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U.S economy slows considerably (Wednesday, 7/31/02)
The American economy, as measured by the Gross Domestic Product, slowed to only 1.1 percent growth during the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department. It's much slower than economists had expected, and far slower than the 5 percent growth rate during the first quarter.

Critics say Administration is backpedaling already (Wednesday, 7/31/02)
Congressional critics are saying that it appears that President Bush has retreated somewhat from the get-tough rhetoric on corporate fraud only a few hours after the new law was signed. Here's more from Jennifer Loven in Washington.

Both sides dig in their heels on prescription medication issue (Wednesday, 7/31/02)
Janelle Carter reports from Washington that chances of a deal on adding a prescription Medication benefit to Medicare have diminished in the Senate. Bankruptcy reform also has hit another snag in the Senate, and a final vote has been put off until September at the earliest.

Giant labor confederation head asks labor to throw its weight toward support of corporate reform (Wednesday, 7/31/02)
John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, is calling upon union workers to lobby lawmakers, business, and financial leaders to clean up American business. Union members have a special interest because of a need to preserve the integrity of their pensions, but the current mess may also offer an opportunity for organized labor to gain...or regain...some political clout.

Price gouging suspected (Wednesday, 7/31/02)
Sixty consumer groups are working together to track insurance prices. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that having had treatment for psychiatric illness seems to be reducing many people's insurability. Many report being denied coverage and can think of no other reason.

A tough sell? (Wednesday, 7/31/02)
The things you've been reading about in the papers may not be relevant to their arguments, but, nonetheless, the present climate may mean a harder job for executives who are defending tax breaks before Congress.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Best Management Practices (Wednesday, 7/31/02)
Best Management Practices offers advice and resources on management from the United Kingdom's Department of Trade and Industry.

Bush locks the barn door (Tuesday, 7/30/02)
President Bush has signed the new corporate accountability bill into law, hoping to restore public confidence in the equity markets. The new law is intended to make it more difficult for corporate leaders to deceive investors. However, those who already have shaken public confidence, if ever charged, will be covered by previous law if their illegal acts occurred before the new law was created. Meanwhile, the President promises more arrests, which, he is likely to hope, will convince Americans that he is a major part of the solution, not a part of the problem. His poll numbers have slipped a bit, but are still high at 69 percent.

A affects B, and, then, B affects A (Tuesday, 7/30/02)
A leading measure of consumer confidence hit its lowest level in five months in July, presumably in large part because of the impact of the stock scandals. Then, early trading Tuesday seemed to be influenced by the consumer confidence report after a big day for investors yesterday. When consumers lose confidence in the economy, they tend to reign in their spending, and because consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of the U.S. economy, that makes nearly everybody nervous about likely economic activity over the next several months. Still, many leading bank economists believe that the economy is continuing to do well, despite all the bad news of recent weeks.

Bush blasts Senate welfare bill (Tuesday, 7/30/02)
President Bush thinks that Senate bill is filled with exceptions and loopholes that would reverse six years of welfare reform progress. He still wants tougher welfare-to-work rules, including a full 40-hour work week for welfare recipients.

A new round of corporate woes (Tuesday, 7/30/02)
Vanguard Airlines can't take any more losses, so they're shutting down and laying off virtually all of their employees. Meanwhile, the third-largest car rental company is filling for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, while Qwest Communications seems close to bankruptcy for very different reasons. Qwest executives are saying that, on second-thought, maybe their financial results were off a bit--by about $1 billion. The New York Times is reporting that some of Qwest's executives made about $500 million on their own company' stock because of exaggerated results and highly creative accounting, a story that has become quite familiar to Americans. This, added to the WorldCom disaster, has made many members of Congress wonder if Americans are about to lose the telephone service, wireless or otherwise. Several executives have been called to Capitol Hill to testify, and the consensus seems to be that, despite everything, dial tones will still be there when you pick up the receiver.

Between Iraq and a hard place (Tuesday, 7/30/02)
A change of regime in Iraq could benefit nearly everybody, including the people of Iraq, and make the world safer. There would also be costs, though, and some of them would be economic. Patrick Tyler and Richard Stevenson discuss an attack's likely impact on the American economy. It could be profound, they say.

