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G7 leaders not alarmed (Monday, 4/30/01)
The top finance officers of the world's richest industrial economies seem to agree that the global economy remains fundamentally strong, despite the slowdown, and Secretary O'Neill of the U.S. says that growth is expected from now on. The emphasis at the G7 meeting seemed to be on finding ways to prevent problems in the future. The global economy will be much influenced by what happens to the American economy, and Vice President Cheney is still promoting the Bush tax cut as the best way to avoid recession in the U.S.

However, that may not be necessary, according to Ron Scherer, who says that there seems to be a growing consensus that the U.S. economy already has bottomed out and may be on its way back. The Bush administration still wants the tax cut, though, if for no other reason than Republicans tend to like to minimize taxes in order to give the private sector as much fuel as possible. At risk of oversimplification, it can be said that Republicans are more likely to prefer that society's needs, including the needs of the underprivileged, be provided through private investment and private action, while Democrats are more likely to prefer that more of society's needs to met collectively and supported by taxes.

IMF and Argentina getting together (Monday, 4/30/01)
Argentina's struggling economy needs help from the International Monetary Fund, and it appears that they are about to get it.

European drug company to lay off thousands (Monday, 4/30/01)
Swiss-based Roche is preparing to cut from 5,000 to 8,000 jobs, according to an Agence France-Presse report.

Mexican workers seek reparations (Monday, 4/30/01)
Mexican laborers brought to the U.S. during World War II have never received all of the pay owed to them, they say. Pam Belluck tells about the class action suits brought against both the American and Mexican governments.

Farmers from across the globe to meet in Australia (Monday, 4/30/01)
An international farming conference is scheduled for Canberra next month. Delegates from at least 70 countries are expected.

Protests expected tomorrow (Monday, 4/30/01)
Tomorrow will be May 1, and widespread protests inspired by globalization are expected in regions as widely separated as Australia, including Sydney , and Britain , including several locations in London.

Nurses' strike possible in the Twin Cities (Monday, 4/30/01)
Maura Lerner reports that 9,000 unionized registered nurses at 13 hospitals in the Twin Cities could end up on strike, although quite a lot lies ahead before that would happen. Still, negotiations haven't been going particularly well, and the present contract expires in a few weeks.

Incomes up (Monday, 4/30/01)
Personal incomes in the United States increased by 0.5 percent in March, according to new Commerce Department data.

Top business schools (Monday, 4/30/01)
Today's Wall Street Journal contains one of their special reports, this time on leading business schools. Several articles.

Building a company for credit (Monday, 4/30/01)
An innovative program at the University of Tennessee not only teaches students how to be entrepreneurs, but helps get them started with their own companies, although many tech dreamers are finding that their dreams are too expensive now, and that some innovations may have to wait for a more favorable venture capital climate. Glen Fest reports that the tech sector slowdown has resulted in something genuinely different. New computer science and engineering grads are learning that job offers made earlier and accepted are being rescinded. Meanwhile, many people who have already been working for Internet companies are seeking jobs in more conventional settings, which is providing additional competition for new grads in a tighter market. John Schwartz reports that a new documentary is about to hit the screen that will tell you about the bursting dot-com business bubble, in case you're unaware of it.

Reno thought the question of the wisdom of tariffs was settled long ago (Monday, 4/30/01)
But, he's on both sides of the current free-trade issue, he says. Here's Robert Reno's opinion piece. Reno writes for the highly-regarded Long Island publication, Newsday.

Growing unionization movement among graduate assistants (Monday, 4/30/01)
Being considered the next thing to slave labor at universities may have been part of the initiation ritual for each new generation of academics for years, but it is a tradition that may be on its way out. Leigh Strope tells about organization efforts on a growing number of American campuses.

Resistance to Ford's job evaluation procedures (Monday, 4/30/01)
Some employees at Ford Motor Company feel that criticism of their company's ranking system isn't quite enough, so they're filing suit. Meanwhile, in some companies, workers are blowing off steam in the direction of their employers on Internet message boards. Here's more from Reed Abelson of the New York Times.

Some jobs and their prospects (Monday, 4/30/01)
The Detroit Free Press offers a list of jobs that seem to be fairly hot at the moment, and tells about their educational requirements as well as likely pay levels, at least in Michigan.

Check out health coverage options before the pink slip arrives (Monday, 4/30/01)
Sheryle Kennedy says it's a good idea to do a little research in advance so that you'll know what your options are for continued health coverage in case you're laid off. And, if it happens that you are laid off, you certainly won't be alone. It may be a time to do a little reading, in fact. Here are some books that may offer valuable help.

Not a one-industry town (Monday, 4/30/01)
Today's Washington Post contains a special report on the D.C.-area's economy. Government isn't the only thing that's done there. In fact, as the Post's editorial writers point out in their introduction, the region's economy has gone through its greatest-ever transformation during the past five years, with the possible exception of the post-war building of the military-industrial complex.

Resume craftsmanship (Monday, 4/30/01)
Jennifer Bott passes along some advice from a marketing expert on how to create a resume that won't sink to the bottom of the pile and out of sight.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: O-Net Online (Monday, 4/30/01)
Examine occupations, their requirements, their prospects. Find the occupations that match your skills. Find related occupations you may not have considered. Do it all at O-Net Online.

G7 officials talking today (Saturday, 4/28/01)
Top finance officers from the seven richest industrial nations are talking today about possible ways of coping with the slowdown of the global economy.

Very large, but also pretty weak at the moment (Saturday, 4/28/01)
Edmund Andrews writes from Frankfurt for today's New York Times on how much the Europeans depend on the German economy and how much they're being held back by it.

The impact of globalization on Jordan (Saturday, 4/28/01)
Riad al Khouri writes in the Daily Star about Jordan's economy and why it may be more affected by globalization than any other economy in the Middle East.

Homes sweet homes (Saturday, 4/28/01)
Rena Singer reports from Ivory Park on how poor South African women have been helping themselves and each other by building homes.

Nobody's starting new projects in Hollywood these days (Saturday, 4/28/01)
The prospect of strikes that could largely shut down the factories that produce much of the world's entertainment led to furious efforts to stockpile shows for a while, but, as Gary Gentile reports from Los Angeles, sound stages are mostly empty now, as L.A. holds its breath. Strikes could cost the Los Angeles-area economy billions of dollars and also have a significant effect on the national economy, given that entertainment is one of America's larger exports.

A different kind of South American "general" (Saturday, 4/28/01)
He's a little like General Patton, and quite a lot like General Greenspan. He's SUPER-MINISTER! Moreover, Argentina is hoping that he will be able to awaken one of the largest economies in the Americas from its slumber. Here's a special report from today's Washington Post. Meanwhile, James Flanigan explains why $60 billion in foreign investment is flowing into Latin America this year, and what the new Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement will mean for the region's "fast track" development.

Layoffs at Comair (Saturday, 4/28/01)
In this case, the layoffs aren't because of a slowed overall economy, but because the airline has been hampered by a strike of its 1,350 pilots that has gone on more than a month.

Worker productivity likely to keep getting better, Greenspan says (Saturday, 4/28/01)
Recent productivity growth has taken a breather, but the Chairman of the Federal Reserve believes that it's only temporary. He might agree that the "new hi-tech economy" really isn't about dot-com companies, but, instead, mostly about how technology is influencing how work is accomplished throughout the economy. Increased efficiencies mean increased productivity, and that means an increased standard of living. The recent speculative bubble that resulted in a tremendous increase in wealth on paper followed by its sudden evaporation doesn't change the fundamentals. The American economy seems to be handing the reality testing and readjustment quite well, despite pain felt by many individuals. The speculative real estate bubble in Japan a few years ago left Japanese banks with a tremendous number of bad loans and contributed to a decade-long slump of the once mighty Japanese economy, and that country has been having more difficulty achieving a new equilibrium that will permit further growth.

Don't say that dirty 9-letter "R" word (Saturday, 4/28/01)
Columnist Susan Tompor suggests that slump means never having to say you're in a recession. The latest data are encouraging and suggest that a recession may be avoided. Will the "normal" business cycle be ones with slowdowns but without recessions from now on? Has the formerly bipolar economy been put on "lithium?" John Berry of the Washington Post says American consumer have themselves to thank for the unexpectedly strong growth during the first quarter of this year.

More same-sex domestic partners get health coverage (Saturday, 4/28/01)
Craig Bonnell reports for the Savannah Morning News on a trend that is gathering momentum across more and more corporations.

Economic therapist (Saturday, 4/28/01)
The American Economics Association is unaccustomed to giving a lot of attention to economic thinkers who like to incorporate psychological concepts into their models, but they're doing so now. Professor Matthew Rabin of the University of California at Berkeley is about to receive the Association's John Bates Clark medal.

Conventional economic theory assumes that, in their economic lives, human beings are both rational and selfish. Psychologists, on the other hand, know that people aren't always selfish, and that they're often not very rational at all. In fact, when they are rational, it may be mostly accidental. Computers are logical by their nature, but human beings aren't. Instead, it requires quite a lot of effort and usually some training to be logical about most things. Instead, people are fundamentally PSYCHO-logical, SOCIO-logical, and ANTHROPO-logical by their nature. They're probably economic by their nature too.

So, why have economic theorists insisted on assuming attributes that seem to represent an oversimplification, if not an outright distortion of human nature? It's certainly not because economists are stupid. In fact, the brightest economists are among the brightest people on the planet.

The question is not whether a model's assumptions are correct in every instance, but which assumptions will give the model's its greatest overall explanatory and predictive power. Certainly, if you have to choose, your model will be more accurate more of the time by assuming selfishness than by assuming altruism.

Economic theory attempts to make sense out of enormously complex systems in which millions of events have an influence, at least in principle. However, many factors tend to randomize out, and so, can be ignored. It's only when psychological information has become sufficiently precise as to contribute more precision to economic models that it should be included. In the judgment of some persons, after more than two centuries since Adam Smith, we're finally approaching that point.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Ananish Chaudhuri's Behavioral Economics Page (Saturday, 4/28/01)
Ananish Chaudhuri's Behavioral Economics Page is intended for a Washington State University professor's students, as well as members of the general pubic who are interested in accessing resources about behavioral economics.

No recession yet (Friday, 4/27/01)
The technical definition of a recession in the United States is two consecutive quarters of negative growth, so any recession that might come still has to be some distance in the future, because there hasn't been a first quarter of negative growth yet. The economy continued to expand during the first quarter of 2001, according the Commerce Department. Among other things, this means that the longest expansion in all of American history has passed the 10-year mark and appears to be continuing. In fact, the GDP numbers were stronger than expected. Moreover, wages and benefits increased during the first quarter more than they have a for a year. Still, Ken Moritsug reports from Washington that some experts believe the growth of the Gross Domestic Product during the first quarter may overstate the economy's actual performance, and Delta Airlines' chief expects the slowdown to continue into next year. Moreover, the number of first-time filers for unemployment benefits hit a high last week. Incidentally, speaking of Delta, Hannah Wolfson reports that flight attendants at the big airline have been encouraged by the pilots' new contact and are seeking union protection for themselves.

Making things worse in order to make them better (Friday, 4/27/01)
Stephanie Strom reports from Tokyo that the new Japanese government has a tough job, because nearly anything it can do to improve Japan's economic situation is likely to cause additional pain in the short-run and could plunge the Japanese economy into another genuine recession.

A win for Australia's "causal workers" (Friday, 4/27/01)
"Causals," which make up 27 percent of the Australian workforce, appear to have won the right to as much as 12 months' unpaid parental leave if they have worked for the same employer at least twelve months. Also in Australia, 200 vehicles will blockade Sydney next week to protest what are regarded by unions as loopholes in workers comp legislation.

More bubble bursting (Friday, 4/27/01)
The number of monthly dot-com layoffs nearly doubled from March to April, according Challenger Gray & Christmas of Chicago. Across the U.S., more than 17,000 people were laid off from Internet companies during the month of April alone, bringing the total since last November to 93,000. Layoffs continue in other sectors as well, and not just in the U.S. Unilever is merging with Bestfoods and has decided to make the cutting of 8,000 jobs part of the process. They already plan to cut 25,000 jobs over the next five years because of disappointing profits.

Nationally, workplace fatalities are down (Friday, 4/27/01)
Yesterday, we reported that workplace fatalities have increased recently in Arizona, but nationally, the trend has been in the opposite direction if you take the long view.

Working for energy companies too inconsistent and uncertain for many (Friday, 4/27/01)
L. M. Sixel reports that high energy prices right now aren't attracting as many people to the energy companies as one might expect.

At work yesterday, back in school today (Friday, 4/27/01)
Jilian Mincer reports on some girls who were among the daughters taken to work yesterday, and says that there is widespread agreement that girls need preparation for their years in the workforce. Still, some school officials wish that "Take Your Daughters to Work Day" wouldn't have to be on a school day.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Friday, 4/27/01)
By the Sweat and Toil of Children is a major report on the problem of child labor and efforts to eliminate it from the United States Department of Labor.

Holding steady (Thursday, 4/26/01)
The European Central Bank has decided not to follow the American Fed. Instead, it has left a key interest rate unchanged, despite urging to the contrary from many directions.

Bush urged to support Putin's reforms (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Americans doing business in Russia hope that the American president will support the Russian president's efforts to reform the Russian economy. Foreign policy and security issues should be kept separate, they say.

Condition critical, diagnoses the IMF (Thursday, 4/26/01)
International Monetary Fund officials believe that the global economy is in a critical phase requiring a high degree of policy coordination among nations.

