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What it means to be confident (Tuesday, 12/31/02)
The Conference Board's consumer confidence measure has been on the rise, but, as Mike Myers reports, it's important not to over-interpret those numbers and what they may mean for the months ahead. Will Lester says a new poll shows two-thirds of Americans think it's not a good time for additional tax cuts, and they also express concerns about additional war(s), issues which may not be independent in their minds.

Businesses unhappy about shorter visas (Tuesday, 12/31/02)
The Florida real estate and tourism industries feel that cutting the time that many foreigners can remain in the U.S. to thirty days will hurt them. Here's more from Deborah Sharp of USA Today. Meanwhile, the federal government intends to put Evergreen Forestry Services out of the business of contracting farm labor following the deaths of 14 migrant workers in a van crash.

Pay cuts and job cuts at United Airlines (Tuesday, 12/31/02)
A federal bankruptcy judge will decide early in January on United Airlines' plan to cut worker pay, while the company itself is saying that it will soon have to lay off a large portion of its workforce. Here's how United's problems have been affecting some of its flight attendants.

What judges have in common with other workers (Tuesday, 12/31/02)
They could use a raise, according to Chief Justice William Rehnquist. He has spoken with the President about the possibility of raises for federal judges at a time when there is increased speculation that he will retire during the new year.

More tech-related productivity increases expected (Tuesday, 12/31/02)
Improving productivity with hi-tech is as much a people problem as a technology problem. That is, people have to figure out how to get the most and best out of themselves while using the most effective tools available. Fortune magazine discusses future productivity levels and what it will mean for employment. Meanwhile, members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers indicated have indicated in a new survey that they expect Moore's Law will last for another five to ten years. However, 85 percent of the respondents said that fewer top students are choosing to train for careers in engineering.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Tuesday, 12/31/02)
Here's the United States EEOC's online newsletter.

Central banker expects Iraqi war to harm global economy (Monday, 12/30/02)
The head of the European Central Bank doesn't expect a big war in Iraq to be good for the world's economic condition. Also, Win Duisenberg won't rule out another cut in interest rates. Meanwhile, Marilyn Geewax sees a possible return of "Reaganomics" during the Bush II administration. The priorities are similar, she says. Rip Van Winkle might think it's still the 1980s.

China's size impresses (Monday, 12/30/02)
Of course, China has the largest national population in the world. Nearly one-quarter of the earth's 6 billion inhabitants live in China. However, the size of China's economy also is causing it to show up on nearly everybody's radar screen. The head of the State Statistical Bureau says that the Chinese Gross Domestic Product grew by 8 percent during 2002. If we use the old "rule of 72" that's ordinarily employed to calculate the cumulative effects of compound interest, a quick guestimate is that China's economy will double in size in about 9 years, quadruple in 18, assuming that such stellar growth rates can be maintained.

Where the job opportunities will be during the new year (Monday, 12/30/02)
Health and tech are expected to be quite strong, despite all the problems that both sectors have been experiencing. However, as Kim Norris of the Detroit Free Press cautions, not all jobs will be both plentiful and high-paying.

A profession needs to polish its image (Monday, 12/30/02)
Suddenly, all those lawyer jokes don't seem terribly funny. James Grimaldi reports that events of the past year or so have dealt a blow to the public's confidence in the legal profession. Incidentally, in a somewhat related story, Krissah Williams announces the creation of a new market, and hotlines are reconfiguring themselves in order to respond to it. They want to help companies do the right thing, not only because it's right, but also because of the requirements of the new Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

How your value is determined (Monday, 12/30/02)
Not your value as a human being, not in the eyes of God, not to your family or friends, but to your employer. Noted Chicago Tribune career columnist Carol Kleiman has asked an expert to help demystify the pay-determination process.

Don't ignore the fine print (Monday, 12/30/02)
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Alan Heavens says that the time to read over your homeowners' insurance policy carefully is before you have to make a claim. Sharron Buggs of the Houston Chronicle says that a record of actual damage claims should be part of insurance reform.

The Web has become a routine part of American life (Monday, 12/30/02)
Two-thousand Americans were surveyed in the Pew Internet and American Life Project, and the results suggest that almost two-thirds of the people in the United States use the World Wide Web regularly. In just a few years, it has become part of the country's basic infrastructure. Other estimates are that the Web is now 30-50 times larger than it was when BraveNewWorkWorld & NewWork News began more than seven years ago. It appears that we were among the pioneers.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: U.S. Budget (Monday, 12/30/02)
Here's the report on the Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2003 from the Office of Management and Budget.

Clinton blames Bush for benefit lapse (Sunday, 12/29/02)
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton says that President Bush is to blame for the fact that nearly 800,000 unemployed Americans lost their jobless benefits at midnight last night. Meanwhile, the President has decided that he wants Congress to move right away after it convenes to provide an extension. Presumably, the extension will be retroactive so that job-seekers will not experience an interruption of payments, even though the past few weeks probably were good for companies that sell over-the-counter antacid medications. The President seems to be in agreement with Congressional Democrats over the need for an extension, but it didn't happen before adjournment because of arguments over the amount. Has that argument been put to rest now behind the scenes, or will there be further delay while they work it out? Stay tuned.

New jobs picture not so pretty when you look closely (Sunday, 12/29/02)
Jun Saito writes in Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun that some slight improvement in Japan's unemployment numbers during November can be deceiving. The better numbers don't necessarily mean what you may think.

Union leaders want members to accept pay cuts (Sunday, 12/29/02)
Leaders of United Airlines' unions feel that the company's workers will make out best by trying to work with management in cutting costs, so they're urging members to accept concessions.

Holding China together (Sunday, 12/29/02)
China's rulers are willing to allow the great majority of the country's people to suffer while it attempts to create one of the world's largest and most influential economic powers, hoping that social upheaval will not tear the country apart before the government's objectives are sufficiently realized. Joe McDonald reports from Canada that government officials are thinking ahead about what it will take to hold China's vast population and vast geographical regions together as a single, unified country for the duration of the 21st century and beyond. As part of the plan, they're employing some of China's new wealth to build a super-modern rail system. During the 19th century, railroads enabled two vast continental nations to hold together as cohesive countries--i.e., Canada and the United States--and the Chinese are hoping for similar effects. Of course, similarly, air travel and modern communication technologies are managing to knit together much of the world into a single system.

Sharpen your pencil before buying that new home (Sunday, 12/29/02)
The American housing market is booming, given the lowest interest rates in more than a generation. However, even though it's a good time to buy, that doesn't mean you can't get over your head. Smart Money's Stacey Bradford suggests that you proceed very carefully, and not assume that everyone who enters the market will be in a story with a happy ending.

No longer a sure-thing career (Sunday, 12/29/02)
The Christian Science Monitor's Terry Costlow tells why some people are giving up on engineering careers, even if they've barely begun.

Adjusting to a new job (Sunday, 12/29/02)
Freshmen Members of Congress are trying to find their way around the Capitol as well as attempting to learn its culture. Here's more from Sheryl Gay Stolberg in Washington.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Working in the 21st Century (Sunday, 12/29/02)
The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the United States Department of Labor offers a sliced, diced, and analyzed portrait of the American workforce in Working in the 21st Century.

End of assistance at the end of the day (Saturday, 12/28/02)
Nearly 800,000 unemployed Americans will run out of jobless benefits at midnight tonight. The Baltimore Sun's Julie Hirschfeld Davis explains the partisan impasse in Congress that has left so many people stranded just after Christmas.

United makes a deal with four of its unions (Saturday, 12/28/02)
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that four unions have agreed to wage cuts to help keep bankrupt United Airlines in the air. Elsewhere in the airline industry, Continental's mechanics have ratified their new contract.

At least one sector is booming (Saturday, 12/28/02)
Overall, the American economy still hasn't gotten fully back on its feet, and some sectors such as telecommunications and travel are still hurting badly. However, November's new home sales set a record because of low interest rates. Christine Dugas of USA Today says that tapping into home equity has gotten to be very popular, but it's important to be careful.

Falling prices not so good (Saturday, 12/28/02)
Inflation can wreck an economy, but so can deflation. Japan's Economics Minister says that his country's highest priority is to find a way to end the deflation that has taken the miraculous out of what once was called the "Japanese miracle."

Leading a labor protest in China is a very dangerous thing to do (Saturday, 12/28/02)
Marxist movements arose as responses to traditional aristocratic monarchies as well as the early stages of capitalist industrialization, both of which tended to brutalize the masses of ordinary people who did the work. However, highly centralized communist systems turned out to be spectacular failures during the 20th century, with the result that the great majority of people living within them were deprived of personal political freedoms while not achieving long-term economic well-being either. A system that gives highest priority to the distribution of wealth at the expense of creating it is one in which most people eventually end up fighting over who will get to eat the seed corn.

The Chinese masses suffered greatly under a long period of aristocratic corruption and decline before suffering during decades of civil war and, then, decades of Maoist tyranny. Now, except for the name, China's rulers have essentially abandoned all things communist in order to encourage further development of a vigorous market system and rapid economic growth, while trying to retain centralized political control. And, guess what--the masses of ordinary people are still suffering. So, wouldn't labor unions help?

Here's news from Liaoyang, China on how the Chinese government is doing its best to discourage labor organization. "Discourage" may not be a strong enough word.

Incubator helps prepare people for jobs (Saturday, 12/28/02)
The Houston Technology Center helps tech firms get up and running, and it also helps people to acquire the skills that will be necessary for taking new jobs. Elsewhere in Texas, Lockheed Martin makes a sale that will preserve 500 jobs.

Olian's top 10 list (Saturday, 12/28/02)
Judy Olian has a list of 10 dumb things executives probably should try to avoid doing during the new year.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: China Labor Watch (Saturday, 12/28/02)
China Labor Watch is a domestic network of labor activists formed in China in 1997. It intends to work toward improving working and living conditions for China's workers and hopes to pave the way for future independent labor unions throughout the country.

Hundreds of thousands of persons lose benefits tomorrow (Friday, 12/27/02)
Tomorrow is the day that jobless benefits run out for nearly 800,000 unemployed Americans. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jane Von Bergen has the story of one of them. Fewer people have lost their jobs recently. Last week's jobless numbers were impressive, but, as Sarah Edmonds reports, the same cannot be said for this holiday season's retail sales.

Venezuela is now an energy importer (Friday, 12/27/02)
During ordinary times, Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, but these are not ordinary times. Stephen Ixer reports from Caracas that the strike by opponents of Venezuela's President has slowed the flow to such an extent that the country is now having to import fuel.

Why it's a bad, bad, bad time to be a governor or state legislator (Friday, 12/27/02)
Linda Feldmann and Liz Marlantes of the Christian Science Monitor say that state budgets are in their worst condition in a half century, and, as Sandra Block of USA Today reports, it's why states are having to re-think those prepaid college tuition plans. It may not be the best time for the University of Missouri, but a judge's ruling could mean that $450 million will have to be returned to 200,000 present and former students.

United wants to void union contracts (Friday, 12/27/02)
Bankrupt United Airlines is owned by its employees and also has higher-than-average labor costs in its industry. Geoffrey White says the company has started the process of asking the court to void its union contracts in order to cut costs.