Senators work late on prescription drug plan (Tuesday, 7/30/02)
Democrats in the Senate are concerned that any chance for adding a prescription medication benefit to Medicare could disappear for the moment, so they've been scrambling to build consensus for a compromise as debate continued last night. Here are some of the major features of the compromise plan that seemed to be emerging.

Testing, testing, one, two, three, testing (Tuesday, 7/30/02)
Democrats who would like to be president think that the current state of the American economy offers an opportunity for them, and they're testing their messages on other leading Democrats. Commentator E. J. Dionne wonders if the Democrats will miss the opportunity as they often have a predilection to do.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: SmartMoney at College (Tuesday, 7/30/02)
Here's SmartMoney's advice on ways to plan for, save for, and finance college.

Much of the world finally exhaled very early Sunday morning (Monday, 7/29/02)
In large part because the people working above ground and the people trapped below ground all knew what they were doing, the nine formerly trapped Pennsylvania coal miners are able to tell their own stories today. Here's more from Larry Neumeister in Somerset, Pennsylvania.

Argument over worker rights (Monday, 7/29/02)
Both houses of Congress want the President to have his huge Department of Homeland Security, or whatever it will be called in the end. However, Senate Democrats fear that the President wants to lead an attack on the civil service system and collective bargaining by federal employees. He claims that, for the country's protection, the government must have maximum hiring and firing flexibility. Meanwhile, organized labor expects that some legislative gains are possible as a consequence of the corporate scandals.

Clinton defends his administration (Monday, 7/29/02)
No doubt with the November election in mind, the Administration has been trying to blame the Democratic Clinton administration for the rash of corporate corruption that has been dominating the news during recent months. Former President Clinton, who has been mostly silent about the work of his successor so far, has broken that silence to claim that President Bush has been twisting the truth.

Bush wins one of two in Congress (Monday, 7/29/02)
The House of Representatives has voted to support the trade negotiation powers that the President wants. Bush is urging the Senate to do the same. It's what used to be referred to as "fast track" legislation.

More on O'Neill's assessment of the American economy (Monday, 7/29/02)
Despite everything, America has a large share of the world's greatest companies, and, as a group, they are doing well. There is also good reason to expect that many of them will do well in the future, because the American economy is strong. This means that there is tremendous real value in the 17,000 corporations with stock that is publicly traded. That's basically what Treasury Secretary and other members of the Administration have been saying in their effort to reassure investors so that they will start buying again. However, there's more, and Jesse Holland has it from Washington.

If you think there are a lot of lawyers now... (Monday, 7/29/02)
...Wait a few years. The frumpy job market for new grads is persuading many of them to put off the job search a while longer and attend law school or grad school instead. Meanwhile, at a time when some people are delaying the start of their careers, others are delaying retirement. Here's more from Tim Engstrom of the For Myers News-Press.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Consumer Price Index (Monday, 7/29/02)
The Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is a principal measure of inflation in the American economy. Here's a summary of the CPI, and here's some additional information about it.

Miners rescued! (Sunday, 7/28/02)
All nine trapped Pennsylvania coal miners have been found alive and in relatively good condition. They are hospitalized, but some may go home as early as later today. Mining is one of the most dangerous lines of work in the United States and in the rest of the world as well. For instance, hundreds of miners have died this year in China's coal mines.

Another Administration voice on the U.S. economy (Sunday, 7/28/02)
As the late Congressman Morris Udall remarked, "Everything has been said, but not everybody has said it." In this case, the President has said it...repeatedly...and so have lots of other people: There is a persistent disconnect between what the American economy is doing and what the stock market is doing. Now, Commerce Secretary Donald Evans also has said it. He's almost pleased as punch with how the U.S. economy is performing at the moment, but there is need to restore confidence in the financial markets so that they will come to reflect the economic fundamentals, as so many people think they should.

Pensions coming up short (Sunday, 7/28/02)
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation reports the biggest private pension shortfall ever last year--$111 billion.