What to do about all those bad loans in Japan? (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Banks need help from the government in getting rid of them so that the Japanese economy can move on, according to at least one U.S. economist. Here are details from Takeshi Yamawaki reporting from Tokyo.

Americans get less spendy (Thursday, 4/26/01)
So far, interest rate cuts haven't convinced a lot of Americans to spend more money. The Bush administration is hoping that a tax cut, perhaps retroactive to the beginning of the year, will do the trick. It reminds of the "fallacy of composition;" i.e., the assumption that what is good for the part is good for the whole. Holding back on spending may be a good idea for a family during a period of uncertainty, but when millions of families to it, it tends to produce the very conditions they are fearful of. The overall economy depends in large part on what consumers do.

Which economies are most competitive? (Thursday, 4/26/01)
According to a new study conducted by the International Institute for Management Development, the world's most competitive economies are those of Singapore and the United States.

Zimbabwe's economy in danger of collapse, according to business leaders (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Business people in Zimbabwe are saying that the country's economy has been worsening for quite awhile, and current political violence could finish it off. Here's more from Angus Shaw who reports from Harare.

Harassment scandal in the Marines (Thursday, 4/26/01)
At least 19 Marine Corps NCO's are accused of sexual harassment, and an investigation is underway.

Temps vulnerable to being cut (Thursday, 4/26/01)
When staff reductions occur, temporary workers are often the first to go, according to Karen Schill Rives of Raleigh's The News & Observer. Also, it appears that you're more vulnerable to layoff if you a member of a minority group as well. James Miller and Kelly Yamanouchi write about the surge in black unemployment last month, according to the latest Labor Department numbers. Finally, if anybody can put a good spin on joblessness, it should be PR professionals. However, as Greg Hassell reports, many in the Houston area have been losing their own jobs.

Gender shift in organized labor (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Women are joining labor unions in larger numbers than men, and union priorities are beginning to shift as a consequence.

Cuts at Morgan Stanley (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter will eliminate 1,500 jobs, most but not all in the United States.

U.S. incomes rose faster than inflation (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Despite the dramatic downturn during the second half of 2000, incomes rose faster than inflation in each of the 50 states during the year.

Don't expect to hear much if you're not among the chosen (Thursday, 4/26/01)
According to Joyce Cohen, job-hunting expert Richard Bolles says that if you're wondering why you were not chosen for that job you applied for, you're likely to have to keep wondering. Commonly, everybody but the winning candidate is ignored. So, time to push ahead. What can you do to improve your chances on the next job you'd like to have? Columnist Diane Stafford has some tips.

Blaming the poor for being poor? (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Duke Schempp isn't happy with "welfare reform" and believes that the time limits have been placed on the wrong things. He's responding to a March 29 editorial published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Unsung heroes at the top (Thursday, 4/26/01)
We've heard a lot of about corporate chiefs whose incomes reach stratospheric levels even when their companies aren't doing well. Do any of these people actually turn some of that money back? Absolutely, writes columnist Jerry Heaster. Here are some examples.

Work is getting more dangerous in Arizona (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Not that it isn't in other states as well, but, according to Arizona's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, workplace fatalities have been increasing. Here's more from Hal Mattern of the Arizona Republic.

Grocery workers ratify new contract (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Thirty-thousand grocery clerks and meat-cutters in the Seattle area will be affected by a new three-year contract that they have approved overwhelmingly.

Campus protests on behalf of campus workers (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Students at a growing number of famous U.S. universities believe that market forces shouldn't be allowed to determine what workers on the campuses are paid. Alan Krueger of the New York Times reports on organized protests on several campuses this spring.

American business schools go global (Thursday, 4/26/01)
Today's Washington Post reports on how a growing number of American business schools are expanding their operations overseas, while trying not to spread themselves too thin.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Centre for International Economics (Thursday, 4/26/01)
The Centre for International Economics is a private Australian company that performs economic analyses for clients around the world.

Koizumi has heard from voters; now he must hear from consumers (Wednesday, 4/25/01)
Japan's new prime minister's plans for revitalizing the Japanese economy will depend in large part on whether consumers have sufficient confidence to buy, buy, buy, or, for him, it may be bye-bye, just as for so many PMs during recent years. Mark Simkin, Paul Murphy, and Jun Saito write from Tokyo in today's Asahi Shimbun that only a day after the enthusiasm of a landslide victory, skepticism may already be setting in, suggesting one of the shortest honeymoon's in recent Japanese political history.

Some conditions under which lower interest rates probably won't make a difference (Wednesday, 4/25/01)
Sometimes businesses don't buy when they're being cautious about the future or don't like the high cost of "renting" somebody else's money, and lower interest rates can make them less cautious. However, another reason a business won't make purchases is if it already has all it needs. Robert Samuelson says there is a glut of tech equipment in the economy right now, particularly given the "fire sale" prices on some of the almost-new gear previously owned by bankrupt Internet companies, some of which weren't in business quite long enough for their circuits to warm up. The downturn in telecommunications and other parts of the tech sector could bring recession to the entire economy, he fears. Meanwhile Neela Manjeree of the New York Times says that high gasoline prices could also threaten the larger economic picture.

Friedman is right, to a point, writer says (Wednesday, 4/25/01)
Minnesota native Thomas Friedman has become, not only one of the New York Times' star columnists and a visible figure on all of the major TV talk shows, but also, in part because of his influential book, a spokesman for globalization. He believes that many of the protesters essentially don't know what they're talking about, but Michael Kelly of the Washington Post says that Friedman's right in some of his assertions as far as he goes, but he doesn't go far enough.

Canadian official feels that Europe could do more (Wednesday, 4/25/01)
Finance Minister Paul Martin isn't satisfied that Europe has been doing all it could do to help the global economy regain its momentum.

Still firing, but now also hiring (Wednesday, 4/25/01)
Lucent Technologies is one of the major companies that has been laying off a lot of people, but this report from Bangalore indicates that they intend to hire 500 engineers in India, suggesting a further shift of their operations across different areas of the globe. Also in India, Maria Abraham reports from Bombay that protesters have waged a one-day strike in order to express displeasure with their government's planned reforms.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: 21 Ideas for the 21st Century (Wednesday, 4/25/01)
Here are 21 Ideas for the 21st Century, a look at the future from Business Week.

Populist revolt produces "maverick" PM in Japan (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
Bold action is expected from Junichiro Koizumi, a popular Japanese politician, who will be the country next prime minister. Here's more on Koizumi's landslide win from the New York Times and Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun. Political leaders willing to take major risks are always working a tight wire without a net, but there are times when caution can be even more risky. Japan has been drifting lately, and little progress appears to have been made in getting its once-mighty economic engine throttled up. In the U.S., Abraham Lincoln was advised by his closest associates not to include the "house divided" reference in that famous speech, Hubert Humphrey was urged by Democratic Party elders not to make his famous 1948 civil rights speech at the party's convention, and Ronald Reagan was urged by his advisers not to include "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall" in his speech. In all cases, these bold leaders acted against advice and changed history.

Teachers to return to classrooms in Hawaii (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
An agreement was reached just hours before a federal judge could have intervened. The 19-day strike of Hawaii's public school teachers appears to be over.

All of Europe is nervous about Germany's economy (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
The numbers for March aren't good, indicating that Germany's huge economy is struggling, and that could mean more vulnerability across the continent to the global slowdown.

The Delta deal may still not be a done deal (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
Dan Reed reports that the agreement between Delta Airlines and the union representing its thousands of pilots may or may not be ratified if put to a vote. There are still widespread concerns about pay levels.

Compaq makes itself even more compact (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
Recently dethroned by Dell as the number one personal computer manufacturer, Compaq has decided to cut more jobs than announced previously. A total of 9,400 jobs will be cut worldwide.

The trouble with being Al (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
A lot of Americans have been experiencing ambivalent feelings toward the Federal Reserve chairman lately. Chris Lester explains why feelings about Greenspan have been running hot and cold lately.

Recruting is getting easier (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
The labor shortages of the hot 1990s have eased considerably in many sectors and regions. Mark Sappenfield of the Christian Science Monitor reports that it's no longer unusual for an opening to attract a very large number of applicants.

Controversy over school-to-work program (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
The benefits aren't clear from the outcome research, and there is argument about whether the program that puts high school students into practical work settings is paying off. Here's more from today's Washington Post.

It pays to listen to what girls are saying (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
Columnist Jilian Mincer has been paying attention to preteen conversation and developing some insights. For instance, what about girls who have no career ambitions but will almost certainly spend decades in the workforce?

Workers on the border appear to be benefiting from the U.S. economic slump...so far (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
Arthur Rotstein writes from Nogales, Mexico and explains. Meanwhile, Leslie Kaufman and David Gonzalez report from San Salvador on what may be inherent limits to how good things can get for workers in the third world who produce products bought by consumers in wealthy countries. Finally, Dawn House of the Salt Lake Tribune tells about the moral and emotional complications that can develop when very un-privileged people from the "third world" work as domestic staff for affluent Americans with whom they often develop close, personal relationships.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: OneWorld.net (Tuesday, 4/24/01)
OneWorld.net offers information and a point of view on issues relating to global justice, human rights, and sustainable development.

Agreement at Delta (Monday, 4/23/01)
Delta Air Lines has reached a tentative agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 10,000 Delta pilots.

Agreement in Quebec (Monday, 4/23/01)
Elected representatives of democracies from across the Americas have agreed to create the world's largest free-trade zone within a few years, and if you're not a democracy, you need not apply for membership. David Sanger of the New York Times reports on concerns with sovereignty, which we discussed in our lead story yesterday.

Instead of pink slips, maybe pink Post-It notes? (Monday, 4/23/01)
3M has been on several lists of the best companies to work for, but that's only if you can keep your job there. The company, which, despite common assumptions, even in the news media, is no longer named Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, but officially "3M Corporation," has joined the chorus of major companies intending to lay off workers. Here's more on 3M's 5,000 job cuts from USA Today. If you've been losing track, here's a summary of major-company layoffs from MSNBC.

Is substantive change coming to Japan? (Monday, 4/23/01)
Joseph Coleman reports from Tokyo that a man widely regarded as a reformer seems poised to become Japan's new prime minister. Will this be the start of Japan's long road back economically? We don't know either, but there does seem to be a need for trying something new.

Digging in at Harvard (Monday, 4/23/01)
Baby-boomers visiting Harvard's campus may momentarily believe that they've been transported back to the 1960s. This time, however, the sit-ins and live-ins have to do with the great university's not-so-great pay policies, in the view of the protesters, who are advocating that anyone who works for the university should receive a "living wage." They calculate this to be no less than $10.25 per hour.

Helping you relax about e-commerce (Monday, 4/23/01)
Well, if you're a prospective customer, that is. People who are trying to make a go of an e-commerce company will probably have to look elsewhere for relaxation, although if you're relaxed enough to place a lot of orders online, it will help some of them relax. Anyway, the Better Business Bureau and some of their European counterparts are trying to work up a new conduct code that is relevant to Internet business. Incidentally, the Wall Street Journal has a special report on e-commerce today. Many articles, all of the expected Journal quality.

All the migrant workers aren't in the fields (Monday, 4/23/01)
Some toil in the pastures of California, and they're wanting better pay and better working conditions. Here's more from Brian Melley reporting from the agricultural region of Mendota. Many immigrants would like to have better banking service too, as Dexter Filkins reports. The loan sharks of today may not be the folks you think, he says.

Helping thy neighbor (Monday, 4/23/01)
Dakota farmers who are in danger of drowning in a sea of debt are thrown a lifeline by people who can best understand their situations. Sharon Cohen reports from Enderlin, N. D. on how farmers are attempting to help each other.

It's time to cash in your czarist bonds (Monday, 4/23/01)
The Russian government apparently believes that there is no statute of limitations on debts incurred the by government that preceded communism, but fortunes have dwindled over the years.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: jobinga.com (Monday, 4/23/01)
jobinga.com may be a finalist in the "most specialized jobs site" sweepstakes. It's a jobs site for the gaming industry, and we think that means video games, Internet games, and so on, not gambling. Our calling attention to the site in this way implies that we don't expect more than a very small percentage of you to care, but it is an example of how, like NewWork News itself, the Internet can be used to serve specialized interests distributed over the entire globe. Incidentally, jobinga.com comes to you from the United Kingdom, but, in the new economy, it doesn't make much difference where it comes from or where we are, for that matter, because we and they are always right here on your screen.

Bush makes the case for a huge free-trade zone in the Americas (Sunday, 4/22/01)
There are many reasons to be nervous about any fundamentally new and relatively untried thing, including globalization. For instance, some of the same people who were vehemently opposed to international communism or ideas about "world government" during previous years are concerned about the loss of national sovereignty inherent in any international agreements in which a country may become involved. Just as personal freedom is reduced whenever an individual enters into a contract, a nation's freedom to do as it pleases is reduced by membership in treaties or alliances.

Others are concerned about the possibility that globalization benefits the rich countries (and individuals) much more than the poor, and, in fact, results in further exploitation of the poor. Still others are most concerned about the impact of higher levels of free trade on an already coughing and wheezing physical environment.

One can see why efforts to encourage greater globalization are opposed by a complex coalition of traditional "liberals" and "conservatives," as well as various kinds of political "conscientious objectors" or "agnostics." Still, given modern circumstances and the spectacular failure of various collectivist Marxist systems during the late 20th century, there may be few real alternatives to the spreading of economic freedom and more permeable international boundaries. President Bush seems to take this view, and he also appears to believe that free trade offers hope for the poor and politically oppressed who might otherwise have no hope.

