language or agriculture. Problem is, you can't invest in "the Internet." You must invest in individual companies, and to say that it isn't clear which Internet startups will survive for the long-haul and which will be gone by this time next year is one of the decade's leading understatements. So, investors take a wild throw, and hope they're buying stock in a few companies that will be among the survivors.

The highly speculative period may be over, though, and investors begin to insist that their shares represent something they regard as having genuine value, rather than simply hoping somebody else will be even more enthusiastic and want to raise their price. In the long run, a business' value depends on its ability to produce profits, because it cannot continue in business without capital, and profit is the cost of capital plus the cost of risk.

However, in the new economy, for the short-term, at least, other things can add value to a company as well, including brand recognition, domination of a market niche, and so on. Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, a rapidly growing company that does a lot of business but hasn't produced profits yet, has taken advantage of the speculative period to occupy territory, much as one would try to do in a land rush. When people rushed into Oklahoma Territory to grab land, it would still be quite a while before anyone would make money from the land newly occupied. Still, it would quickly become clear that those who controlled the land would be the eventual producers and profit-makers. The analogy isn't perfect, of course, because there is a finite amount of land, but not a finite amount of "Internet space."

Workers begin to jump overboard and swim for more stable vessels (Tuesday, 4/18/00)
For quite a long time now, workers have been leaving "old economy" corporations in order to join Internet startups. However, an increasing number of people are trying to go back.

Is the anxiety over globalization realistic or a neurosis? (Tuesday, 4/18/00)
Business Week examines the motivation behind the large-scale protests in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, as well as those that are likely to come. Meanwhile, editorial writers at the Minneapolis Star Tribune are scratching their heads, wondering why protesters aren't on the other side of the argument? Across town, the St. Paul Pioneer Press' Jane Bussey and Ken Moritsugu, who are actually writing from Washington, say the leaders of the IMF and World Bank, though they say they have been listening, seem fairly inflexible. Still, this Washington Post piece asserts that protesters have managed to broaden the set of issues that those in the formal meetings have had to consider. Joseph Kahn and John Kifner of the New York Times write that, in a show of sensitivity, world trade leaders have pledged to step up efforts to combat the spread of AIDS.

Inflation appears on the horizon somewhere off the coast of Western Europe (Tuesday, 4/18/00)
What to do about growing inflationary pressures in Britain? Business Week reports on the dilemma faced by the Bank of England.

New contract for Chicago janitors (Tuesday, 4/18/00)
A new three-year contract has been ratified by thousands of janitors who work in downtown Chicago. Meanwhile, janitors in Los Angeles remain out on strike, and Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times writes about the stark contrast between janitors in Silicon Valley and some of the other people who work there. Moreover, things are made even more difficult for people on the lower end of the economic scale because the cost of housing and other necessities has been driven into the stratosphere.

Illegal immigrants and the people they have to watch out for (Tuesday, 4/18/00)
Illegal immigrants in the United States not only have to keep an eye out for INS officials, they also need to be skeptical of people who say they're going to help them. Here are some details of a scam in Colorado.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Germany and Japan: The Future of Nationally Embedded Capitalism in a Global Economy (Tuesday, 4/18/00)
How are the world's second and third-largest economies responding to pressures to become part of a new global economy? Scholars from several countries are studying these issues as part of a project sponsored by the Max Planck Institute. Here's Germany and Japan: The Future of Nationally Embedded Capitalism in a Global Economy.

Rain, more police reduce protesters' impact in D. C. (Monday, 4/17/00)
Protesters have showed up in large numbers in Washington, this time D. C., rather than Seattle, but it doesn't appear to be a replay of the "battle in Seattle," and IMF representatives have been a able to conduct meetings despite efforts to interfere on the part of persons opposed to globalization. The World Bank started meeting early today as well, also likely thankful for the rain and police reinforcements throughout key parts of the American capital.

A new report funded by the United Nations serves to strengthen the case of some protesters concerned about how a dramatic increase in world trade levels might further threaten global ecosystems. Many are greatly concerned about the global have vs. have not gap, but don't see an effort to raise everybody to American levels of consumption as a solution. Less materialism and conspicuous consumption, rather than more, might prevent the earth from suffering a final paroxysm within a few generations, they think.