Koizumi reform plan begins, but... (Friday, 12/27/02)
At one time, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appeared to be charismatic and came into office amid widespread public enthusiasm, as well as some inflated expectations. Then, his administration collided with the hard realities that have had the Japanese economy in the doldrums for more than a decade. Kiyoshi Okongoi writes in Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun about why the PM's reforms probably aren't going to work.

Harassment case settled at Ford (Friday, 12/27/02)
An employee at Ford's stamping plant in Dearborn, Michigan have agreed to settle a harassment complaint. The big auto manufacturer will pay Jill Nabozny an undisclosed amount of money. Meanwhile, Houston Chronicle columnist L. M. Sixel writes about companies that are adopting forced arbitration programs that prevent employees from having access to the courts.

What shareholders and workers can do (Friday, 12/27/02)
Columnist Diane Stafford writes about an executive compensation process that seems to have gone awry, and what shareholders or workers can do about it.

Incidentally, what are the relevant issues here? What information is needed in order to make an informed judgment about the nature or extent of the problem and what should be done?

In a free economy, something is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it, so long as people are able to make informed judgments within an environment of free and open competition. That is, buyer and seller should be free to determine what both regard as a fair market price without some political authority deciding what something is "supposed" to cost. Centrally managed economies have been tried, and have turned out to be among the most resounding failures of the 20th century.

If you're offended by what some executive compensation recently, how representative are the most egregious cases of the economy as a whole? A few companies have been featured on the front pages during recent months, some because of apparent illegality, but there are approximately 17,000 publicly-traded corporations in the United States. Are the highly-publicized problems typical or atypical of American companies in general? How can we tell? If the problem companies are unrepresentative of American corporations, we'll probably want to be very careful about applying remedies which could have a destructive effect on ALL companies, including those have not been part of the problem in the first place, and, as a consequence, have a highly destructive effect on the overall economy. A genuinely good business benefits all its constituencies, as well as American society, and we will not want to mess things up.

Is the problem that there has been too little government regulation and that we would all be better off if government were to decide how much stockholders can pay board members or executives? Generations of high school business law students have learned that "the law does not look into the adequacy of a consideration." If the government is allowed to determine how much services should cost, including executive services, why not the cost of shoes or a loaf of bread? Again, that sort of thing has been tried, and the results tends to impoverish everybody eventually.

Given informed choices within a genuinely competitive environment, it's unlikely that a company's owners will choose to pay an executive more than they regard as being in their own enlightened self-interest. The problem recently is that this process has become corrupted in some cases. Informed choices and competition haven't been operating freely. Some people have been cheating rather than playing the game by its intended rules. The game needs to be fixed, not taken over by its referees.

Government does have a legitimate role. A competitive free-market economy is not a state of nature, anymore than a competitive basketball game arises out of natural processes. Competition, including free, informed choices, can exist only within a structure of rules. It is government's job to determine the nature of these rules and to enforce them, but not to decide how many points each player should have.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: No Child Left Behind (Friday, 12/27/02)
No Child Left Behind is what the Administration calls the new education law signed by President Bush on January 8, 2002.

Finally is heard an encouraging word (Thursday, 12/26/02)
Maybe it will be a happy new year after all. First-time unemployment claims dipped dramatically last week. Here's more on the latest Labor Department numbers from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. If you're among the fortunate ones who already has a job, but want to earn more next year, here's some advice from the Detroit Free Press' John Gallagher.

New whistle-blower law kicks in next month (Thursday, 12/26/02)
Lawyers will be required to report corrupt business practices. Warren Richey of the Christian Science Monitor speculates on whether it will do any good.

Exclusive club within an exclusive club (Thursday, 12/26/02)
Among the most exclusive affiliations in the world is membership in the great American Congress. Richard Salant writes that the new Congress will contain more than two-dozen millionaires who could end up casting votes that could influence their holdings.

Doctors as patients in a sick system (Thursday, 12/26/02)
Julie Appleby says that the American healthcare system is so screwed up that even doctors who have spent their careers working in it have difficulty finding their way when they become ill.

Corporate downsiding (Thursday, 12/26/02)
Daniel Altman says that there is plenty of disagreement over whether cutting more workers will really help a company prepare for the time when the American economy enjoys vigorous growth once again.

We have met the boss and he is us (Thursday, 12/26/02)
Peter Drucker wrote many years ago about how the American economy had become a capitalist system without capitalists, at least in the original sense. Certainly, through pension funds and other means, approximately half of adult Americans now own stock, and, significantly, about three-quarters of those who vote. Many workers participate broadly in the ownership of publicly-traded companies in the United States. But what happens if a company's workers also own the company they work for? The New York Times' Edward Wong and Micheline Maynard examine the case of bankrupt United Airlines and how much employee ownership has contributed to the company's present sorry state.

Drucker TV (Thursday, 12/26/02)
In his tenth decade, Peter Drucker continues to be a leading and influential voice. Here's Business Week's report on Ken Witty's CNBC special on one of the leading lights of the 20th century who still hasn't dimmed at the beginning of the 21st. Incidentally, with Peter Drucker still active at 93 and with 90-year-old Art Linkletter still traveling, lecturing, and doing business, in addition to downhill skiing, age probably isn't enough to justify the retirement of Fed Head Alan Greenspan, who is still only in his 70s. Barbara Hagenbaugh of USA Today says economists expect that he will remain at his post through the new year.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management (Thursday, 12/26/02)
Peter Drucker is credited as the principal inventor of modern management as well as the profession of management consulting, so his impact on the nature and functioning of corporations throughout the world has been enormous. However, he's had a major impact on non-business organizations as well. Here's the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management.

Year-end struggles (Wednesday, 12/25/02)
The American economy remains in an unimpressive frump as 2002 draws near its close, according to this report from Tim Ahmann. One major part of the problem: what may turn out to be the worst holiday shopping season for retailers in 30 years. Japan's economy has been worse for a longer period, and Brian Bremner reports that the International Monetary Fund may be about to exert whatever pressure it can to encourage Japan to come to grips with its banking mess.

Still no extension...yet (Wednesday, 12/25/02)
Hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans will exhaust their jobless benefits after another three days. One distinguishing attribute of the current job slump is that it's taking people longer to find new employment than during previous downturns. If you'd like a little good news, here's Mark Phelan's report about Chrysler's plans to push sales, production, and hiring over the next several years. Thousands of new jobs could result.

Teacher shortage eases in some regions (Wednesday, 12/25/02)
Mark Sappenfield reports that Oakland, along with Atlanta and New York, is among the cities in which the shortage of teachers if beginning to look less severe.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Guides to Healthcare (Wednesday, 12/25/02)
Consumers' Checkbook is a nonprofit organization that publishes various guides to healthcare facilities and services.

Surprising deal at Southwest Airlines (Tuesday, 12/24/02)
Southwest Airlines has reached a tentative agreement with its customer service workers that is surprising the industry. Also, Paul Singer writes about another innovative labor agreement that could influence the entire American steel industry.

Grinch hits retailing (Tuesday, 12/24/02)
Consumer spending accounts for about 2/3 of the U.S. economy, and a major portion of that occurs during the year-end holiday season. Anne D'Innocenzio reports that Christmas shoppers have been holding back, and that's going to turn out to be very bad news for a lot of retailers as well as the rest of us.

Bush disappoints (Tuesday, 12/24/02)
Many Republicans rely on ad hominen or straw man arguments, but that doesn't make them different from many Democrats. The Clinton haters and the Bush haters are likely to remain forever haters, no matter what their favorite hatees say or do.

The real world and its real people are more complex than the stereotypes or caricatures, though, and grownups in both parties approach things differently from many radio talk show hosts or people in the middle of barroom arguments. For instance, when former Secretaries of State Madeline Albright and Henry Kissinger appear on TV together, the discourse is more like that of a post-doctoral seminar.

So, if you see complex political or social life in dichotomous or single-dimensional terms, you're mostly just seeing what's inside your own head. Current political realities are more complex than anybody's traditional ideology and are changing rapidly. We are fools if we are unwilling to think carefully about what the brightest people in both major political parties as well as those with other or no formal political affiliations at all have to say. As you listen to people shout at each other on the talk shows, keep in mind that the purpose of the broadcast is not to promote insight or understanding, but to attract audiences to the commercials, and that is best done with strong attention-getters, such as conflict.

Incidentally, after deciding that she would never be good enough to work as a concert pianist on the big-time international circuit, a favorite political science professor at the University of Denver changed Dr. Condoleezza Rice's life and directed her toward a career that would include stints as Stanford University's Provost and President Bush's National Security Advisor. He was Josef Korbel, father of Madeline Albright, Secretary of State in the Clinton administration.

So, who does President Bush disappoint? To the extent that he does not fit the caricature that many of his partisan enemies have for him--which is often--he will disappoint them, but they are unlikely to notice if they see their caricature more clearly than they see him. With a pro-choice mother and a pro-choice wife, the pro-life members of his Republican coalition may not get all they want from him either, though, and Rich Miller tell what Republican "supply siders" think of his recent economic appointments.

Americans tire of long commutes (Tuesday, 12/24/02)
Haya El Nasser of USA Today says Census Bureau data show that Americans are choosing to live closer to their work.

What it takes to retire (Tuesday, 12/24/02)
Many experts are worrying about you, particularly if you're an American boomer. You're caught in a time-warp, they fear, thinking that you're forever young. Look in the mirror, for heaven's sake. No, there's no one standing behind you. That almost-elderly person staring back is YOU, and you haven't been saving enough for retirement. Well, maybe it's possible to worry too much about money. Scott Burns has been talking to Ralph Warner about his new book, Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Poles and Italians then, Mexicans Now? (Tuesday, 12/24/02)
Bard College Professor Joel Perlmann examine the question of whether recent Mexican immigrants will enjoy the economic progress similar to that of earlier immigrants. Here's his working paper, Poles and Italians then, Mexicans Now? Immigrant-to-Native Wage Ratios, 1910 and 1940.

Face-off continues in Venezuela (Monday, 12/23/02)
Striking managers of Venezuela's state-run oil sector are trying to force President Hugo Chavez from office, claiming that he would like to turn his country into a version of Castro's Cuba. In retaliation, President Chavez has been threatening to fire the managers. Alexandra Olson reports the latest from Caracas. During ordinary times, the U.S. gets a lot of its oil from Venezuela, but it hasn't been getting much during the current crisis. This, combined with the possibility of a war in Iraq resulting in an interruption of the oil flow from the Middle East, has been driving prices up, but, as Brad Foss reports, the impact on the U.S. economy hasn't been felt much so far.

The boost from refinancing (Monday, 12/23/02)
Historically low interest rates have encouraged a lot of people to refinance their mortgages, and it's really adding up. In fact, it's been enough to account for 20 percent of GDP growth. Consumers have done much to keep the American economy from slumping into another recession, as well, although holiday retail sales appear to be a bit soft. The economy really needs a return of business spending. Barbara Hagenbaugh and Barbara Hansen of USA Today report that economists are somewhat optimistic about the months ahead, but cautiously so.

A closer look at "progress" (Monday, 12/23/02)
The concept of "progress" is a relatively new idea, and, of course, very American. Are things better now than they used to be? Well, yes and no. Some things are better; some things are worse, and some things are pretty much the same. If we're sufficiently selective, nearly anything can be made to appear either very good or very bad.