Several years ago, in discussing the use of hi-tech in the American economy, we suggested that there was no real alternative, and that the technological revolution could not be turned back, just as a return to a pre-industrial, agrarian America was not an option. However, it is essential to bring everybody along into the new economy in order to avoid devastating have vs. have-not contrasts on a scale that might dwarf those that occurred during the early days of the Industrial Revolution and which helped give rise to political movements that destroyed the lives of enormous numbers of people during the bloody and oppressive 20th century.

Our view is that many of the supporters of globalization and free trade as well as many of their critics are both right. To argue that one must choose between more open boundaries, on the one hand, and the well-being of labor and the environment, on the other, assumes a false dichotomy. We must pursue both.

Fed won't be reluctant to cut again if necessary (Sunday, 4/22/01)
The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia says that further interest rate cuts will come if the American economy slows more. Some economists expect as many as two more cuts before the end of the year. John Berry of the Washington Post says that the head of the Fed has been suffering unaccustomed criticism lately from people who are annoyed at the Federal Reserve's role in slowing the American economy too much because of inflation fears that may not have been justified. Richard Stevenson of the New York Times says that Dick Cheney had his ear to the ground and picked up early indications that the economy was slowing, but, of course, as you know, some critics have said that the Bush team helped slow it by "talking it down" for political purposes.

For whatever reasons, the reality is that the American economy certainly has slowed down, and the IMF is forecasting slower growth for the year than it was expecting only a few weeks ago. The slump should be fairly short-lived, though, they're saying. American consumers are making their own predictions about how they're likely to be affected, and, as Linda Stern reports, a new frugality has set in, which can make expected slowness self-fulfilling. Columnist George Will also offers some perspective on these issues in his remarks about the rapid coming and going of $4 trillion in wealth.

French farmers want more governmental help (Sunday, 4/22/01)
They're demanding compensation for losses from lifestock diseases, but the protests this time are more peaceful than some in the past. Also in France, in Calais, sometimes referred to as the capital of resistance to globalization, 15,000 people protested job cuts yesterday.

Has the new economy gotten old again? (Sunday, 4/22/01)
It depends upon what you mean by "new economy." In the most proper use of that term, the economy is still very new indeed, and is likely to get newer and newer. David Leonhardt of the New York Times offers his views.

You may see a report about it on "60 Minutes" (Sunday, 4/22/01)
Robert Franklin writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota about the attention being drawn to alleged discrimination at the community's state-supported university. Speaking of discrimination, columnist Carol Klieman says job hopping can be beneficial to your career now, if you're white and male.

Privacy on the job (Sunday, 4/22/01)
You're probably being monitored at work, according to a new survey from the American Management Association.

Danger on the job (Sunday, 4/22/01)
Some jobs are far more dangerous than most people expect, as Lawrence Van Gelder reports.

And the new champion is... (Sunday, 4/22/01)
Now that Bill Gates is number 2, will he try harder? According to a newspaper report, Sam Robson Walton is now the richest man in the world.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Panel Study of Income Dynamics (Sunday, 4/22/01)
The famed Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan has been following the same national representative sample of families and individuals since 1968. Here's detailed information about the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Incidentally, this is a "longitudinal" sample, rather than a "cross-sectional" one, and, if attrition rates are low, as they have been in this case, longitudinal samples provide better control of extraneous variables than cross-sectional samples, but cross-sectional samples are far less expensive or difficult to obtain. Here's the difference: Suppose you want to study the relationship of chronological age to heart disease. A cross-sectional sample would involve going out and obtaining samples of 20-year-olds, say, as well as 30-year-olds, 40-year olds, and so on, then comparing people in these various age categories on some relevant measures of heart disease. A longitudinal sample would involve getting a sample of 20-year-olds and following the same people through the life-span, coming back to them at periodic intervals to check for heart disease.

Planned as well as relatively spontaneous unpleasantness in Quebec (Saturday, 4/21/01)
Quite a number of people in the streets of Quebec City disagree with the American president on free-trade issues, and their protests have disrupted meetings, according to this report from Deborah Charles. Bush intends to continue pushing for the creation of the world's largest free-trade zone at the summit, though, says David Sanger, but, as Ron Fournier argues, the President lacks authority to make some of the things he wants to happen happen. The Toronto Star's economics editor, David Crane, says that all the obstacles to a trade agreement across the Americas aren't in Quebec City's streets.

Hard times at yet another major corporation (Saturday, 4/21/01)
Profits almost disappeared at Honeywell last quarter, which is a bit dispiriting, not only for company executives, but also for the 6,500 people who will lose their jobs. Also, get ready to be placed on hold longer if you call NCR's customer service for assistance. Actually, this big Ohio-based company has 14,000 customer service workers, and most of them don't work on phones. Correction: NCR is cutting about 5 percent of those jobs, which amounts to between 600 and 700 customer service workers who will be looking for other employment.

Fear of recession vs. fear of inflation (Saturday, 4/21/01)
Robert McTeer, Dallas' Federal Reserve Bank chairman, says that the most recent interest rate cut indicates that the Fed considers recession a greater risk than inflation at the moment, but inflation isn't a dead deal.

Among the things that happen when you lock up a larger proportion of your citizens than any other modern industrial democracy (Saturday, 4/21/01)
It is in the nature of a democracy for politicians, even big-time politicians, to follow as much as they are able to lead. In modern America, they tend to pay attention to public opinion, however uninformed, and sometimes pander to it.

A few years ago, even though American crime rates had been declining for sometime, the polls were showing that many Americans seemed to believe, perhaps with encouragement from the "if it bleeds it leads" orientation of TV news, that crime really was on the increase, and dramatically so. As a consequence, many politicians decided it would be a good career move to call for getting "tougher on crime," even though some people thought it was time to get smarter, not tougher, and if tougher was to come, it should have come many years before. After all, if you're in need of surgery, you probably want a doctor who is very cool, very smart, very well-informed, not one who simply gets mad.

So, among other things, a "three strikes and you're out" policy came into being, which would eventually mean that many prison cells would become nonrenewable resources occupied by a lot of old guys with Alzheimer's and bad kidneys, rather than genuinely dangerous youths. It would also mean an exploding prison population that might place more financial strain on taxpayers than many had anticipated. It would also produce a serious staffing problem.

Now, Pam Belluck reports that a growing shortage of prison guards is leading to the fairly dangerous situation of having people barely out of high school put in charge in settings where a great number of older, more experienced people don't want to work. Stay tuned.

One-hundred-eighty thousand students can safely plan for a few more days at home (Saturday, 4/21/01)
Talks are resuming, but there is little optimism that a settlement of the statewide teachers' strike in Hawaii will occur anytime soon. Striking University of Hawaii faculty have already returned to their classrooms.

Who's in charge here? (Saturday, 4/21/01)
During the Clinton administration, there were questions about whether the President had more power than Fed Head Greenspan, and, given Dick Cheney's health scares, which aren't funny, there have been jokes going around about how George W. Bush is a "heartbeat from the presidency." There's a similar question about power concentrations in Argentina where a "super minister" has been given special authority to try to deal with the crisis in South America's largest economy, among other things, in order to keep it from spreading and depressing the entire region.

Childless workers seek parity (Saturday, 4/21/01)
If your company has been trying to make special arrangements to accommodate the needs of employees with children in order to make the place more family-friendly, expect workers without children to wonder if they're being placed at an unfair disadvantage. The Washington Post reports that many are demanding flextime and other benefits for themselves too.

What is the legitimate economic role of the state? (Saturday, 4/21/01)
Riad al Khouri writes in the Daily Star that this question is being debated in Jordan, which needs a much higher economic growth rate.

Sitting down on the job (Saturday, 4/21/01)
Jason Strait writes about workers who recline for a living at La-Z-Boy Inc.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Interactive Units Converter (Saturday, 4/21/01)
This site doesn't handle religious conversations, but you can get help here with most other kinds. Here's your handy Interactive Units Converter.

Tight security in Quebec City (Friday, 4/20/01)
The three-day summit opens in Quebec City where leaders from 34 countries in the Americas are getting together to confer about the development of a very large free-trade region. Many people don't like the idea, and quite a number of these are expected to protest the meeting in person. Don Evans isn't one of them. He writes in today's Washington Post that he favors free trade across the Americas, but editorial writers at the Minneapolis Star Tribune feel that the American president should push for the inclusion of social clauses which address the labor and environmental concerns of protesters and a lot of other people.

Your job is secure if you work for Cisco in China (Friday, 4/20/01)
Well, at least for the moment. Cisco Systems has announced the amputation of 8,500 jobs, but, it doesn't appear that any of these will be from the company's operations in China. As the overinflated tech sector loses air, more companies are laying off workers, and, among the big ones are Ericsson, which plans to cut another 12,000 jobs, Nortel, which will cut 5,000 jobs in addition to the thousands cut earlier, and Silicon Graphics, which will cut 15 percent of its workforce. Smaller companies are also cutting, and these include Tellabs, which is cutting 550 jobs and Sega, which will cut about a quarter of its workforce.

Does it all mean that hi-tech is losing its key place in the new global economy? Not hardly. It simply means that the economy is sobering up after a tremendous level of speculation that will go down in history with other euphoric spasms, such as Holland's tulip mania of the 17th century and Japan's real estate speculation during the late 1980s.

Incidentally, columnist L. M. Sixel writes today that many companies are expecting the overall economy to begin picking up again soon, so, instead of laying off workers, they're asking them to take an unpaid break so that they'll still have them around a bit later when they need them.

Why the European Central Bank hasn't rushed to follow the American Fed (Friday, 4/20/01)
Edmund Andrews reports from Frankfurt that European leaders are worried about inflation. The downturn is less of a concern for them at the moment. Similarly, in Asia, leaders are expecting...hoping...that the economic slump will be mild and short, as Mark Landler reports from Hong Kong. He also comments on why many experts expect that China is poised to take over Japan's role as the economic engine of Asia.

Depression and success (Friday, 4/20/01)
Rising toward the top in their organizations doesn't provide immunity to depression for Japanese business women. Here's more from Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun.

Extending welfare benefits okay with many Minnesotans (Friday, 4/20/01)
Because of provisions in welfare reform legislation passed in 1996, time is running out for many welfare recipients, including many who have been having particular difficulties finding employment that would make them self-supporting. A new poll in Minnesota finds that there is widespread support for extensions.

What happens if a "company town" has to stop manufacturing dreams? (Friday, 4/20/01)
Los Angeles isn't a company town in the traditional sense, but it is a factory town, and its economy is quite dependent on its film industry. If a lot of its key workers leave the sound stages for the picket lines, it will cost the city $6.9 billion and precipitate a general slowdown of the region's economy, according to estimates from a study commissioned by L.A.'s mayor.

The American economy was slowed by interest rate increases, but won't be stimulated by the cuts, writer says (Friday, 4/20/01)
Kenneth Zapp doesn't expect the Fed's latest reduction in rates to awaken a drowsy American economy.

Disabilities don't necessarily end farming careers (Friday, 4/20/01)
A program at the University of Missouri is helping farmers with physical disabilities continue doing the work they love.

First-time jobless claims down a bit (Friday, 4/20/01)
Applications for unemployment benefits declined slightly last week, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Labor conclave in Detroit (Friday, 4/20/01)
Labor activists are gathering at Detroit's Cobo Hall to plan union organizing and revitalization efforts.

Getting away is getting harder and harder for many people (Friday, 4/20/01)
When nearly everything is connected to nearly everything else and it's all connected to you, your boss may assume that you have a 24-hour work day. Nationally syndicated Chicago Tribune columnist Carol Kleiman discusses part of the downside of technologies that can keep you in touch wherever you are. Problem is, if you're in touch with them, they're in touch with you.

Lebanon isn't alone (Friday, 4/20/01)
While the "brain drain" continues to be a problem for Lebanon, according to The Daily Star, it's a common problem over much of the world. Highly qualified people go to where the good jobs are if their own regions aren't ready to offer them competitive opportunities.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Association of Reverse Brain Drain (Friday, 4/20/01)
Rich countries exploiting the resources of poor countries isn't anything new. In the new knowledge economy, though, the key resource is knowledgeable people, and rich economies have been soaking them up from around the world, which, of course, tends to deprive the less developed countries of the very resource they will need in order to become more developed. Thailand has been losing a lot of its most educated, talented people, and The Association of Reverse Brain Drain hopes to bring some of them home again.

Surprise! (Thursday, 4/19/01)
The Federal Reserve pleased a lot of investors in American as well as Asian markets yesterday by cutting interest rates by an aggressive half of a percent, bringing them to their lowest level in 6 1/2 years, so it may be time to think about refinancing your mortgage. On the other hand, you may want to wait a while, because many economists think an additional cut is coming to help capital-starved companies and keep the longest expansion in nearly 2 1/4 centuries going. So far, so good. New numbers confirm that the American economy is weak, but not technically in recession.

HP will cut more jobs than originally thought (Thursday, 4/19/01)
The American technology sector has been deflating about as rapidly as any in memory, despite what are regarded as good long-term prospects. Tech startups have been failing at a rapid rate, and even strong, well-established companies are having to backpedal quickly in order to cut or prevent losses. An example of an essentially strong, well-regarded, and important company that has played an historic role in the technology revolution is Hewlett-Packard. H-P's CEO says that nearly three times as many job cuts will occur as originally expected.

More on the income gap (Thursday, 4/19/01)
If you're among the economically privileged, you probably have good reason to be concerned about the wide gap between "haves" and "have nots," not only in the U.S., but across the world, even if you don't really care about people. History tells us that huge gaps between the rich and poor eventually lead to social and political upheaval, and, of course, in a hi-tech, increasingly connected world, it doesn't take a superpower to deliver high explosives, including atomic weapons, nearly anywhere, or to engage in "techno-terrorism" via the Internet or other means. However, if you DO care about people, the finding that about one child in six in the richest society ever to appear on the earth lives in poverty might get your attention.