Meanwhile, another study finds that American college students aren't necessarily trying to look at the very big picture, but, instead, seem to be focusing on their own material futures. A survey conducted by Jobtrak.com finds that more than half of American collegiates expect to be rich by the time they are only about twice their present ages. Finally, a general slowing of global trade liberalization since the Seattle non-meetings has been frustrating Asian countries which are turning to regionalization as an alternative to globalization.

Are the two Koreas on their way to become one again? (Monday, 4/17/00)
South Korea's president says his government will push ahead on its economic reform agenda, but also wants bipartisan support for the upcoming summit with North Korea. He might also like skeptical business leaders to come on board. Meanwhile, around the world, newspapers are editorializing about the possibility of Korean reunification before long, now that the ice seems to have been broken. What has seemed rock-solid can suddenly dissolve, if conditions are right, so stay tuned.

Next year's grads will face a friendlier job market in Japan (Monday, 4/17/00)
Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun reports that grads next year are likely to find a more favorable job market as additional evidence of Japan's gradually improving economic picture.

If your stocks collapsed, you may not feel blessed, but... (Monday, 4/17/00)
It could be a blessing in disguise for the overall economy, which, despite the teeth-rattling shakeup on Wall Street, is still quite sound. Here are some more thoughts along these lines from today's Washington Post. All this is not to say that individuals and individual companies will not suffer. In fact, Steve Lohr thinks the decline of tech stocks may mark the beginning of a Internet company shakeout from which only the strong and nimble may survive.

The "sandwich generation" (Monday, 4/17/00)
Maurice Elias writes about the stresses of the generation with responsibilities for children as well as aging parents.

Nurses organize in greater numbers (Monday, 4/17/00)
Increasingly, nurses are unionizing. Jeff Donn reports that health care costs are putting the squeeze on nurses and escalating the level of labor conflict involving health professionals.

Empty slots at American casinos (Monday, 4/17/00)
Not slot machines, but job slots. Here's George Lane's Denver Post report on the labor shortage across Colorado casinos. The American military is facing similar difficulties in its officers' ranks, as younger officers retreat from military life in very large numbers.

The importance of getting everybody on the Internet (Monday, 4/17/00)
The Internet changes everything, as they say, and, before long, everything will be connected to everything else...except for those who are left out entirely, that is. President Clinton doesn't want any Americans to be left out, because the have vs. have not gap will be determined largely by access to information and information technologies from now on.

For instance, the first Americans are also the poorest, as a group, and many lack access to telephone service, which means they also lack access to the Internet in its current wired form. Clinton wants to see better telephone service plus computers for native Americans, and he's enlisting the assistance of a number of hi-tech corporations in the effort. Meanwhile, Greg Griffin of the Denver Post writes about a group of businessmen who are doing their best to bring poor areas of the world into the Internet age.

Incidentally, the nature of computers as well as the nature of the Internet can be expected to change dramatically over the new few years. Expect an increasing number of more specialized computing devices and processor chips in just about everything. Also, expect the Internet to become increasingly wireless at all levels. In related news, Joel Ackerman reports on the Internet's impact on the health care community, while Dan Eggen says that age is no barrier to going online. Finally, Hillel Italie tells about how public libraries are being transformed, in large part because of the hi-tech/info revolution.

A thoughtful examination of e-commerce (Monday, 4/17/00)
Today's Wall Street Journal contains a special section on e-commerce in all its aspects. Many articles, and, as usual, all worth reading.

The decline of the business uniform (Monday, 4/17/00)
In the old industrial economy, it was sometimes helpful to organize a business along paramilitary lines. However, the new economy is characterized by flexibility and diversity, and this is showing up in the way people dress for work as well. Formality and standardization are on the way out in many places.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: MSMONEY (Monday, 4/17/00)
Get your finances in order by spending only a couple of minutes per day, they say, with the help of MSMONEY, a new financial site for women.

Clinton attempts to calm fears (Sunday, 4/16/00)
President Clinton wants Americans to know that he doesn't expect the big Wall Street drop last week to mean that the overall American economy will be developing fundamental trouble. He expects a good year ahead, including solid growth without a significant problem from inflation. The Treasury Secretary also expects that inflation will not become a problem, and that the longer-term prospects for the American economy continue to be strong. However, various experts are saying that the tremendous loss of stock values could result in a cooling of consumer enthusiasm, and, thus, a frosty American economy, even to the point of recession. Scott Thurm of the Wall Street Journal says that there is more agreement on how the stock sell-off will be affecting Silicon Valley itself during the immediate future. The river of cash that has been fueling hi-tech enterprises won't be flowing as rapidly for a while, and many tech workers in the thousands of companies between San Francisco and San Jose, who have been relying on their generous stock options, will be focusing on their much more modest salaries. And, if you're an investor, fasten your safety belt, says Aaron Zitner of the Boston Globe. The roller-coast ride isn't over.