What is the role of technology in advancing humanity? As you may have noticed, much of the attention that the hi-tech revolution has gotten in recent years has been either "gee-whiz" or apocalyptic. The reality seems to be that each time humanity uses our increasingly sophisticated knowledge of nature to achieve some practical result, there tend to be costs and risks, whether or not there are gains. That's what technology is, incidentally--the USE OF KNOWLEDGE, whether or not machines are involved.

Laurent Belsie of the Christian Science Monitor reports on people who have been looking at some of the societal costs of hi-tech. SOMETIMES technological change is good. However, perspective almost always is.

A closer look at economic efficiency (Monday, 12/23/02)
Scott Burns isn't convinced that competition in the private sector really results in more efficient use or distribution of resources. He suggests a fresh look that does not rely on the either conventional conservative or conventional liberal economic "theology." He's identified a couple of books you might want to read.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: A closer look at Marriage, Poverty, and Public Policy (Monday, 12/23/02)
When A and B are correlated, is it because A influences B, or because B influences A? Or, is it because C influences both A and B?

Basically, it is because the underlying reasons for relationships among variables usually are not obvious that scholars know that careful research is necessary in order to sort things out. The public and their political representatives often aren't as discerning when advocating or designing public policy. Leaping to conclusions is a popular sport in which large numbers of people, including government officials, participate.

So, when you find that the likelihood of a family's being below the poverty line is far less when two parents are present than when there is only one, how should we explain this correlation, and what should we do in order to reduce poverty? Should we simply insist that more people get married?

In their report, Marriage, Poverty, and Public Policy, Professors Stephanie Coontz and Nancy Folbre call into question common assumptions about what is cause and what is consequence.

Whistlepersons recognized (Sunday, 12/22/02)
Nearly everybody today, including the Voice of America, is reporting that Time magazine's "Persons of the Year" are whistleblowers this time. Stephanie Armour of USA Today reports that a growing number of companies are actually encouraging their own whistleblowers to blow their whistles.

Big New Year's diet resolution (Sunday, 12/22/02)
US Airways expects to emerge from bankruptcy fairly early in 2003 by spending $1.8 billion less.

Farm income improvement may be on the horizon (Sunday, 12/22/02)
Charles Abbott writes from Washington, D.C. about some possible implications of an improved grain market.

Please take the money (Sunday, 12/22/02)
About a quarter of the persons who qualify for the earned income tax credit don't apply for it, even though it can mean thousands of dollars. Cities throughout the United States are trying to get the word out and convince qualifying individuals and families that there aren't any catches or bad surprises.

Go-gettin' minorities (Sunday, 12/22/02)
Grace Adjuroja writes from Chicago about how so many African Americans and Hispanics are drawn to the almost infinite possibilities that can come from an entrepreneurial attitude in a society whose openness and tendency to reward creativity are often underestimated.

Have minorities in the United States suffered discrimination in the past? Of course. Is there still an abundance of supercilious jerks in the U.S. who, for their own reasons, search for opportunities to pin something on you and hold your specialness against you? Of course, but not every member of America's privileged classes is a jackass, and the America of the early 21st century is not the America of the 19th century, or even of the 1960s. You can try to tell people like Colin Powell, Oprah Winfrey, or BET's Robert Johnson that remaining obstacles mean that it isn't possible to make your own way in what may be the most opportunity-rich society on earth if you want to. People like that are living evidence that it's not only possible to succeed, but to become part of America's most influential "natural aristocracy." A final list of the century's greatest Americans will have to include them as well as many others.

Congratulations on your promotion; now, good-bye (Sunday, 12/22/02)
Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun has found that many Japanese governmental units inflate retirement allowances by promoting people on their last day on the job.

After Christmas blues (Sunday, 12/22/02)
Elvis may have had a "blue Christmas without you," but Donna Halvorsen reports that for many people who spend too much for the holidays, the blues sets in during the first part of the year. Incidentally, as the Arizona Republic's Russ Wiles reports, some people may be in a financial bind during the new year for different reasons entirely. Here's what a major war in Iraq may mean to American families with members who are called to service.

Overtaken by takeovers (Sunday, 12/22/02)
Is a bad experience made better by another name? Corporate takeovers are leaving a lot of workers, er, well, "dehired." Here's more about Bill Lutz' book, The New Doublespeak.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Left Behind in the Labor Market (Sunday, 12/22/02)
Left Behind in the Labor Market: Recent Employment Trends Among Young Black Men is a report from Paul Offner and Harry Holzer, Professors at the Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute.

Democrats want special session for jobless (Saturday, 12/21/02)
Congressional Democrats are calling for an emergency special session of Congress, which might have to last only minutes, according to Nancy Pelosi, in order to extend jobless benefits for the hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans who will be left high and dry just after Christmas. Dave Carpenter discusses the pessimism that many Americans are feeling about the job market.

Rearrangtement of the tectonic plates (Saturday, 12/21/02)
Canada's National Post reports on the world's shifting economic power balance, and how China is displacing Japan as the Asian powerhouse. Meanwhile, the demographic and political balance continues to shift in the direction of the South and West in the United States. North Dakota continues to lose population. Here's more from Jonathan Salant in Washington.

U.S. blocks deal that would have provided cheap medications to the world's poor (Saturday, 12/21/02)
Opponents are thinking that the U.S. is acting like Scrooge, but an American Ambassador says the agreement would have undermined the ability of pharmaceutical companies to develop medications for fighting disease, given the huge funding required by effective research and development programs.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress (Saturday, 12/21/02)
Here is biographical information about every person who has served in the United States Congress from 1774 until the present.

Fairly hot summer for economic growth (Friday, 12/20/02)
America's Gross Domestic Product grew at an annualized rate of 4 percent during the summer, according to new government data released today. However, the economy has been tapping the brakes during the final months of 2002. Nonetheless, there are indications of a general mood improvement, according to some recent indicators, but Chairman Greenspan says it's too early to say whether sustainable recovery is underway, and suggests that it's time to worry more about deflation than inflation. John Berry of the Washington Post says that more and more economists are expressing skepticism on the advisability of another Bush push to stimulate growth.

Striking executives are still striking (Friday, 12/20/02)
Opponents of Venezuela's President Chavez are still trying to get him to get lost, not the least of whom are executives in the country's state-run oil company. Venezuela is one of the world's largest oil producers, and supplies about as much to the U.S. as does Saudi Arabia. However, at the moment, production is falling far short of domestic needs, let alone export.

Wal-Mart workers win one in court (Friday, 12/20/02)
The world's largest retailer has been accused of forcing employees to put in un-paid overtime, and a number of lawsuits have been brewing. William McCall reports from Portland, Oregon on a suit that has been won by the plaintiffs. The monetary award will be decided later by a different jury.

Japan expects very little growth during the year ahead (Friday, 12/20/02)
The Japanese government doesn't expect the country's economy to slip back into recession in 2003, but growth is likely to be minimal. Economists at the International Monetary Fund think they know what Japan needs to do in order to make things better.

German job market reform takes a step ahead (Friday, 12/20/02)
Lawmakers in Germany have approved the government's plan to increase labor market flexibility and make a dent in the country's high unemployment rate, but Labor Minister Clement said it's only the first step. Critics say they're glad to hear that, because they don't expect the current measures to make much difference.

Agreeing while disagreeing (Friday, 12/20/02)
It now appears that both Republicans and Democrats in the House want to extend unemployment benefits for those whose payments have run out before they have been able to obtain new employment, but, as Jim Abrams reports--surprise!--their plans for doing so aren't identical.

The Big City's big numbers (Friday, 12/20/02)
New York's Mayor Bloomberg, a self-made multi-zillionaire, is finding the city's financial situation to be more daunting than he had expected.

Elimination of double taxation under consideration (Friday, 12/20/02)
The Bush administration may make an agreement with Mexico that would lead to the elmination of double taxation of Social Security benefits.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Industry at a Glance (Friday, 12/20/02)
Here's information about relative employment levels in the nine principal divisions of American industry from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the United States Department of Labor.

Indicators up (Thursday, 12/19/02)
The Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose in November, suggesting better economic times ahead. Here's more from Adam Geller in New York. Also, first-time jobless claims have declined a bit, but not yet enough to reuduce much nervousness about the job market. Kansas City Star columnist Diane Stafford says that this spring's grads will face a market only slightly better than last year's, which was terrible--the worst in 20 years. Also, Ms. Stafford tells about aging boomers for whom things haven't been booming.

U.S. economy may get a boost from computer purchases (Thursday, 12/19/02)
Michelle Kessler reports that hundreds of millions of personal computers are due for replacement.

Bethlehem Steel acquisition may be held up (Thursday, 12/19/02)
The federal government has decided to take over bankrupt Bethlehem Steel's pension system, and that may prevent International Steel Group's planned acquisition.

How to save money while increasing unemployment a bit (Thursday, 12/19/02)
Kentucky's Governor has decided to release hundreds of prison inmates in order to reduce strain on the state's budget.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: 2002 Advocates' Guide (Thursday, 12/19/02)
Here's the 2002 Advocates' Guide from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Schroeder loses one in the courts (Wednesday, 12/18/02)
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would like his country to admit more foreign workers, but a court blocked the immigration law that would do that. Here's more from Alexander Huebner in Karlsruhe.

Strong incentive for a deal (Wednesday, 12/18/02)
Labor contracts could be thrown out altogether if bankrupt United Airlines cannot get agreement with unions on major cost cuts, according to Mike Robinson in Chicago.

Update on the service sector (Wednesday, 12/18/02)
The shift in balance between America's manufacturing and service sectors has been continuing, but also slowing. The service sector accounts for a disproportionately large number of jobs as compared to its share of GDP.

Council moves to protect its investments (Wednesday, 12/18/02)
Some hotels in the District of Columbia receive funding from the District. The D. C. Council wants those operators to negotiate with workers in a way that won't provoke them into strikes or other costly actions. The Council passed a new bill it hopes will result in minimizing labor strife.

Dis-acquisition (Wednesday, 12/18/02)
Gabor Garai reports that many companies are trying to get rid of what they were trying so hard to acquire during the recent boom.

Bear-ly able to retire (Wednesday, 12/18/02)
Christine Dugas tells about how the bear market has changed many people's retirement plans.

Is that you, Buddha? (Wednesday, 12/18/02)
Some years ago, a two-year-old immigrant from Korea, when seeing her first picture of Santa Claus, enthusiastically proclaimed, "Buddha!" Marilyn Gardner writes about people happily trying to cope with the mysteries of American culture, its traditions, and its holidays.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Health Care Choices (Wednesday, 12/18/02)
If you're a position of being able to choose the hospital in which to have your surgery done, particularly in New York City, Health Care Choices from attorney Susan Rosenfeld can assist your comparisons.

Bush and his principal opponents (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
No, not Gore...he's already gone. The President may be a bit nostalgic for the "good old days" of November 2000 when there was mostly Al Gore to worry about. And, if Saddam weren't enough to worry about now, he also has fellow Republican Trent Lott doing about as much damage to the Administration and the Republican party as most political enemies, foreign or domestic, ordinarily set out to do deliberately. Even if Senator Lott isn't a closet racist, the President may wonder about the leadership abilities of someone who is capable of behaving in such a monumentally stupid fashion. Do "political intelligence" tests exist, and, if so, what are the lowest scores on record?