It's easier to hurt somebody than to accomplish what you may have in mind (Sunday, 7/28/02)
Frustration often leads to aggression or attack. It's so basic, you don't even have to be a human being to act that way. Interfere with a dog's impulse to eat his dinner and you stand a good chance of ending up with some extra holes in your body. When things aren't going as we would like, a natural reaction is to find somebody to blame and make that person suffer. In general, it's easier to attack or destroy than to make things work right. Here's why, even though it may make a lot of people feel better to see some misbehaving top executives in handcuffs, there's more to fixing Wall Street's problems than simply locking somebody up.

What on earth do the abortion and bankruptcy issues have to do with one another? (Sunday, 7/28/02)
Well, you may not think there is much of a relationship in reality, but, of course, Congress often doesn't seem to be part of reality. An effort so get a new bankruptcy bill to the President has snagged on abortion in the House of Representatives. Here's an explanation.

Texas huddle (Sunday, 7/28/02)
The President will call a meeting at his home in Texas to talk about the economy. People from various economic walks of life will be invited, either to provide the President with advice or to help him move his own plans along. At this point, it isn't clear which.

Recruitment continues (Sunday, 7/28/02)
The federal government is scrambling to hire enough airport screeners. Here's more from the Washington Post.

Your full-time job when you need a job (Sunday, 7/28/02)
Finding the right job can BE a full-time job, and, for many, it probably should be, if it is to be done right. Here's how some people are going about finding the right job for them from the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Foundation for Economic Education (Sunday, 7/28/02)
Is the Foundation for Economic Education "liberal" or "conservative?" In part, it depends on your ideological frame of reference as well as the historical context you prefer. In the broad span of history, the Foundation's mission would be seen as liberal, even radical, in relation to the traditional aristocratic societies of Europe prior to the late 18th century. However, in relation to 19th and 20th century ideologies emphasizing higher levels of socioeconomic equality, central planning, and broad governmental intervention in much of society, it would be considered conservative or even libertarian.

New effort to reach Pennsylvania miners (Saturday, 7/27/02)
A second shaft is being drilled in an effort to rescue nine trapped coal miners after a drill bit broke in the first. The miners were trapped 240 feet below the surface after tons of water poured in on them from an adjacent abandoned mine.

Bankruptcy changes are coming (Saturday, 7/27/02)
Congress and the Administration are fed up with people who exploit current bankruptcy laws and are about to make it harder to walk away from personal debts. Here's more from the Washington Post. Some expect a flood of bankruptcy filings before the new law takes effect.

A prescription benefit may be coming soon (Saturday, 7/27/02)
At least, a less ambitious version seems to be picking up speed in the Senate now that there is strong lobbyist support as well. However, legislation to provide stronger protection for workers' 401(k) plans isn't likely to come soon.

Does your telephone style tell what occupation you should follow? (Saturday, 7/27/02)
A survey conducted in the United Kingdom suggests that the ways people use their wireless telephones suggests different styles that might relate to vocational choices.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: CollegeSense (Saturday, 7/27/02)
CollegeSense offers more ways of examining various ways of saving for college and on taxes.

Not up again, but...whew!...not really down either (Friday, 7/26/02)
After yo-yo-ing for most of Thursday's trading session, the Dow finished essentially where it ended at the end of the big rally the day before-- only five points down for the day.

Five isn't much on a scale of more than 8,000, but 50 is quite a lot on the NASDAQ, which WAS down 50 yesterday.

People can do wonderful things with high-technology, but making money doesn't seem to be among them at the moment. A new forecast from a major chipmaker has added to the tech gloom. On the other hand, Microsoft intends to spend $5.2 billion on research and development this fiscal year, and that represents an increase of 20 percent, and this will mean an additional 5,000 Microsoft employees.