IMF determined to hold meetings despite protesters (Sunday, 4/16/00)
Meetings are continuing at the International Monetary Fund headquarters today, even though large numbers of protesters are gathered outside. Many downtown Washington streets have been blocked by protesters, and 600 of them have been arrested. Columnist David Crane writes that some protesters might be wishing that others would have stayed home. There are a great many different kinds of groups congregating in the streets of D.C. today, and some regard themselves as more serious than others, thinking that their credibility might become tarnished by some others whom they regard as loonies. From Manila, Thomas Crampton writes for the International Herald Tribune about why leaders of the Asian Development Bank don't expect major organized protests when they have their meeting in Thailand in May.

No acceleration of debt write-off (Sunday, 4/16/00)
The G7 didn't announce any plan yesterday for stepping up the forgiveness of debts owed by poor nations. The world's richest nations did agree that more effort is needed to bring world economic growth into greater overall balance.

Why Angola isn't the richest country on the vast African continent (Sunday, 4/16/00)
Blaine Harden of the New York Times explains from Luanda why Angola's vast oil reserves haven't helped its poor, despite a small overall population.

Broder examines the implications of the janitors' strike in L.A. (Sunday, 4/16/00)
The famed Washington Post columnist writes that a look at the reasons for the janitors' strike in Los Angeles brings some of the new economy's contradictions and disparities into focus. Meanwhile, Boston Globe columnist Diane Lewis tells about small business operators who are trying to pay their employees a livable wage and still stay in business. Part of the problem, of course, is that they may be competing against companies that aren't making a similar effort.

Who could possibly be unenthusiastic about the high-level meetings between the two Koreas? (Sunday, 4/16/00)
Many South Korean business leaders, that's who. Don Kirk offers an explanation from Seoul.

Indonesia to get some help (Sunday, 4/16/00)
The IMF agreed Friday to provide some support for Indonesia's efforts to repair its troubled economy. It all depends on reforms that the Indonesian government intends, but some observers are still skeptical. Indonesia was hit hard by the Asian financial storm that spread over the region a couple of years ago, and their problems were exacerbated by a variety of fundamental political difficulties.

One unexpected way in which the IRS has changed its ways (Sunday, 4/16/00)
According to research from Syracuse University, last year was the first time that poor taxpayers were more likely to be audited than rich ones.

Work climate at many Internet companies may be TOO casual (Sunday, 4/16/00)
Melinda Ligos of the New York Times expects that a wave of sexual harassment suits may soon sweep over many "new economy" startups.

Whitman urges Clinton to sign Republican tax-cut legislation (Sunday, 4/16/00)
The Governor of New Jersey is trying to persuade the President to sign a Republican-sponsored bill that would eliminate the "marriage penalty."

Protection against thieves within (Sunday, 4/16/00)
John Benedict has some advice for business leaders who want to prevent internal embezzlement.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Biographies of Women Mathematicians (Sunday, 4/16/00)
A strong sex bias persists in the technical occupations. Far more engineers, computer scientists, and other higher-level technical experts are male than female. If you think it is because women are inherently poor at technical pursuits, you may want to examine Biographies of Women Mathematicians from ancient through modern times, an ongoing project of the students at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia.

The difficulty of finding a place to talk (Saturday, 4/15/00)
Representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have congregated in Washington, D.C., but so have thousands of protesters, some encouraged by their success in disrupting the Seattle talks. Those opposed to globalization are a heterogeneous collection, many of whom may not have a great deal in common other than their feelings of antagonism, for their own respective reasons, toward the IMF and other international bodies. For instance a couple of people identifying themselves as vegetarians expressed their opposition to the World Bank in fairly direct and rude fashion yesterday, before being arrested. Many protesters are calling for cancellation of debt owned by some of the world's poorest countries, but, as the Toronto Star's David Crane writes, the wealthy countries have not been terribly responsive in providing debt relief. Edward Lotterman provides a brief history of the two main targets of protester wrath, and Jason Webb reports from Havana on the third-world summit that's been going on there. Finally, Sebastian Mallaby writes in today's Washington Post about progress toward a solution to the problem of sweatshops in poor countries, one of the issues of major concern to many persons protesting globalization.