Help for small businesses and their employees (Thursday, 4/19/01)
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce is setting up Missouri Chamber Care to assist small businesses in offering health coverage to their workers.

A new law against age discrimination...sort of (Thursday, 4/19/01)
Atsushi Kodera writes in Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun about a new law in Japan that will ban age discrimination in hiring, but it's almost entirely toothless.

More on the need for better, more relevant measures (Thursday, 4/19/01)
Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan is dissatisfied with the measures available for telling us what is happening in the new economy, and this seems to be a principal reason why economic life has gotten so mysterious lately. Virginia Postrel of the New York Times discusses these issues as well as related ones having to do with conceptions of "the good life," "economic well-being," "standard of living," and so on.

Scientific researchers distinguish between "theoretical definitions" and "operational definitions" of their concepts. A "theoretical definition" is an abstraction representing some phenomenon of interest, while an "operational definition" describes the specific operations that are being used to measure the phenomenon. Given the concept of "intelligence," for example, it's the difference between "general ability to learn," on the one hand, and "scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale," on the other.

Before we can develop relevant operational measures, we have to clarify our concepts. We've suggested a number of times that our traditional ideas about "standard of living" could use some re-thinking at this historic transition point. In part because of the emphases of the old economy, Americans tend to assume that the single-minded pursuit of wealth and the accumulation of material possessions don't require explanation. These are what everybody wants, and everybody wants to be able to brag about them.

However, during a period of fundamental and rapid change when nearly everything seems to be up for grabs, we would suggest that if you have managed to accumulate great wealth, you might want to keep quiet about it, not only because others may assume that your consumption habits may amount to your putting much more than your share of pressure on a fragile physical environment, but also because, if you've been concentrating so much on making money, you've probably missed an awfully lot and may lack perspective on important things that are going on in the world.

Along these lines, in addition to whatever ideological issues might be relevant, you might worry a bit about the current Administration, which seems filled with people whose net worth is in the tens of millions. While they've been chasing those millions, what have other people been doing, and what might some of these other people know that they don't? In a greatly changed world, will commitment to conventional and possibly obsolete success criteria result in limited perspective, naivete, and gullibility about a lot of things, even among very smart people?

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Economy.com (Thursday, 4/19/01)
Economy.com has become a prominent source of domestic and international economic data, analysis, and forecasts. Its experts have also been appearing on American TV news and talk shows, and Mark Zandi, the site's chief economist is often quoted in major American newspapers.

Bush to attend hemispheric summit (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
The President says he will push for a hemispheric free trade deal, but, as Deborah Charles reports, he's going to be limited by not having "fast track" authority.

A recession? Who says? (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
The National Bureau of Economic Research says, usually. Chris Lester tells about why economists are often the last to know when a recession really has arrived. It's about being cautious, not necessarily about being wrong. Now, about being wrong, some of the major forecasting organizations, such as Forrrester Research and International Data Corporation are enduring considerable criticism as well as difficulty finding new clients at the moment, according to the Wall Street Journal, because of what is seen by many as their role in inflating the dot-com bubble beyond all reason. Incidentally, as Dina Temple-Raston and George Hager report from USA Today, some of the latest economic reports suggest that the slumping U. S. economy may have bottomed out. If that's the case, technically, we will be able to say that the longest expansion in American history will continue without interruption by a recession, technically.

Profs return to their classrooms (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
K-12 teachers remain on strike in Hawaii, but professors at the state university are returning to work.

University calls in the EEOC (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
A foul aroma has been rising over Minnesota's St. Cloud State University with widespread complaints about systematic discrimination against women and minority faculty members, and the whole mess is in the courts. The University is asking the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate, which may be seen as a fairly unusual twist.

On agreeing with the boss, even when you don't (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
Not so long ago, Christine Whitman and George Bush were fellow governors. Now, Whitman works for Bush, and some people think that the wrong governor became president.

But, is this a great country or what? Your right to say even stupid and uninformed things is guaranteed by the Constitution, and, when outgoing Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson was asked if he thought that former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura (not his real name, incidentally, which may further blur the boundary between politics and show biz) was qualified to be governor, Mr. Carlson was exactly right when he replied that Mr. Ventura was qualified by definition, because the voters said they wanted him, and, in a democracy, there isn't anybody else to ask.

At any rate, Christie Whitman how heads the Environmental Protection Agency in the Bush II administration, and people who serve at the pleasure of a president have an obligation to be loyal or resign. So, Governor Whitman is insisting that things aren't as they may seem. She really DOES agree with President Bush on environmental issues, she says. Honest. And, incidentally, yes, it IS a great country, and, in part, for the reasons described above, despite superficial appearances to the countrary.

Might California...once again...start another national trend? (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
What if gluttonous Californians actually begin to believe that it's cool to conserve energy--will the rest of the country follow? Many national trends have started in California. Maybe this will be another, and, if that happens, it will make it easier for politicians, even Republican politicians, to fall in line, thus making it more likely that we can redefine "the good life" a bit and keep the earth from becoming an entirely alien planet. As Ghandi said, "There go my people. I must hurry to get out in front of them, because I AM their leader." Actually, that's probably a rough paraphrase, rather than a quote, but it reflects his highly sophisticated view of how societies and social change work.

Black unemployment is rising faster than overall unemployment (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
African Americans benefited significantly from the big boom period of the 1990s, but those gains are in the process of being erased, according to this Chicago Tribune story.

Employees at IBM will attempt to go over their CEO's head (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
IBM workers dissatisfied with changes in the company pension plan are alleging that the company's CEO cut retirement pay in order to inflate earnings because his $73.6 million compensation package was linked to earnings. Here's more from the Washington Post.

HP has had 3,000 managers? (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
Well, presumably more than that, because reports from Palo Alto say that Hewlett-Packard is cutting 3,000 management jobs.

A big step toward MD unionization in Texas (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
Some doctors in Austin have voted to become affiliated with Physicians for Responsible Negotiation, a union formed by the AMA.

Welfare deadline approaching for many (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
Many welfare recipients had five more years of benefits following passage of the welfare reform act, and it's been almost five years. Here's more on people who are facing the deadline with very limited job prospects.

Columnist thinks organized labor is hurting its members (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
A much smaller proportion of America's private-sector workforce is unionized now than at mid-20th century. Jerry Heaster says he can understand why. Take union leadership's attitudes toward President Bush's tax-cut proposal, for instance.

Go ahead, take some quality time off, if you can afford it (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
Jodi Wilgoren of the New York Times tells about students who take a fancy and possibly educational sabbatical between high school and college, and why they're usually from well-off families.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Help in Writing Business Reports (Wednesday, 4/18/01)
Actually, Bartleby.com can be helpful for many types of writing and offers access to a variety of useful resources, as well as literary classics for your off hours.

What's going on with that "slave ship?" (Tuesday, 4/17/01)
Jean-Luc Apologan reports that the MV Etireno has been located and that few children are aboard. Here's more from Glenn McKenzie, also in Cotonou, Benin, and he says that none of the children who are on the ship are unaccompanied. What's going on? Is it the wrong ship? Is it possible that the captain, who has a criminal history, ordered the children to be thrown overboard before reaching port? Is it all a mistake? There's much uncertainty and confusion today about this story, but no doubt or confusion about the ongoing child slave trade in the region.

Tech sectors continue to shrink (Tuesday, 4/17/01)
It might not be surprising that Internet startups with no real business plan and no profits would be shooing their workers out the door just before locking up permanently, but well-established tech companies with much real value are also cutting back workers. For instance, Texas Instruments plans to lay off at least 2,000 people, maybe more, and Cisco will cut 8,500 jobs. Motorola, which has cut 26,000 jobs since the end of last year will also reduce workers' hours by up to 10 percent, and Kodak, a tech company that has been around a long time, will cut 3,000 jobs in response to a 48 percent decline in profits. It isn't just the American-based companies either. Philip Blenkinsop reports from Amsterdam that Philips Electronics will respond to a second-quarter loss by cutting 7,000 people from its workforce. In the public sector, 70 members of the Smithsonian's Senate of Scientists have taken the rare step of signing a memorandum protesting planned cuts.

Whoops--should have done a better job of vetting (Tuesday, 4/17/01)
Years ago, Richard Nixon ran on a "law and order" platform and won the presidency. That was before Vice President Agnew resigned in order to avoid going to jail and before the President himself resigned in disgrace, avoiding indictment only by a presidential pardon after leaving office, and also before dozens of other people in the Nixon administration went to jail. In early 1993, the Clinton administration started with much talk about how it would be the cleanest, least corrupt, most honorable administration in memory, guided, of course, by the very highest ethical standards. Not every administration is as spectacular along these lines--and it's hard when the boss is the major problem rather than part of the solution--but nearly every administration seems to end up with people whom they may later have reason to regret, in some cases because even candidates for top governmental positions may not fully disclose relevant facts about their past. Here's the latest: Jeremy Pelofsky reports from Washington that Bush's Labor Secretary failed to disclose a corporate affiliation when questioned by Administration officials. It must have slipped her mind, although most people might remember having served on a corporate board.

Minnesota school districts to cut teaching positions (Tuesday, 4/17/01)
Budgetary problems are leading to reduction in the teaching staffs of many Minnesota school districts. Here's more from Norman Draper and Allie Shah of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Meanwhile, the teacher strikes continue in Hawaii at both K-12 and university levels, and the academic year is in jeopardy, according to Jaymes Song in Honolulu. In northern California, hospital workers are on strike. Things are happier for some Detroit nurses who are able to earn their college degrees while on staff.

Teamsters won't be part of Hollywood strike (Tuesday, 4/17/01)
If writers go on strike in Hollywood, Teamsters members will cross the picket lines, says the head of the Teamsters Local 399 in North Hollywood.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Encyclopaedia of Philosophy of Education (Tuesday, 4/17/01)
The Encyclopaedia of Philosophy of Education is edited by Michael Peters of New Zealand and Paulo Ghiradelli of Brazil, and is available in both English and Portuguese. However, contributions are made from scholars from over much of the world.


What's the most out-of-place thing you can think of for the 21st century? (Monday, 4/16/01)
How about a slave ship filled with children? If you believe that humanity has left its depraved history behind during this advanced and sophisticated era, this CNN report from Contonou, Benin might change your mind. To help put things into perspective, we should remember that during the very short history of the United States, several American presidents have been slave holders and several others have opposed the abolition of slavery in the U.S. Many people still living read the first volume of Carl Sandburg's still-definitive biography of Abraham Lincoln in 1926 when it was first published. That was the year in which Mary and Abraham's oldest son Robert Lincoln died, and there were still plenty of people around who remembered when slavery not only was legal in parts of the United States, but enforced by the law. In parts of the old South at the time, you could be hanged for publicly advocating anything else.

Inflation up in Israel (Monday, 4/16/01)
Israel's inflation rate increased by 0.2 percent during the month of March, according to Moti Bassok of Ha'aretz.

Evidence in support of a shorter work week (Monday, 4/16/01)
Many people in the United States were skeptical of France's decision to shorten the work week to 35 hours, and many still are. However, some have become convinced that the consequences they expected aren't inevitable. Should it be tried in the U.S. where the workweek has been getting longer rather than shorter during recent years?

Tech world becoming less dominated by white males, at least a little (Monday, 4/16/01)
Edward Iwata of USA Today says that an increasing number of companies are making steady progress in their effort to make their workforces more diverse.

Of course it's done. I have a graduate degree in engineering, so when I say it's done, it's DONE! (Monday, 4/16/01)
Robin Davis of the San Francisco Chronicle tells about former Internet employees who used to work ON servers who are now working AS servers. Meanwhile, at the other end of Silicon Valley, Margaret Steen of the San Jose Mercury News says that some tech companies are both laying off and hiring at the same time. Finally, Shira Boss of the Christian Science Monitor describes the conditions under which your being laid off might be illegal.

Another major e-commerce firm cuts jobs (Monday, 4/16/01)
Outpost.com is slicing a third of its workforce, which amounts to 110 jobs.

An economic perspective on global warming (Monday, 4/16/01)
The Bush II administration seems to persist in believing that economic and environmental priorities are mutually exclusive, but, as we've said repeatedly, the economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment. John Biemer describes a new economic study of the costs associated with global warming published in the new edition of Nature.

The limits of law? (Monday, 4/16/01)
Even if something is considered by many to be undesirable or destructive, it may not be realistic to try to remedy it by law if it's sufficiently fundamental to a society's culture. This is what some are saying about proposed anti-sexual harassment legislation in Brazil.

If your boss lies, can you sue? (Monday, 4/16/01)
Maybe; maybe not. Here's some perspective on that issue from today's Washington Post.

If you're a linguist, the government may be looking for you (Monday, 4/16/01)
Not to worry--they don't want to arrest you; they may want to hire you. Diana Jean Schemo tells about the shortage and how it's hampering governmental operations. Speaking of language, Suzanne Daley reports that many people in Europe fear that English is coming to dominate a bit too much, and that many national languages may be on a path to destruction. Latin's often referred to as a "dead language," but there were many versions of Latin during ancient times, and there still are. They're called "French," "Italian," "Spanish," and "Portuguese," among some others. This time, though, dead may really mean dead.

An argument against one "living wage" idea (Monday, 4/16/01)
Don Facciano of the Los Angeles Times thinks that "living wage" plans being considered by two California communities constitute the wrong approach to solving what he acknowledges is a legitimate problem.