A political solution to what may be only partly a political problem (Friday, 7/26/02)
Well, yes, Republicans and Democrats probably ARE worried about the American economy, given the skittishness of investors about a game many fear may still be rigged, but an important upcoming election has a lot to do with what is happening in Washington too. A business fraud bill is on its way down Pennsylvania Avenue for the President's signature. Also, the Treasury Secretary, who may be in some danger of losing his own job because of what his critics believe to be a relative lack of focus and involvement at critical times, is urging corporate CEOs to move ahead quickly on certifying company books. Neither party wants any of the current mess sticking to its candidates in the November election, particularly now that about three-quarters of Americans who vote own stocks one way or another, many through their retirement accounts.

Savvy investors may be somewhat encouraged by tougher laws. On the other hand, there may also be growing anxiety ovr the danger that politicians can easily go overboard, particularly when they have their own motives and their own agendas. Clear rules that are enforced is good for business; excessive government interference and over-regulation is not, because a free-market economy tends to work best when it is, well, pretty free.

Help would be on the way if it were simply up to the Senate (Friday, 7/26/02)
The U.S. Senate has approved a measure that would provide states with an additional $9 billion for Medicaid help during a time of weakened state budgets. Meanwhile, President Bush wants to cap medical malpractice awards in order to help bring health care costs under control. There have been highly publicized cases recently of physicians who believe they no longer can afford the practice of obstetrics because of sky-high malpractice insurance premiums in a litigious climate, as well as trauma centers that have closed because of the cost of malpractice suits. Critics of the present situation also point out that physicians routinely order expensive tests that may not be necessary medically for fear of being sued later.

Good news and bad news (Friday, 7/26/02)
The Houston Chronicle reports that wages are up, but orders for durable goods have dipped to their lowest levels in seven months.

The cost of depression (Friday, 7/26/02)
Amy Joyce writes about how clinical depression can be totally disabling and what it takes to help depressed workers recover so that everybody can benefit from their best again. One thing that could help a lot would be increased public awareness and understanding of what depression is and what it isn't. The state of knowledge has advanced remarkably during the past 20 years or so, but many people still suffer under the burden of the misinformation of our remote ancestors. The odds are still high that most of what a randomly selected member of the adult American population believes about psychiatric disorder is simply flat out wrong.

Compositional shifts (Friday, 7/26/02)
Since 1990, the Northeast's labor force has come to include more foreign-born persons and fewer young educated workers, because they've moved someplace else. Here's more from Christine Haughney of the Washington Post.

How to end up working for somebody who shares your values (Friday, 7/26/02)
There has been plenty of evidence recently that there are unethical top-level corporate executives, but there is no evidence that these individuals are typical of the thousands of people who run America's tens of thousands of companies. Nor is there evidence that the incidence of unethical behavior among senior executives is higher than among other privileged professional or demographic groups, or, for that matter, the public in general. Still, you wouldn't want to flip a coin to choose your friends or next-door neighbors, so you probably won't want to leave too much to chance when seeking an employer either. Laurent Belsie has some suggestionson how to give a prospective employer an "ethics audit."

Being cool without being too cool (Friday, 7/26/02)
It may be difficult for some people to understand why a worker's dress should make any difference when it is work performance that an employer is supposed to be interested in, but it usually does, and there may be good reasons. Some people would like to be cool in all aspects of their lives, while others just don't want to overheat during the summer. Niesha Gates of the Sacramento Bee discusses the sometimes gray boundary separating "casual" from "inappropriate" at work during the summer or anytime.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Elsevier's Econbase (Friday, 7/26/02)
The Elsevier science site provides access to abstracts, tables of contents, and sometimes full-text content from dozens of economics journals.

The Street apparently is cheered by arrests (Thursday, 7/25/02)
It may be that many investors have been waiting for evidence that the government really is committed to taking the cheating out of the game. The arrest of three Adelphia Communications Corporation executives on fraud charges was accompanied by the second-largest point gain on the Dow EVER. When the market closed yesterday, the index was back above 8,000 after roaring upward nearly 490 points.

Does it mean that the bear market has lost its teeth? Has a new trend started? Don't count on it. Nonetheless, many people are eagerly waiting to see what the market does during the rest of this week and next. A tremendous amount of wealth has evaporated from the American economy during recent weeks. Ron Scherer of the Christian Science Monitor tells about some of the practical effects of these losses on many individuals and organizations, such as colleges and charities.