The Fed hasn't changed its mind on its approach to cooling the American economy (Saturday, 4/15/00)
The dramatic events of the past few days aren't likely to change the Federal Reserve's strategy. Economists on Wall Street expect the Fed to continue raising interest rates gradually. In addition to a strong increase in the Consumer Price Index, sellers have greatly outnumbered buyers in the equities markets. Losses have been of historic proportions, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars of investor wealth. Thomas Mulligan of the Los Angeles Times describes the worst Wall Street downer since 1987, while Hiawatha Bray writes in today's Boston Globe that the financial blood bath has injured the "new economy," but has left it alive. Will the hot American economy cool quickly now? Floyd Norris of the New York Times offers some opinions on this question.

Agreement on appealing denial of care (Saturday, 4/15/00)
If your HMO refuses to provide a particular treatment, you may have an appeals process available soon. Robert Pear of the New York Times writes about an agreement reached by the Senate and House.

The "last plantation" (Saturday, 4/15/00)
Black farmers are saying that, despite their winning a class action suit against the United States Department of Agriculture, racism and discrimination persist in the USDA's dealings with minority farmers.

Foreign students in Japan seek part-time employment, often without success (Saturday, 4/15/00)
Jobs haven't been plentiful in Japan lately, given that country's worst recession since the end of the Second World War. But, things are particularly hard for foreign students wanting to work part-time while they study.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Basics of Saving and Investing: A Teaching Guide (Saturday, 4/15/00)
Here's some advice: Don't buy high and sell low. For more than that, here's a teaching guide from the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. and the National Institute for Consumer Education.

A chill in the air? (Friday, 4/14/00)
After basking in the economic sunshine for so long, a change of seasons may finally be on the way. Knut Engelmann reports that consumer prices increased markedly in March. The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index rose 0.7 last month, and experts are saying this will probably mean still-higher interest rates as well as less enthusiasm on the part of investors. If hi-tech really has been driving the strong American economy, there is reason for concern about the dramatic drop in tech stock prices during recent days. Among the losers has been the richest man in the world, on the 25th anniversary of his company, whose net worth has declined by about as much as the total net worth of the third-richest person in the world. Paul Sheehan of the Sydney Morning Herald reports on the stunning decrease in value of Australian Internet stocks during the past two weeks, showing that it's not an exclusively American phenomenon.

As the Internet balloon deflates, people working for online startups are beginning to get a little nervous about their jobs, as well. Mike Hughlett of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on the recent increase in the rate at which layoffs have been occurring in non-dot-com companies. However, these do not necessarily represent a coming slowdown of the economy. During much of the decade of the 1990s, staff reductions have been part of the increased use of technology in order to produce greater efficiencies and higher productivity. Also, the new economy has been characterized by a good deal of turbulence and churning with hiring and firing going on at a rapid rate as companies have attempted to achieve higher degrees of flexibility, including a "just-in-time" workforce.

Marriage penalty bill hits barrier (Friday, 4/14/00)
Republicans have been trying to get a $248 billion tax cut bill through the Senate which would eliminate the "marriage penalty," but Democrats have been standing in the way, saying that insufficient consideration has been given to the bill's likely impact on the economy as a whole. Senate Republicans are trying to rush things, they say. Speaking of taxes, David Francis of the Christian Science Monitor says you're probably paying a lower rate this year than you did nearly two decades ago.

Women advance a bit toward full equality in Egypt (Friday, 4/14/00)
Howard Schneider reports that a new law in Egypt makes it easier for women to get a divorce. Overall, though women across the Islamic world have a long way to go before achieving full legal and economic equality.

Labor Department wants more info to aid its anti-discrimination effort (Friday, 4/14/00)
Federal contractors are being asked for additional information about the people they're hiring, and some are suspicious of where this may lead. Here's more from Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post. Meanwhile, another federal government agency is trying to overcome its own fairly dismal history of bias and discrimination. Minority farmers have complained for years about the Department of Agriculture's policies which have put them at an unfair disadvantage, they say. The Ag Secretary will announce the firing of a number of department personnel as well as the disciplining of others, but specific details aren't likely to be included in the report this month. And, would a President George W. Bush be biased toward gays in his administration? Not in the least, the candidate says, following a meeting with a gay political group. He would not hesitate to appoint gays to key positions in his administration, he says.