But, if President Bush has been looking a little harried lately, it may not be just because of Saddam or Lott. There are indications that the American economy is taking more and more of his worry time. He has a new economic team, but many people are saying that he really needs new economic policies, and we'll have to wait a while to see if he agrees. Barbara Hagenbaugh of USA Today writes about the economists who aren't expecting new tax cuts to kick in quick enough to do any good.

Transit strike averted in New York, but Germany isn't so fortunate (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
Roland Losch writes from Munich about the strike of transit workers in that city, as well as about similar disruptions in other German metropolitan areas.

Concessions? You ain't seen nuthin' yet (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
Bankrupt United Airlines may need twice the labor cost cuts that had been expected earlier, according to Dave Carpenter in Chicago. Lenders are demanding them. Meanwhile, another of America's largest airlines is pushing ahead on cost cuts. Delta is offering early retirement incentives to 4,000 workers. In other job-cut news outside the airline industry, Electrolux is planning to become smaller by 5,000 workers.

Crime and economic statistics seem to correlate to some extent, so... (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
Kevin Johnson of USA Today reports that crime has been increasing during a time when the economy has been struggling. Some analysts interpret this to mean that the economic conditions have been helping to cause the crime, which may be true, but anyone who has studied the difference between "correlation" and "causation" may remain unconvinced. What information would you need in order to be convinced? If your rooster crows before the sun comes up each morning, does that necessarily mean that he MAKES the sun come up?

Incidentally, the crime statistics aren't awful yet, by historical American standards, and the economic statistics aren't awful either, just unimpressive. Martin Crutsinger reports from Washington on some of the new data showing that inflation still isn't a problem yet and industrial production has increased a bit.

Typically, a fairly global measure of consumer prices is used, which is a type of average, and, by itself, it can obscure interesting details. On average, prices have been tame, even though some--e.g., health costs--have increased more than average, while others--e.g., energy costs--have dipped a bit during recent months. The great slowing of oil exports out of Venezuela may be reflected in energy price increases in the United States later, and, of course, a major war in Iraq may influence oil supplies from the Middle East in unpredictable ways, so stay tuned.

Reports of improved circumstances for Afghan women may have been premature (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
Evelyn Leopold writes that Afghan women have been suffering some of the some indignities and persecutions under warlords as they did under the Taliban.

Careful, big brother HAL'S watching (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
Wired magazine reports on the use of hi-tech to monitor and analyze the behavior of employees who MIGHT be planning on becoming internal hackers.

Interpreters and hi-tech (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
Language is a stubbornly complex cultural phenomenon that defies accurate, complete translation through the use of simple, mechanistic rules, and, so far, at least, human brains have been much better at it than computers. However, Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun reports that some PDA devices may be about to make some human interpreters unnecessary.

Is conception too late for college planning? (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
What sort of future can your child have without a degree from the "right" college, for heaven's sake? You may be forgiven for thinking that this sort of obsessionalism rests on essentially arbitrary assumptions and can sound a little like assuming that success depends on having the "right" color socks...or skin. Nonetheless, Marjorie Coeyman reports that plenty of nervous, insecure American parents are starting pretty early to worry about their children's future. Is there something a little nuts about this aspect of contemporary American culture?

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: PEWS (Tuesday, 12/17/02)
PEWS stands for "Programs for Employment and Workplace Systems" and offers consulting, training, and other services from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Quick trivia quiz: What famous astronomer was on the faculty at Cornell University for many years until his death in the 1990s? Hint: He wrote a book upon which a movie was based which starred Jody Foster. Winners of this contest will receive absolutely nothing except a nanosecond of our admiration.

Economics in a tough world (Monday, 12/16/02)
Economic forecasts always assume a given set of conditions, and when the geopolitical situation changes significantly, all bets may be off. Carolyn Cummins of Melbourne's The Age is in Sydney and has been thinking about the economic implications of a world in which a number of things could blow up at once.

Talks continue, trains keep rollin' (Monday, 12/16/02)
Transit union officials have called off their strike threats in New York City and are continuing negotiations.

Even more trouble may be coming to Africa (Monday, 12/16/02)
The huge African continent contains nearly everything, and quite a lot of it is unwelcomed by the people who live there. There are wars, over-population, political strike, AIDS, economic problems, and now, the increasing threat of famine. Here's more from the BBC.

Living under siege (Monday, 12/16/02)
The wealthy in many locations around the world have long tried to isolate themselves from mere mortals by putting a fence or moat around their homes as well as their lives. However, in the U.S., a new Census report shows that many lower-income people are living in gated communities now as well.

Tax simplification (Monday, 12/16/02)
For some people, it may be very simple: they'll pay more. Plans for simplifying the tax system that are being worked up at the Treasury Department would shift the tax burden more in the direction of lower-income people.

High-wires without nets (Monday, 12/16/02)
By its nature, life is complicated, difficult, and dangerous. It can be far more so if you're negligent and unprepared. Mary Williams Walsh discusses the implications of the Bush administration's new pension proposals, and suggests it's time to take a close look at what a switch to a cash-balance plan would do to your late years. However, maybe it won't be a problem for you if you're among the tremendous number of Americans who have no savings and no pension at all anyway. Harriet Johnson Brackey explains why you shouldn't put too much trust in your 401(k), despite all the promises coming out of Washington lately. A dramatically changed climate, which has many workers abandoning hope of the early retirement they had dreamed of, is leading many employers to take another close look at 401(k) issues as well, according to the Detroit Free Press. And, if all this isn't enough to worry about, what if you end up needing long-term care. Think of what THAT would cost. Insurance is available, but, as Michelle Singletary writes, you will find the premiums to be, well, impressive.

Marketing research reaches the HR department (Monday, 12/16/02)
Michelle Conlin writes about how information about you is being sliced and diced by people who want to more accurately predict what the boss will have to offer in order to attract and hold you to the job without making you too unhappy. One size no longer fits all. They're doing the kind of "narrowcasting" that radio and television discovered or helped invent some years ago.

Incidentally, what DO their human resources cost employers? Here's what Business Week has to say about some of the novel things Mercer Human Resource Consulting has been doing to help find out.

Time on her hands (Monday, 12/16/02)
Here's a woman who became accustomed to the work at a frantic startup and finds her job with a nonprofit very much a change of pace.

How to earn a degree from one of the world's top schools and save a LOT of money (Monday, 12/16/02)
Greg Winter of the New York Times writes about what a lot of people have known about all along. Many of the nation's community colleges offer excellent educational opportunities at great value. America's most prestigious and famous colleges are becoming increasingly populated with people who transferred in after spending their first two years at a community college.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: America's Children 2002 (Monday, 12/16/02)
What is the condition of children in the United States? Here's the sixth annual report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics: America's Children 2002.

Bush changes direction and urges quick extension of jobless benefits (Sunday, 12/15/02)
The President wants the Congress to put the extension of expired unemployment benefits for three-quarters of a million Americans at the top of their "to do" list when the lawmakers come back in session in January.

Bush's new team may lack ideological purity on tax cuts (Sunday, 12/15/02)
On the one hand, there is reason to believe that John Snow and Stephen Friedman are inclined to be team players with political discretion, but are they really "true believers" on the tax cut question? Actually, to the President, it doesn't even seem to be a question.

Pilots agree to pay cuts (Sunday, 12/15/02)
In order to have any hope of emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the near term, US Airways has to cut a lot of costs. Anitha Reddy reports that the company's pilots have ratified pay reductions totaling $100 million. In other labor news, as budgets tighten, expect more conflict between governments at all levels and the unions representing government workers, according to Robert Tanner. A sluggish economy has been creating problems for nonprofits and their clients as well. Here's more from Robert Franklin of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Counting problems (Sunday, 12/15/02)
The U.K. government's labor policies have been based on its assessment of prevailing labor market realities, but it appears that the number of job vacancies has been overestimated by about 350,000.

Another reason for a planet to gasp (Sunday, 12/15/02)
For years, many commentators have been remarking about the impossibility of the underdeveloped world's ever achieving a U.S.-style standard of living, given the disproportionate pressure America's five percent of world population has been putting on resources and the environment. What if the 95 percent of the world's population that does NOT live in the U.S. were as resource spendy and polluting as the U.S.? It seems that Earth would become another Venus for sure. Yeong Choy Leng suggests that the world may have an opportunity to test at least part of that hypothesis, now that China's economy is growing so rapidly and that the 300 million or so of the more than 1 billion Chinese who are participating in the current economic revolution in the world's largest country are scrambling to obtain automobiles.

Houston downtown day-care system shrinks (Sunday, 12/15/02)
Shannon Buggs tells about the various reasons that the downtown work area in Houston is losing daycare facilities, and what it means for working parents.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Contract Employee's Handbook (Sunday, 12/15/02)
In the increasingly competitive, globalized economy, flexibility is rewarded, so employers like a "just-in-time" workforce. This has led to increased reliance on temps, part-timers, and contract workers. Dr. James Ziegler, Executive Director of P.A.C.E., maintains the Contract Employee's Handbook.

Injunction heads off transit strike (Saturday, 12/14/02)
New York City's M.T.A. has requested and received an injunction which will prevent the city's 34,000 subway and bus workers from striking on Monday. Meanwhile, a debilitating strike is approaching two weeks duration in Venezuela, which mostly has shut down the nation's oil industry. President Hugo Chavez, whose opposition is demanding his resignation, is threatening to bring in foreign oil workers to get the exports going again. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

More signs that the Cold War REALLY is over (Saturday, 12/14/02)
The European Union has agreed to its largest expansion in its 45-year history by bringing 10 additional nations, mostly former Soviet communist buffer states in under its umbrella. The next big step will be to bring an Islamic country into the EU, but that won't happen for a while. Turkey is saying that it will be ready to start formal talks in 2004.

Bush wants help for the unemployed (Saturday, 12/14/02)
However, in his weekly radio address, he wasn't asking for an extension of unemployment benefits, but, rather, the assistance of Congress in moving his economic plan along, with its emphasis on tax cuts. Many Democrats agree that what the unemployed really need are jobs, but until those become available, a great number could use some additional interim help, given that their unemployment benefits will run out just after Christmas. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Andrew Cassel doesn't understand the point of additional tax cuts in order to spur additional investment in an economy that already has excess capacity. Meanwhile, additional structural changes are proceeding in the American economy, as Barbara Hagenbaugh of USA Today reports. More and more manufacturing jobs are moving off shore, she says.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Labor Arts (Saturday, 12/14/02)
Labor Arts presents the art of working people and the labor movement in a virtual museum.

Bush closes the deal on Friedman (Friday, 12/13/02)
Stephen Friedman was a colleague of Robert Rubin for awhile at Goldman Sachs. Some in the Administration might hope that the two have quite a lot in common, because of Rubin's success as President Clinton's Treasury Secretary. On the other hand, there are "supply-side" Republicans in Congress who are afraid that Friedman might turn out to be a bit too much like Rubin in what, to them, are some of the wrong ways. Nonetheless, following some Republican Congressional resistance, President Bush has gone ahead and appointed Friedman to succeed Larry Lindsey as his chief economic advisor in the White House. Unlike the SEC chairman and Treasury Secretary jobs, this appointment doesn't require Congressional approval.