Grants available for technical training for laid-off workers (Monday, 4/16/01)
The Labor Secretary is inviting workforce investment boards to compete for grants. The boards were created as part of the Workforce Development Act signed into law by President Clinton in an effort to bring order out of the previous chaos of federally-supported training programs.

Of course it's done. I have a graduate degree in engineering, so when I say it's done, it's DONE! (Monday, 4/16/01)
Robin Davis of the San Francisco Chronicle tells about former Internet employees who used to work ON servers who are now working AS servers. Meanwhile, at the other end of Silicon Valley, Margaret Steen of the San Jose Mercury News says that some tech companies are both laying off and hiring at the same time. Finally, Shira Boss of the Christian Science Monitor describes the conditions under which your being laid off may be illegal.

Good news: interest rates are down. Gottcha! (Monday, 4/16/01)
Lower mortgage rates may make it possible for you to qualify for more debt that you can handle. Here's more from today's Kansas City Star. With a little more financial education, the next generation may not follow in its elders' footsteps toward the pit that many older people have fallen into.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Bankrate.com (Monday, 4/16/01)
Interest rates have gone down, so you can save money on a mortgage. Is it a good idea to refinance? This special report can help you sort through your options and decide.

Boeing still has a tech worker shortage (Sunday, 4/15/01)
The shortage of technically-skilled workers has become less general, and some people with hi-tech skills are not necessarily finding immediate new employment when they're laid off. However, Boeing, the aerospace giant, is still struggling to find all the technical help it needs. Not every techie necessarily has the right skills for the job, though, but those laid-off Internet folks whom companies like Boeing don't need might find interesting opportunities with the Peace Corps. Abby Ellin has more.

Strong new anti-profiling policy at the Energy Department (Sunday, 4/15/01)
The new Secretary of Energy has made it be known in the clearest terms possible that racial profiling will not be tolerated at the Department of Energy.

What's more valuable than human life? (Sunday, 4/15/01)
To some people, apparently almost anything. Humanity's history, among many other things, has been a history of depravity, and, so far, at least, the 21st century, with its new economy, has not left all that behind. Barry Bearak reports from Arsingi, Bangladesh about the cheapness of life in the sweatshops.

One foot out the door (Sunday, 4/15/01)
Mary Williams Walsh tells about how some workers are being encouraged by their employers to retire one step at a time.

What it takes for government agencies to work well (Sunday, 4/15/01)
The Bush II administration does not represent that body of Republican opinion from a few years ago that seemed to want to shut the federal government down or repeal the Articles of Confederation. In fact, President Bush seems to share with many traditional Democrats some ideas about the appropriateness of an activist governmental role in domestic life, although his goals may be different. Still, as this Washington Post writer suggests, the Administration has been fairly slow to recognize growing workforce problems in the federal agencies. The difficulty that the Internal Revenue Service is having in carrying out its mission with reduced staff is an example.

Official numbers a gross underestimate, writer says (Sunday, 4/15/01)
John Crudele of the New York Post thinks that the Labor Department's estimate of the number of jobs lost in March is far off the mark.

Shoppers scale back (Sunday, 4/15/01)
It may be nit-picking to focus on whether the U.S. economy will meet the technical definition of a recession--two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Whether that happens or not, one thing seems clear--the economy is in a downturn, and, as Peter Kilborn reports, one can see evidence all around, including the increasing number of people who are doing without "extras."\

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Avoiding Workaholism (Sunday, 4/15/01)
When does working hard become an example of obsessive-compulsive disorder? Here's some advice from one therapist on how to identify and avoid "workaholism".

You have fewer work days for yourself (Saturday, 4/14/01)
The non-profit Tax Foundation keeps track of how much of the year you work in order to pay your taxes. Presently, May 3 is the day you start working for yourself, they say. Of course, if you could work all the year's days for yourself, you would also have to pay to build your own highways and also provide many other services you take for granted now, including your own protection which is now provided by police, the courts, and the military. Liberals and conservatives can argue about the proper role of government and also about whether Americans are taxed too much, but the fact seems to remain that it is far more cost-effective to pay for some things collectively than individually.

More self-employed African-American women (Saturday, 4/14/01)
It appears that the number of African-American women who are self-employed has doubled in only four years.

Advertising slump hitting conventional media (Saturday, 4/14/01)
As we've reported, Yahoo is cutting back because of the decline in online advertising, but the slowed American economy has reduced advertising in the traditional media as well, and this is resulting in staff cuts at two of the best-known print media organizations, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

School district says find a non-school day during which to take your kids to work with you (Saturday, 4/14/01)
Zaz Hollander of the Anchorage Daily News reports that Anchorage school district officials aren't opposed to the idea of your children having an opportunity to see what you do during all those mysterious hours each week when you disappear from home, but why does it have to be on a school day?

Another way to save jobs? (Saturday, 4/14/01)
Many companies are cutting jobs, while some are temporarily cutting pay across the board in order to avoid having to lay people off. Here's a company in which workers are accepting stock in exchange for part of their ordinary pay and hoping that this will mean that their company won't go out of business.

Many welfare applicants turned away in Utah (Saturday, 4/14/01)
More than half of the people who applied for welfare benefits in Utah last year were denied them for a variety of reasons. Here's more from Ogden.

Baumol's disease epidemic on American campuses (Saturday, 4/14/01)
Baumol's disease helps explain why the cost of higher education has increased faster than the overall rate of inflation for forty years. Despite general productivity increases because of high-tech, the cost of providing service in labor-intensive industries tends to increase. The solution? Some think it will be to make higher ed less labor-intensive, which means making much heavier use of the new technologies. Here's quite a lot more from Kenney Shaw and Dan Black of the New York Times.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Nordic Forecasts (Saturday, 4/14/01)
Nordic Forecasts offers longer-term expectations of what might happen in the economic, political, and business life of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

Strikes interfere with deliveries, on the streets and in the hospitals (Friday, 4/13/01)
France is attempting to cope with transit strikes across the country, as well as striking midwives, many of whom marched to the PM's residence yesterday. Across the channel, drinkers of stout are beginning to get alarmed as well. The strike at Guinness could mean that a lot of people will have to switch to water or some other toxic substance soon. Finally, in the U.S. many people with another kind of addiction may have to cope with withdrawal in the fall. A strike of Hollywood writers and actors is expected to cause a major dip in TV viewership in the fall as people desperately search for something else to do.

You've come to the U.S. to work on a special visa, and you've been laid off. Now what? (Friday, 4/13/01)
Many holders of H1B visas suddenly have seen their status change from legal to illegal, and through no fault of their own.

Six months severance for laid-off Cisco workers (Friday, 4/13/01)
Cisco Systems manufactures much of the network "plumbing" that makes the Internet possible, but, like so many hi-tech firms generally, and particularly those intimately involved wth the Internet, they've been influenced by the economic slowdown. Their severance offer is part of a plan to cut 5,000 jobs.

Unemployment likely to increase over the months ahead (Friday, 4/13/01)
A national organization of small business operators expects the U.S. unemployment rate to reach 5 percent by fall, which would be its highest level in four years.

Short straw wins (Friday, 4/13/01)
One might wonder about people who really seem to want to be the next Japanese prime minister, because it's a job that isn't likely to be all that much fun, given the weakening Japanese economy. Actually, it tells more about sense of duty than pursuit of pleasure.

Former football pro settles with the Teamsters (Friday, 4/13/01)
A man who worked at UPS during the Teamsters strike was stabbed by union members, so he sued. Now, he's settled. Here's more from Janelle Weber reporting from Miami.

Learning from what you do (Friday, 4/13/01)
A new survey from the American Savings Education Council and the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows how your children are learning financial management or mismanagement from you.

An engraved invitation to tax cheats? (Friday, 4/13/01)
The New York Times' David Cay Johnston writes about how reduced staff has influenced the Internal Revenue Service's ability to do its job. It appears that the big tax collection agency has largely given up on some efforts to collect and enforce, and it means lost billions, and that's with a "b."

Portrait of the American family (Friday, 4/13/01)
Reports of the demise of the traditional nuclear American family may have been premature. New Census data show an increase in the number of mom-pop-kids-dog-cat families, but also an increase in complexity, because there are a number of different kinds of families as well.

How selective is YOUR college? (Friday, 4/13/01)
Which U.S. colleges turn away the greatest proportion of their applicants? By this criterion, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is more selective than Julliard and Harvard. But what does this really mean? It's hard to say without knowing a good deal about the population of people who are applying in the first place. As they say, you can prove anything with statistics...but only to people who don't know anything about statistics. At any rate, here's the list of most selective higher ed institutions.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: H-Net Job Guide (Friday, 4/13/01)
H-Net Job Guide is a jobs site specializing in the humanities and social sciences, and comes to you from Michigan State University.

Large-scale protests in Ankara (Thursday, 4/12/01)
As many as 50,000 people tried to march to Turkey's Parliament to insist on the resignation of Prime Minister Ecevit, and things turned violent. Turkey has been experiencing an economic crisis for two months.

Changes at two of the best-known Internet companies (Thursday, 4/12/01)
With so many dot-com failures--Kozmo is one of the most recent examples--there is far less Internet advertising than there used to be, which affects Yahoo a great deal. The well-known most-visited site is scaling back its operations and cutting 420 jobs, which amounts to 12 percent of its workforce. Unlike Yahoo, which has been profitable during most of its existence, Amazon.com has yet to show a solid operational profit. Anne D'Innocenzio reports that Amazon is taking over Borders' unprofitable online book business, which at least eliminates one online competitor. Incidentally, what are the people who are being laid off from Internet companies doing? John Markoff reports from California's Silicon Valley that many of them are trying to start, well, Internet companies. They're trying hard not to repeat the mistakes that have led to the resounding crash of so many first-round dot-coms, though.

More job cuts at Motorola (Thursday, 4/12/01)
Motorola reported a quarterly loss yesterday, the company's first in 16 years. They've already cut 22,000 jobs, and plan to cut more, as well as possibly sell off some of their operations. Here's more from Andrew Buchanan in Chicago. Columnist Diane Stafford reports that, while lots of large companies are laying off workers and many startups have been failing, very different kinds of things are happening in the American economy too. In fact, it's filled with ironies, she says.

Agreement reached in New York City (Thursday, 4/12/01)
The Big City's municipal workers have reached agreement with the city on a new contract, according to Steven Greenhouse and Susan Saulny of the New York Times.

New governmental agency in New Zealand (Thursday, 4/12/01)
The widely read and highly regarded The Jobs Letter from Vivian Hutchinson reports that the New Zealand government is creating the Ministry of Social Development out of the combination of the Department of Work and Income and the Ministry of Social Policy.

Jordan's king would like to see "Marshall Plan" for the Middle East (Thursday, 4/12/01)
King Abdullah says that the Middle East as at an historic fork in the road when the choice for the future can be either continued turmoil and violence or stability and economic development. A Marshall Plan-type program from the United States could make the difference by changing the younger generations' orientation.

What's good about the South African economy (Thursday, 4/12/01)
Ethel Hazelhurst reports that, despite common attitudes, good things are happening in South Africa's economy. Problem is, feeling bad can be contagious and self-fulfilling.

Biz education for the new economy (Thursday, 4/12/01)
Just as it is easy to find freshly printed career books that seem to have been written by people who think it's still about 1978 or so, it's also possible to study business in a school that hasn't noticed the transition that has taken place from the old heavy industrial economy to the new global information economy. Here's one publication's list of the top business schools for persons interested in working under present and future conditions, rather than in the past.

In somewhat related news, Australia's currency has lost ground in relation to other major currencies recently, and this has put that country's tech sector at a disadvantage in attracting the number of technically-skilled workers that it needs. Here's more from Garry Barker of Melbourne's The Age. And, speaking of Australia, Craig McGregor reports on the extent to which his country has been "Americanized."

At the moment, the U.S. stands astride the world as a political, military, and economic colossus. Even if friendly, one can expect this sort of influence to be resented in many places. If you think that the recent fuss over the downed U.S. spy plane and the recovery of its crew was about semantics and Confucian sensitivities, you're only a little bit right. The holding of the U.S. crew for a while might be seen as something similar to the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861--the first volley in what is likely to be a long war, although, in this case, it may be bloodless. Expect the competition between China and the United States for domination of the Pacific region to be one of the principal contests of the 21st century. Mostly, it is likely to be an economic contest, even after the Chinese political system has changed considerably, as it almost surely will do.

Federal workers may be about to lose contraceptive coverage (Thursday, 4/12/01)
If President Bush's budget is implemented without modification, federal employees would no longer have the cost of contraceptives covered by their health insurance plans. Speaking of health care, Lori Sturdevant writes in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that it's time to get used to the idea of older health care workers, at least in Minnesota. But, then, why not?

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Virtual Library on Knowledge Management (Thursday, 4/12/01)
The new economy contains a tremendous number of knowledge workers who need to be managed, but to a lesser extent overall than workers in the old industrial economy. However, in a knowledge-based economy, knowledge itself must be managed. For those who have this responsibility, the Virtual Library on Knowledge Management is a good place to start. It's been recommended by many major business magazines.

Global slowdown expected to continue (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
World Bank economists stop short of predicting a global recession, but they expect growth to continue at a fairly slow rate, and a UN report examines the influence of a slowing American economy on global economic activity overall. Here's a quick overview of business activity around the world.

Business group urges Turkish government to resign (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
Turkey's political crisis has produced an economic crisis, and confidence in the current government seems to be plummeting. Ben Holland reports from Istanbul on demonstrations as well as pressure from the country's largest business organization.