FedEx drivers implicated in drug ring (Friday, 4/14/00)
Drivers were bribed so that their trucks could be used to transport illegal drugs, according to the DEA.

The pros and cons of globalization (Friday, 4/14/00)
The President of the United States as well as officials of the International Monetary Fund insist that a free trade and globalization are the best ways to improve the lives of impoverished millions across the globe. And, while you've heard of G7, the richest industrial countries on earth, how about G133? Representatives of many of the world's poorest nations have been meeting in Havana, and many of them share a different view of globalization and its consequences for their countries. E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post believes that the critics of globalization who have been congregating in Washington have a point on some issues, and their questions are ones that should be asked, not dismissed casually. Finally, Reginald Dale writes in the International Herald Tribune about how...and why...the United States is under increasing attack, not only by Fidel Castro, but also by many long considered to be its friends. Anti-Americanism is on the rise in many regions, including Europe.

The Social Security earnings test is gone, but what else can be done? (Friday, 4/14/00)
Congress is trying to find additional ways to keep older workers in the workforce longer, in order to help ease the labor shortage. Workers of all ages are more likely to stick with their employers in Texas, even if they feel that they're being mistreated, according to a new study conducted by Walker Information and the Hudson Institute.

The mediators will be called in at United (Friday, 4/14/00)
United Airlines and its pilots have failed to reach agreement on a new contract, so they're calling on mediators for help. In other airline labor news, baggage handlers have gone on strike at Portugal's five international airports.

AFT wants new standards for teachers (Friday, 4/14/00)
Possibly in an effort to head of a movement that could take quite a lot of control of their own profession out of the hands of educators, the American Federation of Teachers has reversed course and is now calling for rigorous testing to improve the overall quality of teachers in American classrooms.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Foreign Languages for Travelers (Friday, 4/14/00)
Business travelers are swarming over the globe continually, and globalization can only accelerate this process, even though it is far faster and less expensive to move information now than to move people. Still, if you would like to learn some survival words and be understood wherever you are, Foreign Languages for Travelers can help with 70 languages, including pronunciations on their web site.

Is inflation about to awaken from its long slumber? (Thursday, 4/13/00)
Alan Greenspan has been accused of being phobic about inflation, but a phobia is an irrational fear. His concerns may be perfectly rational indeed, and other economists see price pressures building.

Not all familiar laws of economics have been repealed (Thursday, 4/13/00)
There seems to be a growing consensus that the "new economy" really is fundamentally different from the old in some interesting ways, but it's still grounded in the same universe. For instance, while enthusiasm and a special game of "chicken" can inflate the stock values of Internet companies for a time, sooner or later, even these firms must actually produce a profit. Peter Howe writes about the new report from Forrester Research of Cambridge, which says that the air that's been let out of technology stocks very recently is only the beginning. Despite the presumed efficiencies that can come from doing business online, the barrier to entry isn't all that high, which means that both consumers and investors have a lot of choices. Expect a big shakeout very soon, the researchers say. Expect half of the e-commerce sites to be gone by the end of next year. Former political science professor, syndicated columnist, ABC News commentator, and baseball's leading fanatic, George Will, has some thoughts about tech stocks and recent market gyrations.

Asian flu eradicated? (Thursday, 4/13/00)
Even persons with fairly short memories will recall the frequency with which we pointed to press reports about spreading financial crises in Asia and elsewhere not so long ago. But, time moves on, and, as the Christian Science Monitor's David Francis writes, the global economy is in better overall shape than it's been for years. Across Asia itself, the tourism sector is among those that have been rebounding nicely, according to this International Herald Tribune story. International Monetary Fund officials seem pleased with the way things have been going in the world and expect solid overall growth, but agree with Alan Greenspan that the American economy is beginning to overheat and can be a hazard for the rest of the world. Not everybody's happy, though. In fact, Howard LaFranchi writes from Mexico City about disquiet among Andean countries that think globalization has worked to their disadvantage. Another discouraging word comes from economist Joseph Stiglitz currently of the Brookings Institution. Toronto Star columnist David Crane reports on why the former World Bank chief economist thinks the IMF and US mishandled the Asian financial crisis.