SEC investigates AOL Time Warner (Thursday, 7/25/02)
The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into the accounting practices of the world's largest media organization following the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history, a tremendous decline in the company's stock value and a high-level management shakeup, all of which followed the company's creation through the largest corporate merger in U.S. history a couple of years ago.

Persistence of the black-white gap (Thursday, 7/25/02)
African Americans have made progress in American society, but, given recent rates of change, full equality is something that is not expected for a long time. Here is a summary of results from a new report published by the National Urban League. Progress may seem particularly slow if you consider that slavery was abolished in the United States 137 years ago, not last century, but the century BEFORE last century.

Progress in narrowing the gender gap (Thursday, 7/25/02)
New data from the Labor Department show that Generation X women have been narrowing the pay gap with men to a greater extent that their elders. Meanwhile, Lisa Singhania writes about time impact of boomer women on the work world and challenges still to be met.

Man-made drought? (Thursday, 7/25/02)
Scientists are saying that pollution may be responsible for the drought that has resulted in famine in Africa. Here's more from USA Today.

Switzerland might be nice (Thursday, 7/25/02)
Christopher Marquis writes that more people are wanting to work for the U.S. Department of State now than before the September 11 terrorist attack, but few are clamoring for assignments in the major trouble spots such as Pakistan.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: SavingForCollege.com (Thursday, 7/25/02)
SavingForCollege.com allows you to check the specific characteristics of college saving plans in each region by using a pull-down menu and selecting your state.

Lucent to cut more jobs (Wednesday, 7/24/02)
WorldCom doesn't have a monopoly on agonies in the telecom sector. Lucent Technologies has had nine consecutive quarters of losses, so another 7,000 jobs will be cut and 1,000 more will be eliminated through attrition.

Bush keeps trying (Wednesday, 7/24/02)
The President has been trying to convince Americans, particularly investors--and about half of American adults are investors now--to start feeling positive enough about the U.S. economy and its future to start buying stocks again. So far, it hasn't been working very well, but, then, nothing has been working to pull the market out of its funk. Some frustrated critics think things might be better if the Secretary of Treasury did things differently, or even if there were a different Secretary of Treasury.

Sluggish job market expected to slow recovery (Wednesday, 7/24/02)
The USA Today's Barbara Hagenbaugh discusses some of the implications of what appears to be a "jobless recovery," to overstate it a bit. Meanwhile, Shannon Buggs reports that the slowdown of the American economy has shifted the power balance a bit in the direction of working parents in the daycare market.

One thing leads to another in a struggling economy (Wednesday, 7/24/02)
More people have been collecting unemployment benefits in Japan, so this leading to an increase in unemployment insurance premiums. This will cost both employers and employees more and make less money available for business investment or additional hiring, as well as for consuming, which certainly won't have the stimulative effect that the Japanese economy needs at this point.

More businesses buy rather than rent (Wednesday, 7/24/02)
Low interest rates are keeping the housing market strong, particularly during a time when people are more enthusiastic about putting their money into real estate rather than stocks. However, Catherine Reagor-Burrough reports that many businesses are finding the low interest rates attractive too and are buying rather than renting their work spaces.

How will a job move affect your taxes? (Wednesday, 7/24/02)
It can be complicated and confusing, but Gary Klott offers some clarification in the Houston Chronicle. In general, there's not much you can take off.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: BakerBooks (Wednesday, 7/24/02)
BakerBooks keeps you posted on the new books in Harvard Business School's Baker Library as well as from the School's HBS Press.

Another U.S. record (Monday, 7/22/02)
If you thought you've already known for several weeks about the biggest bankruptcy in American history, you may not have heard the latest news. WorldCom has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Here's more from USA Today, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. Even without the latest bad news, many experts expected a fairly dismal Monday following the Dow's drop of nearly 400 points last Friday. Clearly, the WorldCom bankruptcy hasn't helped, but other things have been going on too that aren't cheering the hearts of investors today. Here's more from Alexandra Twin of CNN.