FedEx accused of racial discrimination (Friday, 12/13/02)
Michael Liedtke reports from San Francisco on a suit being brought against FedEx by 26 current and former California employees.

Consumers continue to hold up their end (Friday, 12/13/02)
John Berry says that the latest data indicate that American consumers are still doing their part to keep the U.S. economy from slipping back into recession, and rising incomes are part of the reason.

Union leaders support proposed deal (Friday, 12/13/02)
A group of leaders in the union representing West Coast dockworkers have endorsed the proposed contract. Here's more from Justin Pritchard in California.

Shortage of skills in New Zealand (Friday, 12/13/02)
New Zealand's The Jobs Letter reports that manufacturing company officials are saying that, while demand is sufficient to support greater economic growth, a shortage of skilled workers is likely to limit the country's economic possibilities for a while.

Out in the cold (Friday, 12/13/02)
Julie Appleby tells about workers who didn't know that their employers had stopped paying the health insurance premiums until they started receiving big bills for medical services already delivered. Also, in the "unpleasant surprises" department, columnist L. M. Sixel strongly suggests that you look into how much you'll have to retire on long before the day comes.

What to do when somebody is effective but hard to take? (Friday, 12/13/02)
If you have an employee who is both unpleasant and a poor worker, there isn't too much of a problem that can't be solved by simple dismissal. However, it can be a bit more complicated if an offensive worker is good at his/her job. Joyce Rosenberg has some suggestions for how to keep a disruptive employee without having everybody else quit.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Asian Population 2000 (Friday, 12/13/02)
Researchers at the US Census Bureau have prepared this report on the distribution of the Asian and Asian-American population in the United States, according to 2000 Census data.

Bush breaks with Jefferson? (Thursday, 12/12/02)
Millions of Africans were kidnapped and brought to North America against their will, victims of one of history's worst and most protracted crimes. Millions of Native Americans, whose ancestors already had been here for thousands of years, were similarly oppressed by the transplanted Europeans. With these notable exceptions, there was a time when the U.S. was mostly white and mostly Protestant because of the historical accident of its having grown out of Protestant British colonies.

All this is to say that America was far more religiously homogeneous during its early years than it has been more recently following the the great influx of Jews as well as Roman Catholic immigrants from European regions such as Italy, Poland, and Ireland during the 19th and early 20th centuries plus large-scale Latin American immigration which continues to the present day. In recent years, there also have been increasing numbers of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, and other religious groups, as America comes to more accurately reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of humanity as a whole. "Caucasian" and "Christian" are not essential parts of the definition of a "genuine" human being.

Now that many people are wondering if Senator Trent Lott really has been a "Dixiecrat" impersonating a Republican all along, it seems an odd time for the President Bush to be pushing ahead with his "faith-based" initiative, which, among other things, might warm the hearts of people who still wish that Strom Thurmond had been elected president in 1948 or that the crushing power of the state could be brought to bear in support of ethnic or religious bigotry, even now. Could "faith-based" really mean Buddhist to President Bush, or would he prefer that it mean only his particular flavor of Christianity? His remarks over the years about how there is a common core of belief in all faiths suggests that he certainly didn't spend much time studying the history of ideas at either Yale or Harvard.

It isn't clear that President Bush is among those who secretly hope for the repeal of the Renaissance, but it does appear that he wouldn't mind a return to a pre-Jefferson period when it was difficult to distinguish between church and state in Western Europe and the American colonies, just as it has been more recently in the Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran or the Taliban's Afghanistan.

Both the Democrats and Republicans like to trace their parties' origins back to Thomas Jefferson, who, as America's founding father of contradictions, could seem to be on all sides of many issues. Recent Republicans, like the Southern Democrats who supported Jim Crow for so long, liked his emphasis on "state rights." However, social conservatives of both parties who like to think of America as a "Christian nation" from its beginning, despite all historical facts to the contrary, haven't much liked Jefferson's insistence on a rock-solid separation of church and state.

In fact, Jefferson didn't feel that his being president for eight years was worth mentioning on his tombstone. Instead, he was sufficiently proud of only two achievements in addition to his part in authoring the Declaration of Independence: founder of the University of Virginia, the first non-church-supported higher ed institution in America, and author of the Virginia statute on religious freedom, which was intended not only to guarantee the right of individuals to be religious in their chosen ways, but also the right of individuals NOT to be religious in any way. He wrote this during a time when it was still legally possible for Virginians to be executed as heretics.

So now, more than 200 years later, President Bush wants to allow federal contractors to use religious criteria in hiring? Here's more from Jennifer Loven in Washington

But wait--are some conservatives worrying a little about Bush? (Thursday, 12/12/02)
The President's new economic team may not be sufficiently sworn to the tax-cut theology to satisfy some Republicans in Congress. Martin Crutsinger writes from Washington about some self-identified conservatives who fear that Bush's new selections may not be sufficiently ideological, and, by implication, what about the President himself? They're in a quandry similar to that of people who believe that Bush and Quayle are dolts, but like their wives. If the first is really true, what does that say about Laura and Marilyn?

Basically, it all points to the problems eventually faced by anyone who chooses to look at an increasingly complex, multidimensional world in dichotomous terms. If you really think that everything is either "this way" or "that way," much of what you perceive is really just inside your own head.

For instance, Bush's FBI director was also President Clinton's FBI director. And, if you believe that the Administration's assertion that the U.S. will feel free to use nuclear weapons if Iraq attacks with weapons of mass destruction represents a "War-mongering Bush" departure from precedent, that's not quite true either. No administration, Republican or Democrat, has promised to use nuclear weapons only after an American city has been destroyed by somebody else's nuclear bomb. Wouldn't it be nice if people and issues were simpler?

Pilots agree to accept less money (Thursday, 12/12/02)
US Airways is trying to find ways to work its way out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy while remaining in the air and competing with other carriers who would be happy to have their passengers. The bankrupt airline's pilots have tentatively agreed to help out by taking a $100 million pay cut.

Getting around the Big City may get a lot harder (Thursday, 12/12/02)
Deepti Hajela report that talks have slipped off the tracks into the mud, if not quicksand, so a New York City transit strike could be brewing. Officials are trying to think of effective means by which millions of people will be able to move around without the subway system.

Workers sue Eli Lilly, alleging coverup (Thursday, 12/12/02)
Three employees of the big pharmaceutical company claim that they were fired because the company was trying to cover up their efforts to promote Prozac sales by making unsolicited mailings.

Electrical contractors charged (Thursday, 12/12/02)
OSHA is charging two large companies with safety violations following the deaths of two power line workers.

First-time jobless claims up last week (Thursday, 12/12/02)
Jobless claims were at their highest level since last April, but methodological artifacts may be part of the reason.

The Valley may be coming back (Thursday, 12/12/02)
Jim Hopkins says there is reason to believe that an economic recovery may be starting in America's famed hi-tech corridor. However, it doesn't appear that it will happen soon enough to save lawyer-turned-tech broadcaster Stewart Cheifet's "Computer Chronicles," which has been on PBS and other stations over much of the world for 20 years.

Are there good reasons for not accepting those government checks at age 62? (Thursday, 12/12/02)
Will you get more by waiting? Not necessarily. Well, it depends. Jeff Brown of the Philadelphia Inquirer want to help you sort things out and make the right decision.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Internet Archive (Thursday, 12/12/02)
The people behind the Internet Archive intend for it to become an historically important digital library of enormous proportions, and it already contains far more cultural material than you will be able to examine in a lifetime.

United's future (Wednesday, 12/11/02)
If United Airlines manages to survive in some form for the long haul, it will be primarily because of decisions made by its unions and the courts, and, of course, the traveling public, not so much by its management or stockholders. However, the company's CEO has become chief cheerleader for the moment, trying to reassure workers and travelers. Union leaders are huddling with company representatives over cost-saving possibilities.

Among the major airlines, US Airways and United are now in Chapter 11, while American has been asking workers for concessions to help insure its continued viability. Smaller carriers are having to cut costs too. Regional airline Mesa Air is asking workers to accept a 5 percent pay cut for a year in exchange for return of the missed money later plus an equivalent bonus.

Holding steady at the Fed (Wednesday, 12/11/02)
The federal funds rate has been at a 41-year low and will remain there for a while longer. The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee vote was unanimous to leave the rate at 1.25 percent.

Inflating with hot air (Wednesday, 12/11/02)
Igor Greenwald tells about how Congressional efforts to stimulate the economy may do little more than inflate the deficit.

China celebrates an anniversary (Wednesday, 12/11/02)
It's been a year since China achieved membership in the World Trade Organization. Christopher Bodeen writes from Beijing on the government's self-congratulations.

More cuts at Sprint (Wednesday, 12/11/02)
Sprint Corporation, which already has made cut jobs, intends to eliminate another 2,100 of them next year in an effort to work its way out of the red.

Most people aren't taking advantage of new 401(k) rules (Wednesday, 12/11/02)
Last year's new law enables people to make larger contributions to their 401(k)s, but, as Christine Dugas of USA Today writes, despite all the bad news that's been in the press, more people really should be taking advantage of the opportunity, particularly considering how little prepared so many people are for the financial demands of impending retirement.

Taking the job to bed at night (Wednesday, 12/11/02)
Jane Von Bergen writes from Philadelphia about how work-relatred anxieties can show up in your dreams.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Labor Union Directory (Wednesday, 12/11/02)
Here are names and addresses of labor unions with more than 25,000 members from something called BrainBank.

New SEC head selected (Tuesday, 12/10/02)
President Bush wants investment banker William Donaldson to succeed Harvey Pitt as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Donaldson, along with Snow at Treasury, would mean that Bush's new top economic team would be in place, except that the Friedman appointment now appears to be in some doubt. Stephen Friedman still seems to be the front-runner, but the White House seems to be holding off on making it official for reasons that are unclear. Here's more from Randi Marshall of Long Island's Newsday.

Meanwhile, some are suggesting that Friedman should have had the Treasury job. Snow is seen as a more reliable spokesman for the President's positions than O'Neill, who may be too much his own man to be a member of anybody else's team, despite his being an almost universally-acknowledged good guy. However, Snow may be too deficient in original ideas, and some are saying that his record as a top corporate executive pales in comparison to that of O'Neill. The Minneapolis Star Tribune's board of economists isn't greatly impressed with the President's new economic appointments, according to Strib writer Mike Meyers. Also, the Washington Post says that both Snow and Friedman may have to forget--and hope others also forget--what they have said during previous years about the importance of balanced budgets.

Finally, Alan Fram in Washington writes that the Democrats have their own economics plans a brewin'. The recent Democratic Senatorial win in the Louisiana run-off has many Dems less inclined to roll over and play dead for the next two years, perhaps thinking, as Senator John McCain has remarked, that the midterm elections amounted to a Republican breeze, not a gale.

White House wants pension changes (Tuesday, 12/10/02)
The Administration wants new rules that would support a type of cash-balance pension plan which business tends to like but which has strong critics.

The EU expansion (Tuesday, 12/10/02)
The European Union is set to get much larger, as well as economically more diverse. Here's more from the Christian Science Monitor's Arie Farnam in Slovakia. Meanwhile, the old Soviet block is about to get more of what critics of European Communism said had been lacking in its ideology: critical thinking. At least, that's the hope as educators try to reinvent school systems over a large region.