Agreement at American Airlines (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
American Airlines is acquiring TWA and its staff, including pilots. Unions representing various categories of workers at American have been negotiating about how TWA's personnel will be integrated into the parent company while still protecting jobs. Much lies ahead, according to this report from David Koenig, but a tentative deal has been made with the pilots' union. Labor problems have been typical across much of the American airline industry recently, and this has complicated things, not only for the travel industry, but also business travelers. Here's more about that from Joe Sharkey of the New York Times.

Genetic testing suit settled (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
Burlington Northern used to conduct genetic testing of workers. They don't do that anymore after the EEOC sued them. Among other things, the settlement requires the company to destroy existing blood samples taken from workers while the practice was underway.

Things are getting less expensive in Japan (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
Things in general, that is, and this is called "deflation." "Inflation" is what economists and government officials have worried most about during recent decades, but deflation can cause havoc in a society too. Today's Washington Post reports on the arguments going on in Japan about consequences of the deflating Japanese economy. Thomas Fuller of the International Herald Tribune finds some cultural changes in Japan as the country attempts to cope with a new stage of its postwar economic history. There is a growing generation gap, for instance, when it comes to attitudes toward work. In other news, America is exporting higher ed services to Japan. Specifically, Stanford University in California will be offering Internet-based courses to Japanese workers, according to Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun.

The need for better data (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
Quality decision making depends on quality information. We've reported numerous times on the methodological problems associated with measuring voter preferences in the United States, as well as the difficulties inherent in obtaining an accurate picture of American society through the Census that is conducted every ten years. Also, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has expressed dissatisfaction with the economic measures available and how difficult it is to tell what really is going on with the new economy. Ethel Hazelhurst reports in the Financial Mail that South Africa has similar problems and public policy decision making is made more difficult and risky as a consequence. Again, WHAT we know depends entirely on HOW we know it, and, in a huge society, it's not good enough just to ask your friends what they think.

How layoffs are carried out makes a difference (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
Nationally syndicated columnist Carol Kleiman writes about layoff anxiety and how the pain can be minimized.

Are stocks still overpriced? (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
The Christian Science Monitor's David Francis says that some economists are still expecting "grizzly" news from Wall Street. That is, if you buy now, you may not really be buying at market lows. More losses are still fairly likely, say some experts, even for people who enter the market now. How long will it be before people who bought when stocks were at their highest get their money back if they hold? That could be a VERY long time, if ever, according to some experts, because the high stock prices of a while back represented unrealistic inflation in relation to genuine underlying values. Remember "irrational exuberance?" Meanwhile, all the bearish news is making consumers reluctant to spend freely, according to Anne D'Innocenzio, which is suppressing the retail sector, which is contributing to the slowing economy, which is...well, you know.

Americans have limited faith in faith-based social services if public moneys are used (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
The devil's in the details, you might say. Jane Lampman reports on what polls are telling us about the response of Americans to the President's faith-based initiatives. In an increasingly diverse society, there will be increased difficulty finding consensus on what "faith" means and which organizations are "faith-based." It would be easier in a religiously homogeneous community, such as some in Ireland, for example. In the U.S., though, there are dozens if not hundreds of different kinds of Christian organizations which don't seem to agree on too much, plus Jews, and an increasing number of Moslems, Buddhists, and Hindus, among others. Do concepts such as "God" and "religion" have consistent meanings across highly diverse traditions?

Let's hear the case for debt (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
Columnist Jerry Heaster tells how attitudes toward moneylenders during the pre-industrial era have carried over, inappropriately, he believes, to the current time, and have given debt a bad name. In actuality, though, America owes its historically high standard of living to debt, he says. For instance, how many Americans would be able to buy a house if they had to pay cash on the barrel-head? Along similar lines, Mr. Heaster recently argued against paying off the federal debt. A curious thing is that it used to be "liberals" who were supportive of deficit spending, and so on, while conservatives kept talking about getting our "economic house in order." Attitudes toward the national debt seem to have reversed recently.

Third-world-type trends in American corporate life (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
Jonathan Glater writes about "title inflation" in American corporations. It may be like tiny countries trying to overcompensate by making nearly everybody in sight a "general" or, at least, a "colonel," or like the late days of the Roman Empire when there were multiple "Caesars." In many large corporations, "vice presidents" have been a dime a gross for years, but now, apparently, that sort of title isn't sufficiently impressive.

There has been a general trend in American society toward increasing emphasis upon shadows and symbols at the expense of substance, an affliction that has been particularly pronounced in the American academic culture as well as the cultures into which it feeds. Nearly everybody has to be called "doctor," whether or not they'll ever have any substantive influence on anything.

Maybe it's time for some reality testing and zero-based restructuring that aims for the development of a genuine meritocracy emphasizing actual competence and achievement and largely ignoring titles and ceremonial "blessings" as rites of passage. You can contribute to our making a final break from centuries of European aristocratic traditions to which the United States was intended to be an antidote by not claiming your own titles and by not taking those of others seriously, particularly if they don't seem to represent anything of intrinsic importance. For a new century and new millennium, reality, folks, reality.

Quick recharge (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
If you get an hour or less for lunch, how can you make the most of it? Nancy Rubin Stuart reports that this precious hour isn't simply for eating. For an increasing number of workers, it offers an opportunity for more general restoration during the work day.

So, what on earth is a "pink slip," really? (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
According to Michael Stroh of the Baltimore Sun, Peter Liebhold of the Smithsonian has been trying to determine the origin of the expression, so far without success.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Food Industry Job Satisfaction (Wednesday, 4/11/01)
Food Engineering magazine does an annual job satisfaction survey. Here's the latest. How he wants to slice it (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
Here's a summary of how the President's budgetary pie would be sliced up, if he were to get his way.

Bush wants cuts at the SEC (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
President Bush thinks that the Securities and Exchange Commission could get along nicely with 57 fewer people, but many people feel that the Commission's resources are stretched too thin already, making it nearly impossible for it to do its job adequately. Also, the President is proposing a 3.6 percent salary increase for 1.8 million civilian federal workers, as opposed to the 4.6 percent increase for military personnel.

Colombia's brain drain (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
Juan Forero reports from Bogota on the great number of young professionals who are leaving their country.

Revisiting Indonesia (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
Indonesia's economy is a mess, and that may be the least of its worries. Mark Landler reports that IMF officials will go back to see if it's time to offer help, or whether it would amount to pouring money down a hole.

Repatriating supply-siders (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
Economists who believe that economic growth is best served by lowering tax rates are finding at least one friend in the White House. Here's more from the New York Times' David Leonhardt.

Resolution of the debt question would help them feel closer (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
The Russian-German summit produced some "feel good" statements for public consumption, but, as Vladimir Isachenkov reports from St. Petersberg, the two leaders failed to find a solution to Russia's debt problem.

Jobs cut and jobs created in Europe (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
This report from France's Agence France-Presse Marconi will cut 3,000 jobs, half of them in Britain, but 3,000 technical staff will be added in the telecommunication equipment company's home country to support its worldwide operations.

Census count of women-owned businesses too low, critics say (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
The latest Census indicates that the rapid growth of women-owned business in the United States continues, but some are saying that it's still an underestimate. Of course, to call it an "estimate" means that the Census really isn't a census, because it's supposed to count everybody.

The reality, of course, is that at the time of the country's founding, the entire American population was smaller than the population of Minnesota now. Counting everybody in a society of more than a quarter billion persons, in the originally meaning of "census," simply isn't possible.

While the number of people in a room may change, you can, at least, take a quick "snapshot" at a particular moment in time. However, the Census takes a long time, and nearly everything about the country is changing while the count is still going on. It's more like taking a photograph of a rapidly moving object with a very slow shutter. You simply end up with a blur. America was not the same country when the Census began as when it ended.

To insist that the founding fathers and mothers would still favor the sort of measure that seemed to make sense at the time the Constitution was created if they were around today is to assume that those brilliant people would be a lot less brilliant and a lot more naive and uninformed now.

For instance, while the majority of current big-time politicians remain scientific innocents in a scientific age, we might expect that if Benjamin Franklin were alive today, he would have mastered statistics, modern physics, and DNA research long before now, plus a whole lot more. Even Lincoln, who was not a practicing scientist like Franklin or Jefferson, was seen carrying astronomy, mathematics, or logic books around much of the time, and, incidentally, is the only American president to hold a registered patent.

Jury rules against Consolidated Freightways (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
Consolidated Freightways will pay more than $1.1 million to settle a sex discrimination suit.

Corporate commitment to diversity (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
There are still frequent stories in the news about discrimination suits against corporations, but bad news gets lots of attention and may not be representative of the whole. Jilian Mincer reports that Catalyst is finding broadening and deepening commitment to diversity in the American corporate world.

Bus drivers squeezed in San Francisco (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
There is a lot of need for buses and their drivers in the Bay area right now, but, because of astronomical living costs, many drivers can't afford to live where they work.

Non-obvious causes of eyestrain (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
Modern research has identified all sorts of connections that might surprise many people and these are part of the growing gap between what most people believe about nature, including human nature, and our best knowledge of either. Melissa Schorr tells about some research indicating that eyestrain on the job may be exacerbated by self-esteem issues or conflict with co-workers.

The proof is in the proofreading (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
It's easy for mistakes, obvious to everybody else, to become invisible to you if you've been very close to your document for a long time. For instance, misspelled words will appear as though there is a searchlight shining on them once your resume is in the hands of a prospective employer. The use of a spelling checker is necessary, but not sufficient, because sometimes misspelled words become other words that are in the computer's dictionary, and computers know nothing whatever about your intended meaning. Here's more from Max Messmer who suggests that you watch your language...carefully.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: AttorneyJobs.com (Tuesday, 4/10/01)
AttorneyJobs.com tells about the National and Federal Legal Employment Report and other services. The site also offers a Q&A section on legal careers and trends, as well as other information of interest to lawyers concerned about their careers.

Agreement at Northwest Airlines (Monday, 4/9/01)
A four-year dispute may be at an end. Northwest Airlines and its mechanics have reached tentative agreement on a new contract. Here's more from USA Today.

Administration not really tone deaf on environmental issues, VP implies (Monday, 4/9/01)
Vice President Cheney says that the Kyoto treaty was dead anyway before the Administration announced that the U.S. would not be bound by it. This might bring up questions about the PR sensitivity of giving such conspicuous emphasis to something that the White House thought was already a done deal, and therefore giving the appearance domestically and internationally of being unconcerned about climate change, while, at the same time, giving a political gift to the Democrats. At any rate, the Vice President said yesterday on a TV talk show that the Administration will develop its own policy for dealing with the environmental problem.

PG&E defends last-minute bonuses (Monday, 4/9/01)
Speaking of insensitivity to appearances, Pacific Gas & Electric awarded $50 million in bonuses the day before filing for bankruptcy, which, to be charitable, might not look too good. Deena Beasley reports that company officials are defending the action today.

Growth expected to slow in Southeast Asia (Monday, 4/9/01)
Patrick McDowell reports from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on what Southeast Asian countries are doing to prepare for slower growth this year.

Two-day summit in Europe (Monday, 4/9/01)
Russia and Germany are very important and influential countries for different reasons. Russia is large and has a large population. Moreover, the world has learned from long and painful experience that it is in its enlightened self-interest not to ignore what happens in Russia. Germany, on the other hand, has Europe's largest economy. For their respective reasons, they would like to develop closer economic ties, and President Putin and Chancellor Schroeder have been talking things over in St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, three Latin American countries are also trying to coordinate their actions in order to fight poverty in the region.

Should Japan worry about deflation? (Monday, 4/9/01)
Consultant Takeshi Kimura says not to worry, but Japanese government officials DO appear to be worried. Howard French of the New York Times writes from Tokyo on the possibility that Japan really won't pull out of its economic funk; that this may really be an historic period during which the sun may be setting on Japan's great post-war economy.

The spreading downturn in Ontario (Monday, 4/9/01)
Ontario's manufacturing sector is slumping, but, so far, it hasn't been influencing too many people on the street. By fall, it will be, according to this Toronto Star article.

The sad state of Afghanistan (Monday, 4/9/01)
Periodically throughout modern history, a country seems to take on the role of demonstrating how bad things can get, even if it has sound fundamental resources. In Afghanistan, a government that might meet diagnostic criteria for several psychiatric disorders has made its country what would clearly be the worst place in the world for women, if there were not so much competition, while also destroying much of its historical heritage and ruining its economy. Scott Baldauf has more about the economic part of the tragedy, which has been aggravated by natural disaster.

Some welcome pay cuts (Monday, 4/9/01)
Jamie LaReau reports that some workers are glad to hear that their pay will be cut temporarily, because it may mean that they will keep their jobs.

Less friendly job market for this spring's graduates (Monday, 4/9/01)
Stephanie Armour of USA Today reports that those who are about to get their college diplomas are finding a less enthusiastic job market off the campus. Sarah Hale of the Los Angeles Times adds that, for soon-to-be-college-grads, looking for a job IS a job this spring, rather than the breeze it's been for many previous years' seniors.

African American unemployment rate goes up again (Monday, 4/9/01)
Before the big boom of the past decade, the unemployment rate for African Americans typically has been about twice that of Americans overall. The historic expansion benefited American minorities, including blacks. But, as George Hager reports, new Labor Department data show that African-American unemployment increased from 7.5 percent in February to 8.6 percent in March, a much greater increase than for the overall unemployment rate during the same period.

How lower interest rates affect the lives of individuals and families (Monday, 4/9/01)
Jeannine Aversa offers some case examples of how recent Federal Reserve actions are making more money available for consumer spending.