Incidentally, while the WorldCom debacle is hitting stockholders hard, it is thought that the company's customers won't experience an interruption of service, but there may be deterioration after awhile. WorldCom is a major long-distance provider, and approximately half of Internet traffic is carried on its networks. There may be a rippling effect, as well, because, after WorldCom no longer has to worry about most of its debts, it will be able to afford to cut prices in its effort to get back on its feet. This will put pressure on many of its competitors whose financial conditions may also be tenuous.

Executive pay slips a bit around D. C. (Monday, 7/22/02)
Top executives in the Washington, D. C. area are earning a bit less, but, in most cases, it's still impressive, according to Terence O'Hara of the Washington Post. Incidentally, here's the extreme version of the use of stock options as remuneration for executives. Capital One Financial Corporation pays its top executives no salary at all, none, zero. Unless the company's stock increases in value, they simply aren't paid, which is the sort of thing that makes a lot of people worry a bit about whether increases in stock values are real.

Growing and surviving often involve the same principles (Monday, 7/22/02)
If you're a small business operator and have been preoccupied with how you're going to keep your head above water in the current climate, this may be the very time to think about growth. Here's an explanation from the Arizona Republic. Incidentally, many Arizona business are enjoying the protections of incorporation without suffering corporate tax rates. Yvette Ammendariz explains LLCs, or limited liability companies.

Good talkers in demand (Monday, 7/22/02)
When people talk to a computer, they don't like to feel that they're talking to a computer, even though voice-automated systems are playing an increasingly important role in all regions of American economic life. The trend is providing expanded opportunities for "voice actors." Also, given increased commuter time as well as people who like to "multi-task" when they exercise, the recorded book industry has exploded in recent years, which also offers opportunities for actors who are pleasant and convincing to listen to. All this is probably a good thing, because employment of on-air talent in commercial broadcasting has been shrinking in recent years.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Sweatshops.org (Monday, 7/22/02)
Sweatshops.org is maintained by Coop America and is intend to offer information and resources on sweatshops around the world for those who want to help eliminate them.

Six die in a Ukrainian mine (Sunday, 7/21/02)
A gas explosion in a coal mine in eastern Ukraine has killed a half-dozen miners and trapped many more.

Wellstone pushes prescription meds plan (Sunday, 7/21/02)
Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone was given the opportunity to give the Democrats' radio address this week, probably, in part, because he is running for re-election in a race of national importance to both parties, given the narrow Democratic margin in the Senate. Older Americans vote in disproportionate numbers and many of them have been among the more immediate victims of stock value declines because of their retirement accounts. It all means that you're likely to hear quite a lot about issues of interest to older folks, including Social Security and a prescription drug benefit added to Medicare. Senator Wellstone says the drug companies are fighting prescription benefit plans, because they want to keep prices high. The idea of collective bargaining when it comes to buying medications sticks in their throats. Wellstone favors the more expensive plan preferred by many Senate Democrats.

Rationing reportedly ending in North Korea (Sunday, 7/21/02)
If globalization bothers you and you feel that everybody would be better off if each country's economy were maintained as an isolated entity, you may want to take a look at how things have been going for North Korea. Reports are that rationing is ending, finally, and that the world's leading unnecessary economic basket case may be prepared to open up its system to some fresh, for the Stalinist government, ideas. Are you holding your breath yet?

Gore says the Bush administration has been lying about the economy (Sunday, 7/21/02)
Al Gore is giving every indication of wanting to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, even though he has lukewarm support, at best, from major Democrats around the country. He appears to be a nice guy--maybe smarter than Bush, certainly more of a "straight-shooter" than Clinton--and many people might rather have him as a next-door neighbor than either Bush or Clinton, but he is seen by many party leaders as a lousy candidate last time and maybe next time too. He is seen as somebody who managed to do what should have been difficult if not impossible: essentially tie in an election that should have been at least a mini-landslide in his favor. He provided a gift to Bush by appearing to be a chameleon who changed direction and his persona almost weekly based on polls and focus groups. The result was that Bush didn't have to run against the successes of the Clinton-Gore administration. All he had to do was appear to be a "regular guy."