The growing economic impact of AIDS (Thursday, 4/13/00)
Why on earth would an organization like the World Bank be concerned about a disease? John Burgess reports that the AIDS epidemic has reached such proportions that it is interfering with efforts to assist economic development in some countries. The World Bank is calling for a tougher and more effective fight against it.

Maintenance manager reassigned at Alaska Airlines (Thursday, 4/13/00)
In the wake of the crash of one of Alaska Air's planes, 64 mechanics report having been under pressure from their supervisor to "cut corners" on maintenance. The supervisor has been given a new job.

Working Japanese women step out of their traditional roles and assert themselves in the work world (Thursday, 4/13/00)
Yasushi Sato writes in Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun that male-dominated Japan, Inc. is under fire from working women, another sign that the economy that is beginning to emerge from Japan's deepest post-war recession will be quite different from the economy that the country had going into the big slump. Traditions are losing their grip.

Congressional Republicans outline prescription drug plan (Thursday, 4/13/00)
In an election year, both major parties would like to be able to take credit for helping Medicare recipients gain more affordable access to prescription medications. Joanne Kenen reports that Republicans in the House of Representatives are developing a plan, but the fine strokes haven't been painted in yet.

Say only what you wouldn't mind the boss hearing (Thursday, 4/13/00)
Nancy Riovera Brooks writes in the Los Angeles Times about the common employer policy of keeping track of how employees are using technologies on the job. The privacy rights you may presume are yours at home don't extend to a setting owned by your employer when you're using equipment also owned by your employer. Why should your boss care what you do or say on the telephone or on the Internet? You may be wasting time that he's paying for, for one thing, but he may also be very concerned about his legal liabilities. He could get sued over what YOU are doing.

In a sweat about sweatshirts (Thursday, 4/13/00)
Many American college students see themselves as providing moral instruction to their elders, some of whom run universities. Here's Mary Beth Marklein's USA Today story about the spreading campus movement against selling merchandise produced by sweatshop labor.

House committee votes to make tech visas unlimited (Thursday, 4/13/00)
The legislation may not be what it appears to be, though, according to American Business for Legal Immigration, and organization that wants to see more H1-B visas. Meanwhile, on the Senate side, a bill has been passed that would enable many hourly workers to receive stock options as parts of their employment packages.

Reports about Hong Kong's still-free press may have been exaggerated (Thursday, 4/13/00)
Mark Landler writes from the former British colony that Beijing has told Hong Kong's press in no uncertain terms that they cannot report freely on "separatist ideas" in relation to the mainland's conflict with Taiwan. The truly addicted among our readers may recall that several years ago, before the handover, we quite frequently pointed to stories in Hong Kong newspapers. We seldom do so any longer, and this is the reason. You can be absolutely sure that the Chinese press will accurately report exactly what the Chinese government wants it to report.

Trouble is, the boundary between China's press and Hong Kong's press has become increasingly blurred, and, no matter what it says on a Hong Kong paper's masthead, you know who's really in charge. Too bad too, because Hong Kong remains an important economic force in Asia. What about China itself? Even Richard Nixon, who build a political career on his opposition to Communism, felt that the world could not long tolerate the isolation of one-quarter of the world's population, so he opened the door to China and drank tea with Mao. The current administration is well-aware of China's human rights abuses, but also feels that the world will be better off if trade relations between the US. and China are normalized. Many disagree, and 10,000 of these persons descended on the American Capitol yesterday to make their view clear and unambiguous.

A tilt from print toward electronic publishing (Thursday, 4/13/00)
The Journal of Commerce has been covering business in the United States since the year after Thomas Jefferson died. However, as a sign of the times, it will stop publishing a daily print edition, but will continue daily coverage on its web site. The print version isn't disappearing entirely, though. It will become a weekly magazine.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Columbia Journalism Review (Thursday, 4/13/00)
We're all about life and work in the new economy, and, of course, that includes people who work in journalism. And, because we're part of the "new journalism," it's important to check in now and then with those thoughtful persons who have something to say about how the craft is practiced in the new as well as the conventional media. For instance, maybe we shouldn't deliberately ignore the AP Style Manual, but, for the most part, we do, and for our own reasons. One of the best sources for anyone interested in the practice of journalism is the Columbia Journalism Review from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Aetna decides to remove physicians from a conflict of interest situation (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
Aetna has decided to settle a lawsuit that alleges that participating physicians have been offered cash incentives for limiting costly care, which many have regarded as a amounting to a blatant conflict of interest and a fundamental betrayal of the healer's professional obligation to his/her patients. Observers are saying that the settlement could have widespread implications for managed care generally. Here's more from George Lardner of the Washington Post. As additional evidence that the system hasn't been working and often places dedicated professionals in an intolerable moral dilemma, a survey conducted by the American Medical Association finds that four out of ten American physicians acknowledge that they frequently lie to insurance companies in order to provide patients with the treatment they need.