Women-owned businesses get disproportionately less funding (Monday, 4/9/01)
The great increase in the number of women entrepreneurs in the U.S. is reflected in the number of women-owned businesses in the D.C. area, but, nonetheless, venture capital has been hard to come by.

Tech industry less likely to hold layoff against you (Monday, 4/9/01)
Experts on the Silicon Valley economy say that being laid off has become less likely to carry a stigma because it's so common and understandable in a sagging economy. Meanwhile, Walter Hamilton and Lisa Girion of the Los Angeles Times say you can expect the tech job loss problem to get worse before it gets better.

Advice to help with your future (Monday, 4/9/01)
Gene Meyer tells about the importance of setting priorities in financial planning, while Julius Karash has some advice for those who are retiring with an extra lump of money to invest in a turbulent market. Wall Street's downturn is affecting people who work there too. Brian Hale tells about vanishing perks, as well as quite a lot of vanishing jobs. Incidentally, while it may be a hard fact to swallow, and may even seem to defy common sense, Scott Burns tells why there is no such thing as absolutely secure wealth.

Sharing misery with your supervisor (Monday, 4/9/01)
Performance reviews aren't quite enough fun for anybody involved, according to Susan Vaughn, but there may be alternatives.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (Monday, 4/9/01)
The Association of Environmental and Resource Economists was founded in 1979 and has about a thousand members from over 30 countries from academic, public, and private sectors.

PG&E awards last-minute raises and bonuses (Sunday, 4/8/01)
Only hours before declaring bankruptcy, Pacific Gas & Electric awarded 6,000 middle managers and others bonuses and raises.

Free trade from A to C (Sunday, 4/8/01)
The Free Trade Area of the Americas should be operating by December 2005. A three-day free-trade summit has been going on in Buenos Aires in which representatives of 34 countries have participated.

Protests gather momentum in Turkey (Sunday, 4/8/01)
A political crisis has resulted in a severe economic crisis in Turkey, and protests are in their fourth day.

The new economy's downside (Sunday, 4/8/01)
The New York Times' Steven Greenhouse tells about the loss of job security in the United States and discusses Jill Andresky Fraser's book, White-Collar Sweatshop: The Deterioration of Work and Its Rewards in Corporate America. Paula Rayman of Radcliffe believes it's time to find a new model for the new economy that allows, not only for an improvement in the quality of work life, but also greater life/work balance. Ms. Rayman is part of the team that produced a recent report from the Radcliff Public Policy Center.

Additional practical reasons for ending age discrimination (Sunday, 4/8/01)
Australia expects a labor shortage to develop over the years ahead, which is another good reason that people need to change their attitudes about aging workers and focus on skills and reliability, rather than on years or wrinkles. Paul Heinrichs writes in Melbourne's The Age about the public information campaign being waged by Victoria's commissioner for equal opportunity, as well as an employer who runs a company from which no one need retire. Finally, Steve Dow tells about how Australia will try to make fuller use of its aging business leaders from now on.

Chronological age is the easiest to measure, so it tends to attract most attention. However, there are other aspects of aging, including physiological, and these do not correlate as highly with chronological age as many persons tend to assume. For instance, given a particular chronological age, physiological age may vary as much as twenty years either way, depending on many factors. So, for instance, a chronological 60-year-old might be physiologically 80 or 40, or somewhere in between.

Hawaii's public education system on hold (Sunday, 4/8/01)
Strikes over pay have closed Hawaii's public schools and the University of Hawaii. One school intends to re-open with limited available staff in order to teach 20 high school seniors who are approaching graduation. In other labor news, Northwest Airlines and its mechanics have resumed negotiations under the auspices of the National Mediation Board.

"Bankruptcy" may take on new meaning for small biz (Sunday, 4/8/01)
Samuel Fromartz explains why small businesses may be liquidating at a greater rate if the new bankruptcy bill becomes law.

Patient, care for thyself (Sunday, 4/8/01)
The shortage of nurses in the United States appears to be worsening, and, as Milt Freudenheim and Linda Villarosa report, there are also growing worries about how it may affect the quality of care.

Surprising resistance to the Bush tax cut plan? (Sunday, 4/8/01)
If you assume that people will try to maximize their personal financial situation no matter what--which is economics' "economic man" theory--you might expect that people who would benefit from President Bush's proposed tax cut would favor it. Carey Godberg explains why you might be surprised. Also, the Administration has been pushing the idea of eliminating so-called "death taxes," ostensibly to be sure that small farmers will be able to keep their property in their families. However, the IRS says that most farmers don't owe estate taxes as it is.

A step toward helping some of the uninsured (Sunday, 4/8/01)
The U.S. Senate wants to spend $28 billion to provide health coverage for some persons whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid. Here's more from Adam Clymer.

Among the implications of the economic deceleration (Sunday, 4/8/01)
Louis Uchitelle of the New York Times reports that the slower economy means more plentiful job candidates and smaller paychecks, as well as less plentiful summer jobs for students this year, according to Summer Harlow of the Kansas City Star. Meanwhile, the President and CEO of Manpower, Inc. thinks it's time to be thinking about the period following the slowdown when the American economy will be growing again. He is interviewed by Joel Dresang of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Working while pregnant in Australia (Sunday, 4/8/01)
Cathy Sherry reports that the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission is saying that it's a right to work while pregnant, not a privilege.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Federal Internet Guide (Sunday, 4/8/01)
Thousands of federal agencies and government officials have web sites. The Federal Internet Guide from the Washington Post can help you find them all.

PG&E bankrupt (Saturday, 4/7/01)
California's energy crisis has been aggravated considerably with the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas & Electric.

Emergency plan in Japan (Saturday, 4/7/01)
Japan's new emergency economic package provides a two-year deadline for the country's troubled banks to get rid of the worst of their bad loans.

Bush's tax reduction plan scaled back in the Senate (Saturday, 4/7/01)
The Bush administration may feel as though it has been dealt a setback in the U.S. Senate, but, compared to previous Democratic proposals, the Senate's vote could be interpreted as a win for the Administration. Nonetheless, it does not appear that the President will get as large a cut as he would like.

Bad March (Saturday, 4/7/01)
More jobs were lost last month than during any month over the past nine years, and this has aggravated fears of recession. The Administration's chief economic advisor, Lawrence Lindsey says he's optimistic about the future, but that the American economy is on temporary pause at the moment. However, his boss has lost some approval in the polls because of the economy. Glenn Somerville says that the latest jobs data increase the likelihood of another interest rate cut soon.

Another major American export (Saturday, 4/7/01)
The United States is exporting its economic slowdown, says Evelyn Iritani of the Los Angeles Times. A reason is that many of what used to be regarded as American corporations are now global corporations, and that means layoffs aren't necessarily confined to the U.S. One of these may be General Electric, which is acquiring Honeywell, which itself is a worldwide company. Outgoing G.E. chief Jack Welch, widely regarded as one of the best executives in the world, says there will be more layoffs at his company.

The value of financial knowledge (Saturday, 4/7/01)
The only alternative to knowledge about anything is ignorance, and ignorance has had a terrible record over centuries. Alan Grreenspan thinks that financial education should begin early.

Turkish protester apparently expresses feelings of many (Saturday, 4/7/01)
He threw a cash register at the Prime Minister to protest Turkish economic policy.

Buildings occupied by poor in Sao Paulo (Saturday, 4/7/01)
Sao Paulo, Brazil has a severe housing crisis, and, as Larry Rohter reports from this huge South American city, some downtown buildings have been occupied by poor persons trying to put a roof over their heads.

The careful art of firing (Saturday, 4/7/01)
Camerson Stracher has advice for employers who want to get rid of workers without spending a lot of time in court.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: HRMJobs.com (Saturday, 4/7/01)
There are thousands of jobs sites on the Internet, including many that specialize. Here's one of the latter: It's HRMJobs.com, and it's for human resource professionals.

Unemployment up in the United States (Friday, 4/6/01)
America's unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in March, the highest in 20 months, but still low by historical standards. Here's more from USA Today. Job cuts also increased dramatically last month, and, as additional evidence of the impact of the slowing American economy, first-time jobless claims were up too. Here's another summary of job cuts by major companies during the past few months.

Two approaches to cutting back (Friday, 4/6/01)
Among the largest cuts announced today are those at Winstar Communications. They intend to eliminate 2,000 jobs, which is a full 43 percent of their work force. On the other hand, Agilent Technologies, which is a spin-off of H-P, will take the sort of "job sharing" approach that has been popular in some European countries. Rather than cutting jobs, Agilent will cut salaries of its 48,000 workers so that everybody will share the pain a bit. The salary reductions will be temporary, according to company officials.

Hard times for former nontechnical dot-com workers (Friday, 4/6/01)
Technically-skilled people laid off or tossed overboard because of the failure of Internet companies are certainly inconvenienced, but they may be in a much better situation than people without technical skills who once benefit from the big dot-com boom that has gone bust. Here's more from Margie Mason in San Francisco.

Altruistic geeks (Friday, 4/6/01)
Allan Hoffman tells about affluent techies who are trying to give back through the Geekcorps organization, a sort of hi-tech Peace Corps.

The "new America" attempts to cope with itself (Friday, 4/6/01)
Columnist Robert Samuelson acknowledges the greatly increased diversity in the United States, as reflected in the new Census data, but, while it may be something to celebrate, to a point, large-scale immigration is also creating new problems and tensions. At what rate can people from other cultures and traditions be assimilated without changing the things about the American system that have made it so successful and attractive to people from around the world in the first place?

Because the U.S. started as a group of English colonies, there has been quite a lot of ethnic and cultural homogeneity over the past two centuries, at least among those dominating political and economic life. The downside, of course, has been the subjugation of minorities by those who have assumed that fair skin, light-colored hair, and blue eyes are part of the definition of a "real" human being. All that has changed, and the American population is rapidly coming to more accurately reflect the global reality of humanity as it always has been.

America has always been an experiment, but it will be a new kind of experiment from now on. Can unity be achieved within such diversity, so that people will feel that they are part of one country, and can democracy continue to work fairly smoothly under such conditions? We shall all see.

Incidentally, between 1990 and 2000, the U.S. added about as many people as the total population of California. To put it another way, the America over which Abraham Lincoln presided had a total population slightly smaller than the number of persons who have been added during the past ten years.

On sheltering a LOT of money while going bankrupt (Friday, 4/6/01)
In some states, your house will be protected from liquidation if you declare bankruptcy, no matter how much it's worth. So, some people borrow a lot of money, put it into a very expensive house, and, in effect, go broke without going broke. Philip Shenon tells how debate over the homestead exemption could prevent the passage of bankruptcy reform that many Congressional Republicans, among others, would like to see.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: CountryWatch (Friday, 4/6/01)
CountryWatch is not only historical, political, economic, and environmental information about all of the world's countries, but news as well.

Interest rates cut in England (Thursday, 4/5/01)
Like the American Federal Reserve, the Bank of England determines the cost of borrowing money in the UK, and they've just lowered a key interest rate because of concerns about a slowing global economy as well as the economic impact of England's foot-and-mouth disease disaster.

Labor strife in Ireland (Thursday, 4/5/01)
The Irish economy has been the envy of Europe for quite a while now, but there have been growing labor conflicts. Grian Leavery reports from Dublin on strike authorization votes at Guinness. Jane Suiter, economics writer for the Irish Times provides some perspective. Meanwhile, in the United States, a union at Pepsi Cola has turned down a contract proposal from the company, so the process of hiring permanent replacements has begun, according to corporate executives. Finally, the National Mediation Board has asked representatives of Northwest Airlines and its mechanics to return to Washington to resume talks.

Finance ministers gather in Toronto (Thursday, 4/5/01)
Finance ministers from 34 countries in the Americas conferred in Toronto on Wednesday to find ways to cooperate more fully in order to deal with the implications of the slowing U.S. economy and the lingering recession in Argentina that threatens to infect neighboring economies, most notably Brazil.

Teachers walk out in Hawaii (Thursday, 4/5/01)
Thousands of teachers have gone on strike across Hawaii. Both K-12 and University of Hawaii faculty are affected. Here's more from USA Today.

Rising health care costs for workers (Thursday, 4/5/01)
Health care costs have been rising overall, and employers are trying to control their own costs by passing more of the expense on to their employees. Here's more from Julie Appleby of USA Today.

California's power problem expected to cause economic problems (Thursday, 4/5/01)
Forecasters at UCLA expect California's energy difficulties to harm the big state's economy, according to Leslie Gornstein who reports from Los Angeles.

Cut backs at Supervalu (Thursday, 4/5/01)
The big grocery company will close some of its stores and cut 4,500 jobs. Also, another big auto parts supplier is cutting jobs. About eighteen hundred jobs will go at Visteon Corporation. Finally Morgan Stanley denies published reports that it will cut 1,000 brokerage jobs.

Russia about to get a loan (Thursday, 4/5/01)
The World Bank seems prepared to provide a $280 million loan to Russia. Andrew Kramer reports from Moscow that the money will target some severe and continuing problems, such as those in health care and education.

Generation gap (Thursday, 4/5/01)
Columnist Diane Stafford writes about a new survey that finds that younger workers are less satisfied with their work/life balance than older workers.

Women business owners unhappy about closing of Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach (Thursday, 4/5/01)
The Bush administration has been rolling back a number of Clinton-era structures and policies, but, as Jilian Mincer reports, women business owners are particularly dismayed at their shutting down the Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach, apparently without consulting anybody.