Supremes take on legal aid issue (Tuesday, 12/10/02)
The Supreme Court will decide on the constitutionality of the means by which funds to support legal aid for the poor are collected.

Will United be united? (Tuesday, 12/10/02)
The general situation of United Airlines has been complicated by the fact that it's been an employee-owned company with various unions in conflict with company management. How's that again? Is it a collective form of being at odds with oneself? Here's a look at what it may take for United to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy rather than disappearing altogether, as has happened with the majority of bankrupt airlines over recent years.

What it takes to live and work with yourself (Tuesday, 12/10/02)
Noted career columnist Diane Stafford discusses success without sacrificing principles; i.e., doing well while doing good, or, at least, while avoiding harm. Here's what she has to say about Derrick Bell's new book, Ethical Ambition: Living a Life of Meaning and Worth. Speaking of careers, the search has gotten harder for African American job seekers, according to Stephanie Armour of USA Today.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Recent Nobel Peace Prize Winners (Tuesday, 12/10/02)
Former President Carter is the latest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Here's a list of the winners over the past three decades.

Snow goes to Treasury (Monday, 12/9/02)
It appears that President Bush has decided to appoint rail executive John Snow to replace Paul O'Neill as Secretary of the Treasury. Also, yesterday's story that Stephen Friedman of Goldman Sachs will replace Lindsey as the President's in-house White House economic advisor is holding up today.

It may be that even the Republicans are looking back at Robert Rubin's tenure as Clinton's Treasury Secretary as the "good old days," because Friedman and Ruben were colleagues at the big investment bank. While Rubin is a Democrat, Friedman is a Republican, but not in a highly partisan way. Both are highly practical economists who, like New York Mayor Bloomberg, could fit in either party, depending.

The Bush-Cheney opponents in the 2000 election have been critical of the Administration's handling of the economy, and Bush's replacement of his top economic team, plus other indications of a return to the drawing board, suggest that they're not the only ones, even though critical Republicans will have to remain mostly off the record.

United files (Monday, 12/9/02)
As expected, the nation's second-largest airline has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Mark Tatge and Brandon Copple of Forbes think that the company has the right idea, even though there are risks. If you're a little unclear on what it all means, here are some questions as well as some answers from the Detroit Free Press.

Year-end bonuses endangered, but not extinct (Monday, 12/9/02)
The New York Times' Patrick McGehan reports that, despite everything, some people will receive larger bonuses than they have been expecting, some even larger than last year.

Israel's cost to the U.S. (Monday, 12/9/02)
Economist Thomas Stauffer estimates that the economic cost of supporting Israel since 1973 adds up to about $1.6 trillion.

History rhyming? (Monday, 12/9/02)
Mark Twain once wisecracked that, while history doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes. When Germany was suffering devastating economic conditions 70 years ago, the solution seemed to be "iron will and discipline," and a culture that has made enormous contributions to rationality and the humanities over the centuries, turned to that most irrational and inhumane of political leaders. Now, Germany is going through another difficult, although far less severe economic period with troubling unemployment statistics. Is it only coincidental that "Germany's toughest boss" is getting so much popular attention and apparent approval?

Spam storm exaggerated (Monday, 12/9/02)
If you spend any time at all on the Internet, you're certainly used to the scam spams. However, a new study finds that the workplace email deluge isn't quite as severe as many have supposed. Here's more from Andy Sullivan in Washington.

Boomers are less inclined to define their lives in terms of their work (Monday, 12/9/02)
Fewer boomers than their elders are likely to say, "My work is my life." The Washington Post's Kirstin Downey reports that many in the boomer generation prefer to fit their work activities around other interests and commitments. A growing concern with more holistic balance might be a reason, but it may also be partly because this generation grew up during a time when much affluence and comfort could be assumed. That is, their different prioritizing could be seen as reflecting some of the "diseases of affluence." It wasn't as easy for older Americans, and possibly not for younger ones either, to be quite so self-indulgent.

Also, much has been said and written about how poorly prepared for the financial realities of retirement many in the boomer generation are as they approach those later years. Kansas City Star columnist Jerry Heaster says that many older people are learning that they simply must find ways to adjust their spending to the financial realities of older age, if they want to avoid eventual disaster.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: HIV/AIDS and the World of Work (Monday, 12/9/02)
The International Labor Organization, an agency of the United Nations, routinely focus much attention on issues relating to AIDS and work throughout the world.

Friedman expected to become Lindsey's successor (Sunday, 12/8/02)
A replacement for Paul O'Neill at Treasury hasn't been selected yet, or, at least, hasn't been leaked to the press yet. Stephen Friedman formerly was chairman at Goldman Sachs, the investment bank for which Robert Rubin worked before becoming Bill Clinton's Secretary of the Treasury. Expect the President to name his new economic team quite soon. Here's more from Adam Entous and Caren Bohan in Washington.

United prepares to head for bankruptcy court (Sunday, 12/8/02)
Union leaders agree that United Airlines will soon seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to survive. The company's board of directors held a special meeting yesterday. Meanwhile, Larry Werner reports on the changed employment prospects for airline pilots as well as people who aspire to flying the big planes.

Dems want extension of benefits (Sunday, 12/8/02)
Jobless benefits will run out for nearly 1 million unemployed Americas three days after Christmas. In the Democrats' weekly radio address, Senator Maria Cantwell said Congress should move as soon as possible toward extending those benefits. If you're among those who feel that you're nearing the end of your rope as well as your jobless benefits, 'tis not the season to give up, according to columnist Diane Stafford. In another column, she tells about substance abuse in the workplace and how employee assistance programs can help people rescue themselves.

Here's news of some of the people who will be at the beginning of their jobless benefits, rather at their end. Troubled WorldCom is cutting another 3,000 jobs across the United States.

Politics and economics in South America (Sunday, 12/8/02)
Venezuela's President Chavez says he intends to break the strike that has largely shut down the country's oil industry, while officials of the International Monetary Fund are saying that Brazil's new President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is somebody they can work with.

China reasserts its WTO commitments (Sunday, 12/8/02)
American tourists in China who assume that people on the street trying to sell home-grown products with Disney characters on them think they're doing anything wrong will be mistaken. From the seller's perspective, so much the better if some rich foreign tourists seem to like it if those silly little pictures are on items they're trying to sell.

Through most of human history, "property" typically has referred to tangible things having value in daily life. The modern abstract concept of intellectual property is foreign to traditional Asian cultures as well as China's 20th century communist ideology. Nonetheless, it's central to an increasingly global information economy.

In order to be member in good standing of the World Trade Organization, China is obligated to defend international intellectual property rights, and they've agreed to do that. In fact, perhaps in order to convince skeptics who have been aware of China and Taiwan's major "knock-off" industries, Chinese officials have reiterated their intention to follow through on their commitments. For this and a range of other reasons, China's new market economy will require more of the standardization and dependable mechanisms of law, and they're working on that. Whether increased domestic economic freedom plus greater integration into the global economy also will eventually require greater political freedom and democratic institutions remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

Transit workers authorize strike (Sunday, 12/8/02)
Union leaders representing New York City's transit workers will be able to call a strike if talks with the city fail. Here's more from Tara Burghart.

Less reason to romanticize rural life (Sunday, 12/8/02)
Timothy Egan writes about the poverty that is gripping much of rural America.

More taxes for America's poor? (Sunday, 12/8/02)
Daniel Altman thinks that, while tax changes on the horizon may help the economy overall, they're likely to slam America's least affluent.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Leapfrog Group (Sunday, 12/8/02)
The Leapfrog Group analyzes voluntarily provided data from nearly 700 of the nation's 3,000 urban hospitals in an effort to identify problems and propose ways of improving hospitals for the benefit of patients.

How to keep the new unemployment rate from being the top story on the Sunday morning talk shows (Saturday, 12/7/02)
In a popular democracy, one person has one vote, but that doesn't mean that every individual is as politically influential as every other. Political and economic elites tend to run things---which is to say that a relatively small percentage of the population has influence greatly out of proportion to its numbers---even though, in the American system, the boundaries separating highly influential groups from the general population are quite porous. Barriers to entry are much lower than in most traditional societies throughout history. Gifted individuals such as Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, or Paul O'Neill really can be born into the least privileged regions of society, and, within the few years it takes to become an adult, join America's most influential persons.

Similarly, while some TV shows and some publications have far larger audiences or circulations than others, the ones through which a relatively small number of highly influential persons essentially talk to one another are disproportionately influential. It's why the Sunday morning shows on the major over-the-air networks, or even cable shows with far smaller audiences, routinely have top officials and heads of state as their guests.

Surely, President Bush didn't want the eight-year-high unemployment rate to be the featured topic of discussion on the weeks' influential talk shows, beginning tomorrow morning. So, given that he has planned to make major personnel changes since sometime before the midterm election anyway, what better time to do it than toward the end of this week. Here's more about the firing of O'Neill and Lindsey from Glenn Somerville in Washington, as well as Mike Allen and Jonathan Weisman of the Washington Post.

Dana Milbank reports that the firings reflect a recognition on the part of the President that there is a genuine economic problem in the United States, which can readily turn into a major political problem for the 2004 election, whether or not his Treasury Secretary and chief White House economic advisor are responsible, either for the problem itself, or for not fixing it so far. Richard Stevenson also writes that the President chose this dramatic action, however brutal or undeserved by those relieved of their jobs, in order to communicate that the Administration hasn't forgotten about the economy while spending so much time on terrorism and war preparations. The high approval ratings are nice, but Bush II remembers what happened to Bush I.

So, who's next for those top economic jobs? We should know very soon. Adam Entous and Caren Bohan write in the Philadelphia Inquirer that the President has a short list of candidates. This time, it's expected that the White House will want people who not only know something about economics, but who also agree with the President on key issues and are politically savvy. Also, the President's aware that the SEC chairman's job is still open, and he's feeling the pressure to fill it as well.

Another jobless recovery (Saturday, 12/7/02)
It isn't that the American economy's really in the tank. It's just that it's a mixed picture. Some indicators are okay; others certainly could be better. One problem is that, while the economy IS growing rather than contracting, job growth hasn't kept pace. Economic activity has been increasing, but without a significant increase in the number of people required to carry it out. Business has been learning how to do more with less, and that's why productivity has been on the increase, which is good news for everybody except those who can't find jobs. Here's more from L. M. Sixel of the Houston Chronicle.

The world's largest airlines needs to cut costs (Saturday, 12/7/02)
No, it's not bankrupt US Airways, and it's not United Airlines, which has been the second-largest, and whose total stock value the other day about equaled the value of one of its planes. This time, it's American Airlines, which like most of its competitors, is hemorrhaging cash. American is asking its workers to pass on salary increases next year.

Meanwhile, the troubled tech sector is trying to adjust as well. Two major computer manufacturers are asking people to take a little time off for the holidays...without pay. Actually, "asking" probably isn't the right word.

How many shoplifting days until Christmas? (Saturday, 12/7/02)
A movie star with vast wealth who has been quite generous with her money has been convicted of stealing items from a store, which, even to people who somehow haven't heard about breakthroughs in the understanding of nature, including human nature, over the past several centuries, would suggest that something's wrong. Instead of going to the trouble of clipping price tags off of merchandise and trying to get out of the store with it, Winona Ryder could easily have simply written a check without even noticing the hit to her bank account. It's nearly as pathological as rich corporate executives who seem willing to risk or sacrifice nearly all of brief life's possibilities simply in order to get even more rich. When dumb people do dumb things, there isn't much to explain, but when smart people do dumb things, it does require explanation. Paying far too much is supposed to be what the unsophisticated do.