So, why, when many Democrats feel that another Gore candidacy could mean another four years in the White House for Bush, is the former Vice President even trying? Why does he think he has a chance? It's because the primaries will be very much front-loaded next time, which will give a big advantage to anyone who is already well-known. Candidates with little name recognition won't have time to introduce themselves. Gore certainly has high name recognition, so, despite everything, he may very well be the 2004 Democratic nominee after all.

Gore understands his problem. He has even said that he intends to be spontaneous from now on and really say what's on his mind, rather than being such a calculating micromanager, which may or may not be possible, given his nature. He's also doing his best to remind the public--including this November's voters--about the economic strengths of the Clinton-Gore era. His accusation that the Bush administration has been lying is strong stuff for cautious, calculating Al. It's part of his effort to change his image, but he also knows that the current economic mess provides a potential opportunity for his party to take over Congress in November. That, plus a Gore win in 2004, might mean that the Democrats could have an opportunity to redirect the course of American history for a while before the Republicans have a chance to become the majority party for several decades.

Could the series of corporate debacles mean a big win for Democrats in less than four months? Is it possible that the Dems could end up controlling both houses of Congress for the next two years, thus greatly weakening President Bush and making his re-election less likely?

Yes, it is possible, but by no means a certainty. Many Americans haven't begun to think about the November election yet, let alone connect it to what they hear on TV news each night. The President's approval ratings remain high, probably in large part because of the continuing terrorism threat, and it's fairly unlikely that questions about his own corporate past will have much more practical political impact than questions about the Clintons' real estate dealings before coming to Washington.

The greater threat seems to come from a possible blowup of the Cheney-Halliburton problem, but, if it's going to affect the fall election, it will have to happen fast. Cheney's political enemies may be able to stick him with this and, in the process, tie the Administration to the series of corporate scandals in the public mind, but they'll have to find him first. It's likely that the Vice President will stay out of sight for the next several months. If anything serious develops, it could be long after the November election is over. Moreover, it really appears that Cheney has no presidential ambitions and that he has not been planning to be Bush's running mate next time. The Republicans are likely to want someone else, as well, who could be their presidential candidate in 2008.

Economic issues may very well play a deciding role in the midterm election in a few weeks, but it seems more likely that it will be the depressed Dow that will make the difference, not the corporate scandals. When the stock market crashed in 1929, only a tiny fraction of the American public owned stocks--about one percent, in fact. Now, more than half of Americans are in the market in one way or another, including about 70 percent of those who vote.

Settling for less (Sunday, 7/21/02)
Challenger, Gray and Christmas reports that about a quarter of job seekers who have been used to high earnings have been accepting new jobs that pay less than they've been used to. Finding another job is taking longer too, according to the survey.

Gray is good (Sunday, 7/21/02)
AOL Time Warner (even the awkwardness of their corporate name suggests that they're organized like the Balkans) isn't the only company that is turning things over to older executives with proven old-economy expertise. Steve James reports from New York that gray is in across much of corporate America following the late-'90s balloon followed by the drumbeat of corporate debacles. Old dogs with old tricks may be in demand for a while.

Things improve for single mothers...a bit (Sunday, 7/21/02)
USA Today reports that fewer single mothers and their children are living below the poverty line. Still, more than a third still are.

What happens if there are too many doctors? (Sunday, 7/21/02)
An old joke says that one lawyer in town may starve, but if there are two, they can both get rich. Gina Kolata of the New York Times writes about research suggesting that supply may drive demand in medicine too. The more doctors there are, the more medical service that is provided, but not necessarily with any resulting health improvements.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: IRS Code 529 (Sunday, 7/21/02)
The Internal Revenue Services offers details about the tax benefits of a 529 college savings plan.

Heads up! Look out below! (Saturday, 7/20/02)
A lot of Americans are a lot less wealthy today than they were Thursday, given the selling frenzy that left the Dow almost 400 points lower after a very dark Friday on Wall Street. A few analysts expect investors to recognize some bargains and start buying again, but, as Darrin Schlegel and Ralph Bivins report, not many are willing to say that the market has bottomed out for fear of being contradicted by facts next week. There hasn't been much talk lately about its still being overvalued following the late '90s bubble, though.