Explaining executive salaries (Thursday, 4/5/01)
David Leonhardt reports that many observers find it puzzling that executive salaries have been holding up so well despite lower earnings and stock values. One possible explanation might be that quite a number of top executives in some companies serve on the boards of other companies, meaning that there may be a "old boy's club" operating.

Longshoremen hiring policy changed (Thursday, 4/5/01)
Jenalia Moreno reports from Houston that longshoremen will no longer congregate at the hiring hall each day, but, instead, will return to the same employers. Here's why the change of policy makes a difference.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Education: Speeches & Testimony (Thursday, 4/5/01)
Here's some of what the Secretary of Education and other senior officials at the United States Department of Education have been saying.

Contradictory indicators (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
It's easy to see why Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is not satisfied with the economic measures that are available. Barbara Hagenbaugh tells about data that seem to throw the available picture of the American economy out of focus.

Putin intends to create a friendly climate for business (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
According to Russia's president, the world's investors and business operators aren't going to be attracted to Russia without some major reforms, and he intends to do what needs to be done, according to this New York Times report from Moscow.

Unemployment problem expected to turn into a labor shortage problem (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
Ross Gittins writes in Melbourne's The Age about the expected cure to Australia's unemployment problem before the end of the decade.

Casual work dress in Australia (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
Emily Ross reports that the standard business suit has been losing ground in the Australian workplace as well as in the U.S. and other regions.

State Supreme Court rulings on worker's comp (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
Rulings in Wisconsin and Washington state may have broad implications.

The persistent gender gap...or not (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
A new study from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that women earn a quarter less than men, on average, including women who work on U.S. government contract jobs. However, as Leigh Strope reports in The Salt Lake Tribune, the study is not without its critics who claim that the methodology is flawed.

Thousands of Disney employees may receive back pay (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
A federal mediator says that Disney workers should be paid for the time it takes them to suit up when their work requires the wearing of elaborate character costumes.

Pilots at American Airlines agree to TWA acquisition (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
Contract changes to enable the integration of TWA's pilots into American Airlines will be okay, according to the pilots' union at American.

Some brokers to become broker (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
Morgan Stanley may be preparing to lay off as many as 1,000 brokers, which would amount to a seven-percent force reduction. Hi-tech companies are still laying off workers as well. An example is formerly high-flying Inktomi Corporation which will cut 250 jobs.

Greenspan warns against protectionism (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
The Fed Chairman favors increased free trade, and he's said so once again.

Bad news for some "distance learning" companies (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
MIT intends to post materials for all of its courses on the Internet at no cost, including video taped lectures.

Increased diversity does not necessarily mean greater integration (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
Overall, the American population has become far more diverse, according to the latest Census figures, but neighborhoods are still largely segregated.

More desk rage (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
Modern warfare has made killing highly impersonal, and it's easier to bomb the daylights out of an enemy you don't have to look in the eyes. Similarly, it's easier to be rude to people on the highway whom you expect never to see again or to faceless individuals on the other end of a telephone line. Eve Tahmincioglu tells about what help center personnel have to put up with.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Information for Independence (Wednesday, 4/4/01)
The National Rehabilitation Information Center has been gathering and making available information about federally funded research as well as other topics of interest to persons with disabilities. Here's the NARIC's Information for Independence site.

Good employment numbers in France (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
February's unemployment rate in France was at its lowest level in more than ten years, according to the International Herald Tribune.

The President sizes things up in Russia (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
President Putin seems fairly satisfied with the political situation in his country, but says the Russian economy is still wandering in dangerous territory. Others might agree with him about the economy, but may not be as pleased about Russian politics, given how the former KGB officer has consolidated power and restricted freedoms since his arrival in the post. Nonetheless, following a thousand years of essentially no democracy, presidential power passed from one man to another as a result of an election, and that fact alone is something that no one should minimize.

Argentina's long recession has hit its middle class hard (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
Argentina's recession has gone on for years, and, as the Washington Post reports, the country's middle-class has been all but flattened.

America is a much larger country than in 1990 (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
The America of Lincoln's presidency contained about 30 million people, which is less than the population increase since the last Census. Here's more on the biggest ten-year population increase in American history from Erick Schmitt of the New York Times.

Learning from mistakes in cyberspace (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
South Korea has been a leader among those venturing into the uncharted territory of cyberspace, but Internet companies have been failing at a high rate there too. Nonetheless, as Michael Zielenziger reports from Seoul, many Korean tech entrepreneurs are not dissuaded. Success will come, they're saying.

When you're sick, you may not want to be cared for by somebody who is half-asleep (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
A new bill introduced in the House of Representatives would prohibit nurses from being forced to work overtime, although it would not affect physicians. As you have reported previously, there is a shortage of nurses in the United States, which is a reason why so many nurses are having to work extra hours, but it may also be a reason why so many "burn out" and leave the field.

Economic life in the Big City (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
Leslie Eaton reports that employment has been holding up very well in New York City, but spending patterns have changed, and that might mean trouble on the horizon.

Survival skills (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
The Toronto Star's Dana Flavelle tells what you can do if the Canadian economy slumps and it gets around to you. In fact, economic slowdowns benefit some persons. Elaine Carey sees that the people who repair things get more business when people aren't so inclined to buy new.

How "overqualified" can be interpreted (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
If you're told that you're overqualified for a job, it may be code for "too old," and you may have a basis for a discrimination suit. Here's more from Lynne Curry of the Anchorage Daily News.

Mixed messages from the tech sector (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
Julie Bennett reports that some employers are finding it much easier to hire the technical workers they need, but the Information Technology Association of America says that more than 400,000 tech jobs will remain unfilled this year. Here's more from InfoWorld.

Now that the baby has been born, do you have a right to have your old job back? (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
A Los Angeles Times columnist tells a correspondent that it depends. Here's more on what it depends on.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Great Economics Lessons (Tuesday, 4/3/01)
The war against economic illiteracy should begin early. Here are some Great Economics Lessons for students K-12 from the University of Nebraska.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, which is the biggest company of them all? (Monday, 4/2/01)
If your answer is General Motors, you haven't seen the latest Fortune 500 list. Long-time number 1 GM is now number 3 behind Exxon and Wal-Mart. Here's the complete listing, and here it is again organized by state, which you might find particularly interesting. For instance, the fact that North Dakota is home to none of the largest corporations helps explain why its economy is in trouble and its population has been shrinking, given the depression in the American ag sector. Also, a look at Texas will help you get over the notion that the big state is mostly about tumbleweeds, cattle, and oil. It also helps explain why Texas is now the second most populous state in the U.S. and contains several of America's largest cities. Times change.

Japanese business loses confidence (Monday, 4/2/01)
A new Bank of Japan survey shows a decline in "business sentiment."

Cuts at DuPont (Monday, 4/2/01)
Textile and apparel markets have weakened, and this affects the big chemical company. Why? Because DuPont produces polyester and nylon fibers, among other things, and has announced that it will cut 4,000 jobs as well as about 1,300 contractors. Columnist Jerry Heaster says that the March employment report, which is due this Friday, is likely to reflect the large number of layoffs that we and others have been reporting.

Greenspan is mortal after all, and many are wanting to hold it against him (Monday, 4/2/01)
To our knowledge, Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, has never claimed to be any sort of god, even though there was a long period when many Americans seemed to want to believe that he was both omniscient and omnipotent. Now, the mood has changed and the criticism has begun.

Mexico seeks a revised immigration policy in the United States (Monday, 4/2/01)
On the one hand, America needs Mexican workers and tacitly encourages them to come, legally or illegally. On the other hand, America keeps trying to track many of them down and send them home. It may be time for more coherent and realistic policy, and, as Richard Stevenson reports, the new Mexican government is urging the U.S. to change its laws so that more Mexicans can come here to work and so that many of those already here can have their status changed.

More on relaxed workplace dress (Monday, 4/2/01)
We've reported numerous times in recent years on the relaxation of workplace dress that has come with diminished need for paramilitary organization in the new economy, including "uniforms." Still, there are situations in which such a hierarchical organization and easy identification are still functional. Examples may be found in the military itself, in police and fire departments, and perhaps in medical organizations. Lee Glendinning reports in the Sydney Morning Herald that doctors have been giving up the white coats in Australia, but many patients would like them to put them on again. Speaking of health care, John Wiley reports on the continuing shortage of nurses in the United States, columnist Susan Tompor says you should take a very close look at medical bills, because they might be hoping that you'll automatically pay for things you shouldn't, and Gina Kolata reports that patients without health coverage often are charged higher fees as a matter of policy. Sometimes, MUCH higher. It's enough to make you sick.

Teachers may strike in Hawaii (Monday, 4/2/01)
A walkout could affect more than 16,000 teachers, K-grad school. Here's more from Bruce Dunford in Honolulu.

Market cools for tech workers (Monday, 4/2/01)
Several months ago, many experts were saying that the tech worker gap between supply and demand wouldn't narrow for at least ten years, if ever, and there were vigorous efforts going on to allow more technically-skilled people from other countries to come into the U.S. to work for Silicon Valley firms. The long-term trends may still be in place, but, for the moment, at least, given the slowed American economy, demand is down 44 percent from a year ago. Among the weakest parts of the tech sector right now, of course, are the Internet companies. Michelle Quinn writes from Silicon Valley about all the former dot-comers who have been packing up and going home. However, the dot-com bloodletting hasn't been confined to California. Seventy-five Internet companies have shut down recently in India's hi-tech center as well.

The changing journalist's job description (Monday, 4/2/01)
It may simply be habit, but there may be something more to it than that. Despite the Internet, laptops, wireless PDAs, electronic books, and all the others, many people really do prefer to read things printed on paper. Conventional books are unlikely to disappear in the foreseeable future, and, despite the newspaper industry's current struggles, you're likely to be able to continue taking your morning paper with you on the subway or into your favorite coffee shop. Despite the tremendous number of news sources now, including television, and despite our involvement in electronic media at various times as well as the fact that BNWW & NWN comes to you on your local screen, we agree that there's still nothing quite like a really good newspaper. However, some degree of media convergence really does seem to be happening, and journalists, including those most interested in print media, can be expected to need broader skills from now on.

Help! What do I do about my 401(k)? (Monday, 4/2/01)
The fact that large numbers of people are seeking advice has provided an opportunity for independent consulting firms.

Okay men, altogether now, sing: "I look pretty, I look pretty" (Monday, 4/2/01)
Anne D'Innocenzio reports that the latest thing for top managers is to indulge themselves in upscale salons.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Annual Reports Library (Monday, 4/2/01)
What does your favorite organization have to say for itself? The Annual Reports Library gives you access to more than a half-million annual reports, and you can order on line. The fee is $25.00 for each domestic report, and $35.00 for international.

Determining the direction of causation (Sunday, 4/1/01)
Do economic reforms lead to political reforms, or do political reforms lead to economic reforms, or are the lines of causality interactive and more complicated than that? Those who believe that freedom is indivisible have tended to expect that increased economic freedom in China would eventually bring greater political freedom as well. The Washington Post provides an update on this argument.

Tracking the still-elusive effects of hi-tech (Sunday, 4/1/01)
A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics supports the widespread view that technology has been mostly responsible for recent productivity increases, but that specific net life improvements aren't necessarily obvious or easy to identify.

Another rollback from the Clinton era (Sunday, 4/1/01)
The Bush administration has suspended a Clinton administration rule that would prevent companies that have violated workplace safety and environmental laws from obtaining government contracts.

More protests in South Korea (Sunday, 4/1/01)
Thousands of people protest in Seoul, and some of the protests have turned violent. The South Korean president is being blamed because of his corporate restructuring program that involves layoffs.

Wall Street employers try to reduce labor expenses (Sunday, 4/1/01)
Investment banks are responding to reduced earnings by hiring less experienced people. The decline in stock values has led to less public enthusiasm for investing a portion of Social Security funds in the market, and books about investing are staying on the store shelves longer too.

Going broke in America (Sunday, 4/1/01)
Peter Kilborn of the New York Times offers something other than a stereotypical picture of persons who go bankrupt in the United States. An increasingly likely change in the law won't just affect the deadbeats and spendthrifts, he says.

The globalization of business education (Sunday, 4/1/01)
Top business schools such as Wharton are forming alliances overseas, according to William Borden.

Treasury on ergonomics? (Sunday, 4/1/01)
The Bush administration's Treasury Secretary says that the government should be able to shut down companies that don't meet employee safety standards.

Will corporate management follow the President's lead? (Sunday, 4/1/01)
We're not talking about policy or issues here, but the length of work days. The President is a known and self-acknowledged delegator who is fairly easy on himself and who doesn't encourage those who work for him to be workaholics. However, John Solomon reports that the executives of corporate America haven't caught up to the President's lead yet. Or, maybe that should be that they haven't slowed to his pace.

However, there are other differences between top government officials and top corporate executives as well, as Julian Barnes reports. For one thing, guess who earns more? Well, as you might guess, it's no contest. Does this mean that only the sluggish or second-rate will be attracted to top government positions?

Despite widespread assumptions in the business world, not everybody is chasing the buck to the exclusion of all else. Human motivation is far more complex than that, and many very bright, talented, and competent people throughout history have worked hard but have not been particularly interested in money. Daniel Akst of the New York Times has more to say on these issues.

It's getting harder to get a raise (Sunday, 4/1/01)
Jobert Abueva tells about how the slowing economy and somewhat less tight labor market has cooled salary increases somewhat.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Prepared Foods (Sunday, 4/1/01)
One of the things that the new economy shares in common with the old is that people are still eating. Prepared Foods is an online magazine about the food industry, which, among many other things, tells about trends, not only in the U.S., but also in the global marketplace.

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