The incident for which Ryder was convicted occurred sometime ago, but this holiday season finds an overall increase in shopping without paying, according to authorities. It isn't all about poverty, though, of course.

A little help from your neighborhood banker (Saturday, 12/7/02)
How would you like to be a child and have to try to make it on your own on some of the world's meanest streets? Actually, without supportive adults, many of India's street kids have to help each other, and some kids are bankers, according to Scott Baldauf in Delhi. Most of these children might gladly trade places with some of the world's most privileged who are without jobs at the moment. Still, it's not easy to make it in a rich, costly society when your income disappears. Cori Takemoto Williams of the Arizona Republic tells about people who are coping by becoming more resourceful, which can mean trying a variety of things at once.

Guess who's working on ideas for universal health care (Saturday, 12/7/02)
Many insurance executives, that's who. Milt Freudenheim of the New York Times has more on a development that may surprise you, given that the people who run insurance companies certainly haven't had the reputation of being wild-eyed liberals. It simply shows the capacity for realities to override ideology. An increasing number of influential people are worrying about the real, practical consequences of having more than 40 million people lacking access to health care in the richest society in human history that also has the most advanced health science and service system.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Fiscal Survey of States (Saturday, 12/7/02)
It's probably less fun being a governor now than for many years. State budgets are in their worst shape in decades, many the worst since World War II. Here's a recent Fiscal Survey of States from the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.

O'Neill resigns (Friday, 12/6/02)
Did he jump, or was he pushed? Indications are that the sometimes controversial and almost always outspoken Treasury Secretary was at least nudged out by the Administration. Part of his problem has been his independence and his occasional tendency to indicate a lack of awe for others in the Administration, including the President himself, whom many regard as having been "born on third base." Paul O'Neill, on the other hand, came from the most unprivileged of backgrounds and rose to become a highly successful head of Alcoa and with self-made personal wealth greater than others in an administration of millionaires. Here's more from the Washington Post.

But wait---there's more: The President's economic advisor, Lawrence Lindsey, also is resigning, presumably with some urging, as well. It all adds up to an effort on the part of the Bush administration to revitalize its approach to the economy which may be regarded in the White House as the Administration's softest spot for the presidential election in 2004, assuming that the Iraq's dictator is removed by some of his own people or, if done by a U.S.-led invasion, that all goes well. On the other hand, if an invasion of Iraq with the intention of changing the regime there blows up somehow, it probably won't make much difference how the American economy is during the next election cycle. Nearly any Democrat might be able to beat Bush. In the meantime, assuming that both Iraq and the economy turn out well, the Administration seems to be hoping that Al Gore will receive the Democratic nomination again.

U.S. unemployment hits 6 percent (Friday, 12/6/02)
November's unemployment rate was the highest in nine years last month, even though applications for first-time jobless benefits were down last week, suggesting that the worst layoff news may be over. Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Tompor suggests that while anybody's guess may not be quite as good as the guesses of the experts, there's still a lot of uncertainty about where the American economy is going, because indicators have been pointing in nearly all directions.

Fiat workers worried, angry (Friday, 12/6/02)
The Italian government has given its approval to Fiat's plan to lay off workers in order to apply a tourniquet to slow the flow of red ink, and workers aren't happy about it. Jane Barrett reports from Rome that Fiat workers are marching in protest across much of Italy. Meanwhile, in Japan, labor unions are shifting attention away from wage increases during a deflationary period. Also, new guidelines from the Japanese labor ministry may provide a bit more security for workers, making it harder for employers to dismiss them.

United's fall and its fallout (Friday, 12/6/02)
After a terrible day yesterday, the bad news continues for United Airlines, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Also, the problems of United Airlines may complicate US Airways' situation, making it harder for them to emerge from bankruptcy as early has they have hoped. Here's more from Julie MacIntosh in New York. Also, Alabama's pension system will control the board of bankrupt US Airways. Here's more form today's Washington Post. Finally, it isn't just the major airline business that's been suffering. Cessna intends to cut 1,500 jobs as well.

Major surgery at Humana (Friday, 12/6/02)
The big managed care organization will cut 2,300 jobs. Here's more from Bruce Schreiner in Louisville.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: PollingReport.com (Friday, 12/6/02)
PollingReport.com is the online version of The Polling Report and summarizes findings from major public opinion polls and covers a variety of topics, including economic issues.

An entire airline in free fall (Thursday, 12/5/02)
Investors scrambled to unload their Untied Airlines stock after a government loan guarantee was refused, following the urging of competitors such as Northwest Airlines. The company's urgent efforts to avert bankruptcy seem likely to fail at this point, so what's next?. Today's the day that United's mechanics were scheduled to vote on concessions for a second time, but, as Dave Carpenter reports, simmering grudges may prevent many mechanics from feeling all that empathetic or helpful. Also, following the government's rejection of the loan guarantee, the mechanics have decided not to bother. The serious problems of United Airlines are casting a long shadow. For instance, they're likely to influence airline negotiations with the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 13,500 pilots who work for U.S. carriers. Meanwhile, a major airline that's already in bankruptcy is renegotiating an agreement with Alabama's pension fund which wants to purchase part of the company.

First-time jobless claims lowest in nearly two years (Thursday, 12/5/02)
Jobless claims last week were at their lowest point in 21 months.

Strike influences Venezuelan oil exports (Thursday, 12/5/02)
When most Americans think of oil, they think of the Middle East, and a major invasion of Iraq could disrupt supplies sufficiently to send crude prices sky-high for a while. However, Venezuela also is one of the world's major producers, and Pascal Fletcher reports from Caracas that tanker ship captains have joined in a strike against President Hugo Chavez.

An interruption of oil supplies from Venezuela seems ill-timed, but, if a major war with Iraq is coming, it's not coming within a couple of weeks. For one thing, rather than making an official declaration that they have nothing, the Iraqis, as one reporter said, may hand the UN the Baghdad phone book, in effect. A list of facilities--all for peaceful domestic use, of course--could extend to a thousand pages or more, probably in Arabic, and that will require some time for examination. Further, despite all the war talk from the American Administration, and despite the buildup that's been going on for sometime, the U.S. military clearly isn't ready at this point.

Interest rate cut in Europe (Thursday, 12/5/02)
A key European interest rate has been cut by a half-percent in the hopes of stimulating the continent's economy.

What would it do to the U.S. economy if terrorists were to hit American ports? (Thursday, 12/5/02)
Don't ask. An exercise involving about 70 key personnel has resulted in the conclusion that if terrorist attacks closed all American ports, the impact on the American economy would be devastating. At the moment, it appears that some of the nation's greatest vulnerabilities can be found in its ports, given the tremendous number of containers coming into the country each day which could be holding, well, nearly anything.

An increasing cost of old age (Thursday, 12/5/02)
If your former employer has been footing much of the bill for your health coverage, get set to pay more of the cost yourself. And, if you haven't retired yet, it's becoming increasingly likely that you'll have no employer-sponsored health coverage at all during your later years. Janelle Carter has more on results from a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

What can you give the person who has everything? (Thursday, 12/5/02)
Maybe a bag to keep it in? Here are some holiday gift suggestions for the super rich if money is no object for you either. Meanwhile, if you're interested in the history of shopping, Frankfurt has a museum just for you.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: World Scientists' Warning to Humanity (Thursday, 12/5/02)
This World Scientists' Warning to Humanity has 1,500 prominent signatories, including a good many famous names. In short, the scientists claim that "human beings and the natural world are on a collision course."

Are recent climate changes due to human activity, particularly the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath, including the population explosion of the past 150 years or so? Against high-amplitude, long-term natural variation, it's not easy to detect the effects of one or a few factors over a fairly brief period of time.

Also, it does appear that there have been times in the fairly recent past (i.e., a thousand years ago or so) when the earth's atmosphere was warmer overall than it's been recently. There also appear to have been times when there was more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there is now, long before the internal combustion engine was invented and long before industrial societies emerged which depend on fossil fuels.

However, most scientists already know about these things, and they still feel there is strong basis for serious concern. Is it possible to find scientists who do not believe that available data justify this "scientists' warning?" Yes, but they are in a distinct minority.

Moreover, we know that it's easy for people to believe things which are in their personal self-interest, so if you benefit from the status quo, you may be more likely to pay attention to whatever "expert" you can find who seems to support your views, even if the preponderance of professional opinion is otherwise. If nearly all scientists claim they believe in gravity, you may be motivated to find that one guy someplace with a Ph.D. who is willing to say that he doesn't.

Is there a liberal academic or journalistic bias? Maybe, but if the major media were to report a similar level of consensus among mathematicians on some question having to do with arithmetic, would that constitute an unfair bias against people who believe two plus two equals five?

Productivity surges (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
Increased levels of labor productivity mean that fewer people are accomplishing more work. That can be both good news and bad news, depending on your perspective, because it sometimes simply reflects that survivors are picking up the work of their laid-off colleagues. On the other hand, productivity is influenced by other factors, such as more efficient use of technologies or streamlined management processes. In the long-run, a society's standard of living is determined by its productivity levels. Here's more from Jeannine Aversa in Washington on the surge of productivity during the summer when it increased at an annualized rate of 5.1 percent.

Germany's unemployment problem worsens (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
The German unemployment rate increased to 9.7 percent in November, but increasingly embattled Chancellor Schroeder tries to act relatively unworried. Germany is Europe's largest economy, so it has more influence on conditions across the continent than any other. EU officials are saying that the overall European economy could shrink during the first quarter of 2003.

United continues to cut (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
United Airlines continues its efforts to become sufficiently slim and trim to survive and avoid bankruptcy. Joe Biesk reports that executive pay will be cut, as will pilots' jobs. Meanwhile, American Airlines will eliminate 1,100 fight attendant jobs.

Nurses strike in Hawaii (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
Some nurses already are on strike, and others expect to follow shortly now that a contract offer has been rejected.

China's huge labor problems (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
Philip Pan reports on the tremendous struggles that enormous numbers of workers and former workers are undergoing in China. Economic change without commensurate political change is leaving large numbers of people without support or protection, and worker-owned factories aren't doing well either..

Allstate wins one with the NLRB (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
Allstate can consider its agents as independent contractors rather than employees, and that prevents collective bargaining. Here's more from Chicago on the National Labor Relations Board ruling.

Recruiters have legal access to high school students (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
The new education law includes a provision that is bothering some parents. It's gives military recruiters a legal right to cooperation from high schools in identifying students so that they can be contacted.

Job discrimination has been on the increase (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
A new report from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that job discrimination complaints have increased since the September 11 terrorist attack.

In effect, many Americans are hoping not to live too long (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
The very old are increasing in number in the United States, and that means an increase in the number of people requiring nursing home care. Dee DePass says that a survey by Allianz Life Insurance Company finds that most Americans aren't buying long-term care insurance in preparation.