Meanwhile, the fact that more than 30 million persons lack access to health care and 20 percent of children in the wealthiest nation ever to occupy space on planet Earth live in poverty is beginning to get the attention of at least some political leaders. Candidate George W. has made two recent health care proposals, including a $4.3 billion plan to strengthen the safety net for the neediest Americans, as well as a plan for helping the working poor.

Workers exposed to radiation to receive $400 million (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
Workers in the American nuclear industry were exposed to radiation that has resulted in a high incidence of major illness over the years since. The federal government has decided to compensate those persons who have been affected. The total bill will be at least $400 million.

Harbingers of things to come? (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
People who would like to disrupt the IMF-World Bank meetings held two demonstrations in Washington yesterday, but they were peaceful. The Christian Science Monitor's Ron Scherer compares today's protesters with those of a generation ago.

Improved training is the key, according to Greenspan (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
The continued vitality of the American economy will depend on the ready availability of high-level skills, and these will require a major national commitment to training. On this issue, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is not alone in his opinion.

A call for a national strike over water (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
The largest union in Bolivia wants a national strike to protest a state of emergency imposed by the government following violent protests over a proposal to start charging for water. Here's the story from Carlos Quiroga, reporting from La Paz.

At times, survivors may envy the casualties (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
Much attention has been given to persons sliced loose from their careers because of downsizing, particularly if these persons are displaced after many years of work and shortly before they had intended to retire at a time when the job market may have lost some enthusiasm for workers of their generation. But, how about workers who are spared the ax? Well, there has been considerable evidence that survivors often have to pick up considerable slack left by the departed, meaning that they may be working longer and harder, and, while this has contributed to overall productivity increases in recent years, it also can increase job-related stress levels. New research from Finland finds that being a survivor on the job may mean increased vulnerability to illness. The loss of a feeling of control may be a contributing factor, the researchers say, and, in fact, research presented at the Society of Behavioral Medicine meeting in Tennessee finds a strong relationship between sense of control and stress on the job. As an example, earlier research has found that one of the most stressful occupations is that of secretary, because these folks are constantly having to react to things over which they have little control.

What to say about a worker everybody would like to see succeed in finding a different job (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
Columnist Kirstin Downey Grimsley advises a correspondent who might agree with Thumper, that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. However, in this case, if the individual is successful in finding a different job, it will be to everybody's relief, because it will mean that the individual will be gone, gone, gone. What to say? Tell the truth, and the individual probably won't move on.

Families split for a half century might tentatively hope for reunion now (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
For a couple of generations, Korean family members have been separated by a border that may as well separate different planets. However, as Doug Struck reports, the planned summit involving leaders of the two Koreas may offer some hope.

Evidence that the American press might not be dominated by liberals after all (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
A survey conducted by the Freedom Forum finds that American newsrooms have not welcomed minorities in large numbers, despite a quarter century effort on the part of some to diversify the population of persons who tell Americans what is going on and what it all means. In a somewhat related story, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has agreed to settle a discrimination-in-hiring suit.

Bank of Japan sees signs of improvement (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
The sun may not be setting on Japan's postwar economic "miracle" after all. A new report from the Bank of Japan finds numerous signs that things are getting better and that the country really is emerging from its worst recession since the devastation of World War II. It's still a slow process, though.

More on workers with special needs (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
Amy Lindgren continues her four-part series in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on workers with disabilities or special problems. This time, she focuses on persons with chronic illnesses.

Most passengers in Paris largely unaware that a strike has been going on (Wednesday, 4/12/00)
Four unions at two major French airports have been on strike for two days, but air traffic has continued mostly in a normal fashion. Agreement has been reached with three of the unions, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Many wom