The return of cash-balance pension plans (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
They stirred up a legal and political hornets' nest, but, as Christine Dugas of USA Today report, a resurgence seems to be getting underway.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: ArabNet (Wednesday, 12/4/02)
ArabNet offers news and opinion from journalists in the Middle East. Also, if you're interested in doing business in that region, simply click on a country for more information.

United's VERY powerful mechanics (Tuesday, 12/3/02)
At the moment, the fate of United Airlines appears to be in the hands of its mechanics who are set to vote again Thursday following a previous vote in which they turned down a cost-saving concessions plan. Here's more from Melbourne's The Age.

Incidentally, the 9-11 terrorist attack, in addition to costing thousands of lives, also has cost the global economy billions of dollars, giving new meaning to the term "leverage." The attack probably cost those who financed the terrorists no more than a few hundred thousand dollars, after all. The airline industry was hurt tremendously, of course, for obvious reasons, and the unsuccessful attempt by terrorists the other day to bring down an Israeli airliner with a shoulder-fired missile hasn't helped settle travelers' nerves.

Meanwhile, have you been wondering why an intestinal virus has swept through several cruise ships owned by three different companies so far? Why now? Why so many? Is it only coincidental? Certainly, being on a ship with hundreds of people suffering from a world-class bellyache tends to take a lot of the fun out of cruising. For the companies, it is perfectly rotten PR capable of dealing a major blow to the entire cruise industry, which now operates something like 160 enormously expensive ships that seem as large as some cities. If you were a terrorist and wanted to wreck the cruise industry, what would you do? Of course, why use an unpleasant, inconvenient non-life-threatening virus rather than something else? Still, many people have been wondering. However, the feds are saying that there is no evidence that terrorists are responsible for the current outbreak.

Ratification at Boeing (Tuesday, 12/3/02)
Boeing's techies have voted to accept a new three-year contract. Here's more from Helen Jung in Seattle.

Not so fast... (Tuesday, 12/3/02)
The President decided to allow Mexican trucks access to American highways, but a coalition of environmental and labor people think it's a mistake. They're asking a judge for an emergency stay. At a somewhat higher elevation, some Mexican travelers have ended their strike. Aerolitoral pilots have agreed to a 5.5 percent boost in pay.

Hunger in the midst of plenty (Tuesday, 12/3/02)
Amy Waldman writes from Khanna, India about the vast stores of wheat left rotting as 350 million people in India suffer hunger. That's more than the total population of the United States, incidentally.

Most Americans don't believe there is a real estate bubble about to burst (Tuesday, 12/3/02)
If your Internet stocks deflated, leaving you holding a limp balloon, have you been worried about the value of your home too? Real estate values have been rising to the point where some anxiety might be justified, but most Americans don't seem too worried. Moreover, U.S. government researchers seem to agree, according to Thomas Fogarty of USA Today. Meanwhile, Stephanie Armour tells what some employers are doing to help attract workers to regions where homes have become prohibitively expensive.

The need for the big view (Tuesday, 12/3/02)
Academics often are accused by practical people in business and politics of being hampered by an ability to see all sides of every issue. Better to have a single-minded clarity of vision and straight-forward commitments, some say. In the "real world," people must be able to make a decision and take action. Ronald Reagan seemed to be an example of someone who knew what he believed and didn't allow himself to be confused by complexity. The current American President may be another example.

Of course, this approach seems to be vindicated when things happen to turn out okay. It appears that President Reagan does deserve some of the credit for bringing down the Soviet Union, for example. On the other hand, Reagan's insistence that arms were not traded for hostages--something he may really have believed, despite all the evidence to the contrary--didn't turn out so well. Historians suggest that Thomas Jefferson had a similar capacity for truly believing things that were contrary to what seemed to be perfectly obvious to nearly everybody else, which probably helped him cope with all his contradictions.

Academics can be frustrating to persons in authority who have no choice but to make a choice. President Truman's famous remark about wishing he had a one-armed economist, because his economic advisors kept saying, "But, on the other hand...", is an example.

Nonetheless, the realities of the world HAVE become far more complicated. As systems expand arithmetically, their complexity increases geometrically. It's harder to get our minds around wholes now, and highly selective interpretations which ignore or deny much of the reality that, in the end, WILL affect us, doesn't seem to be greatly functional.

If, coincidentally, one's "gut" happens to be correct, the applause will seem particularly sweet, and there will be large numbers of people willing to believe that one's success means having special powers. On the other hand, one can go disastrously wrong this way, and, then what?

In his new book, Bob Woodward says that President Bush acts "from the gut" or on "instinct," which may simply mean that he's willing to push ahead, pretending he knows what he really doesn't know. It's important to keep in mind that, if you flip a coin each morning while saying to yourself, "Heads, it will rain today," you will be right a good share of the time. You'll also be wrong a good share of the time. It simply means that one can be right now and then accidentally, without really knowing a single thing. How much are you willing to risk on the flip of a coin?

Scott Burns has been having similar thoughts about the need for economic perspective.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: European Telework Online (Tuesday, 12/3/02)
European Telework Online claims to be the principal portal for those interested in telework, telecommuting, and related topics, particularly in Europe. The site comes from the United Kingdom.

Let's make a new deal (Monday, 12/2/02)
Whether United Airlines will have to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy has come down to whether their mechanics are going to be willing to accept concessions. The membership said "no" the first time, but, as Keith Alexander of the Washington Post reports, the company has made another proposal which has been accepted by union leadership. The members will vote again on Thursday, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, David Francis reports that organized labor feels that some years must be longer than others, despite what the calendar says. The AFL-CIO expects the next two years to seem particularly long, and mostly because of GWB. Many federal workers may share that view.

What kind of century will this be for Japan? (Monday, 12/2/02)
When the "Japanese miracle" started looking less miraculous more than a decade ago, many people there as well as in other parts of the developed world expected the slump to be temporary. However, things still haven't picked up, and at least one former Japanese economy minister thinks they're likely to get worse before getting better, assuming that they ever get better. Here's the disquieting news from Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo.

Why the American economy needs immigrants (Monday, 12/2/02)
At about the time the ink was drying on a group of apocalyptic books with titles like The End of Work, the U.S. economy was experiencing a tremendous labor shortage--just the opposite of what was being predicted by authors who were expecting a growing shortage of jobs. Things have changed more recently, even though, by historical standards, the U.S. unemployment rate has remained relatively low, despite a slight recession followed by sluggish growth. Will labor shortages come back? Odds are that they will, and, as D'Vera Cohn reports, Census data suggest that the American economy will be dependent on immigrant workers for sometime to come.

The cost of maternity leave (Monday, 12/2/02)
Shannon Buggs tells about studies showing the long-term costs to working women of becoming mothers.

To lump it or not to lump it, that is the question (Monday, 12/2/02)
Which is the better choice for retirement--lump sum or annuity? Mark Davis examines the pros and cons. Also, if you're expecting a long life, are you expecting poverty as well? Kathy Chu says that many experts feel that you should be concerned about the possibility of outliving your income.

Board members are still earning more (Monday, 12/2/02)
A new study from the Conference Board finds that independent corporate board directors are being paid more than before, despite all the highly-publicized problems. How much of it has to do with having to increase incentives in order to get qualified people to take on the hazards and liabilities of board membership? We don't know either.

Is it live or is it Memorex? (Monday, 12/2/02)
The interview may be virtual, even when the job is real. Michael McDermott says that more and more job interviews are likely to be conducted through the mediation of technology, and this concerns some people. Clayton Collins has been thinking about the possible limitations of a "digital presence" too. The airline industry has been suffering, in part, because so many companies have been cutting back on travel, hoping to conduct business by other, less expensive means.

However, there is still the question of whether hi-tech is good enough to replace face-to-face interaction, something which those pushing "distance education" might want to examine carefully as well. Incidentally, isn't "Mr. Technology" himself, Bill Gates, still inviting big-time CEOs to his home near Seattle for an eye-contact discussion now and then? He must believe that the extra expense is worth the trouble. Also, fans can obtain CDs for a few dollars, but still seem willing to pay major money to watch their favorite stars perform live in concert. Hmmmmmm.

Cynicism sells (Monday, 12/2/02)
At least, if you're Scott Adams. Here's the latest about Dilbert and other cubicle life forms.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Re-envisioning the Ph.D. (Monday, 12/2/02)
The Philadelphia-born Pew Charitable Trusts support a broad array of projects. Their Re-envisioning the Ph.D. effort is intended to examine possible changes in doctoral education that might broaden career choices for those who complete university Ph.D. programs.

We're curious about the extent to which this project may be missing the point in a very contemporary American way. America's founders regarded the de-emphasis of titles in selection processes as a key attribute distinguishing the new United States from tired, old aristocratic Europe. The key issues had to do with people's competencies, however acquired, not their titles or pedigrees, and this attitude was reflected in the membership of the "exclusive club" made up of the founders themselves, as well as in their attitudes toward each other. Some were Harvard or William and Mary grads, while others were entirely self-educated. As we've reported recently, Jefferson didn't even want the University of Virginia to award academic degrees.

If many people with Ph.D. degrees expect to be hired BECAUSE they have Ph.D.s, and are disappointed, while many other people who haven't attended graduate school at all are not having those difficulties, shouldn't this tell us something? Maybe the solution is for many persons with degrees to stop talking about them, and, instead, simply emphasize the competencies and solutions they can bring to the problems of prospective employers. If their doctoral program isn't helping in this regard, they are free to go wherever other people go to prepare for work, including the work world itself.

Flight attendants say "ok," but... (Sunday, 12/1/02)
Even though United Airlines flight attendants have ratified a concession deal to help their employer cut costs, the nation's second-largest airline is still headed for bankruptcy court unless its mechanics are willing to change their minds. Company executives intend to meet with machinists, and at least one union leader is urging them to reconsider as well, according to today's Indianapolis Star.

What can Chancellor Schroeder do now? (Sunday, 12/1/02)
The German Chancellor achieved re-election by turning on the U.S. and, in the process, complicating his country's relations with an old ally. Now, his domestic popularity has been slipping too, even though he's very early in a new four-year term. Mark Landler of the New York Times considers whether he has sufficient political capital left to carry out necessary economic reforms.

Latin American slowdown hurts poverty reduction (Sunday, 12/1/02)
Progress in reducing Latin America's high rates of poverty has slipped because economies throughout the region have been slumping. Here's more from Jane Bussey of the Miami Herald.

Single-mother home buyers increase in number (Sunday, 12/1/02)
Judy Rose of the Detroit Free Press writes that single parents, particularly moms, are becoming an increasingly important part of the home buying market. It doesn't reflect an increase in the divorce rate, because that's been going down. Instead, it is because more women are able to qualify for mortgages.

"Soft" benefits may help replace "hard" ones (Sunday, 12/1/02)
Amy Joyce tells how some employers who can't afford to pay cushy bonuses this year are finding other ways to keep their workers happy and loyal.

If your parents are "boomers," do what they say, not what they've done (Sunday, 12/1/02)
Fred Barbash thinks out loud about why his generation is so ill-prepared for retirement, and wonders whether he can guide his own children in the right direction.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: National Governors Association (Sunday, 12/1/02)
Being a governor right now may be less fun than nearly any other job, given all the new responsibilities for homeland security at a time when state budgets are in their worst shape since World War II. The National Governors Association maintains a site through which the governors keep in touch with each other as well as the rest of us.

Here are NewWork News stories from previous months

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