The New York Times reports that many Americans seem to be losing confidence in stocks as a good thing in the long-run, even though many brokers have a chart on their office walls showing, despite ups and downs along the way, the dramatic upward path of stock values throughout the 20th century. If the value of American business declines permanently, it will mean that the United States has become a very different place, and the value of our stocks will be the least of our worries. Still, as John Maynard Keynes said, "In the long run, we'll all be dead." The current mess is least convenient for older people who don't have twenty years to sit tight and who have been depending on their stocks to help finance a comfortable retirement.

At the risk of belaboring what should be the obvious, nobody has claimed that these things have to be fully rational. At any particular time, collective attitudes and beliefs about just about anything have only a slippery relationship to actual realities. It's simply the way human brains work, particularly when they're bumping into and influencing each other.

At the moment, the news is filled with very bad news about business, to the point that even a little bad thing seems to be enough to shake confidence further and send investors into another round of retrenchment. It started with some genuine big-time scandals involving several major companies which, in all fairness, probably aren't representative of the more than 17,000 publicly traded companies in the United States. Trouble is, other bad news has been added--not necessarily wrong-doing, but some simply involving companies with weak earnings, or others that look like the gang who couldn't shoot straight. It's a very bad time for ConAgra to have to recall 19 million pounds of hamburger, for example. Of course, the criminal investigation of a Johnson and Johnson factory right now doesn't help much either. Nor does news of the big trade deficit which doesn't have all that much to do with the bad news that started all this, but it does contribute to the negative feelings of insecurity.

Credibility depends on perceived competence, trustworthiness, and energy. The trustworthiness part has come under fire because of some genuinely crooked executives. Others have been looking incompetent, and, of course, some boards and many investors themselves have been dozing quite a bit, so their inaction or lack of energy also has contributed to the diminished credibility of American business lately.

Harvey Pitt, the Bush administration's SEC chairman, seems to be a good guy and he's certainly demonstrated his overall professional competence in his previous work lives. However, he's been under fire lately by Bush's political enemies because he looks like a fox put in charge of guarding the chicken house. He needs to demonstrate that he's willing to be hard on some of his old friends, so he's been reinforcing the tendency of people to adopt a "demon theory" when things aren't going well in order to prove that he should be able to keep his job. If we can just identify the rascal who's responsible and throw him out or punish him enough, everything will be okay, right? However, even though there have been some bad guys involved in all this, they haven't been responsible for all of it, and locking them in a dungeon until they're all old and feeble won't solve the parts of the problem that have arisen for other reasons entirely.

Incidentally, Harvey Pitt doesn't like the idea of expensing stock options, but he thinks it's inevitable in the present climate. For the moment, at least, a vast army of lobbyists has descended on Congress and managed to turn back attempts to tighten the rules on options, as Senator John McCain, among others, has wanted. High-technology corporations, in particular, have been vehemently opposed to such ideas, and Democrats have had special reason for listening to them, given the financial support that has come to them from Silicon Valley over the years, and the Democrats control the agenda in the Senate.

However, it's not a strictly partisan issue. There are both Democrats and Republicans who think expensing options makes sense and others who don't. It simply points out that there really are areas of gray when it comes to accounting. It isn't all black and white. Sometimes executives do what they do not because it's necessarily in their personal self-interest, but because they have to make a call, and accounting, which is a human creation, can be as much invention as discovery. All this is part of the reality too, and often lost in a sweaty frenzy.

Most are good apples, according to a new survey (Saturday, 7/20/02)
A few companies like Enron have dominated the news in recent months, but there are about 17,000 publicly-traded companies in the United States. Are the few representative of the whole? Many authorities think not. Also, a new survey suggests that most executives honorably follow the rules.

Privatization and open trade haven't helped them, say many in Latin America (Saturday, 7/20/02)
Protests have been building across several Latin American countries claiming that the movement toward more open trade across international boundaries have resulted in more poverty and unemployment, not less.

New plan takes aim at chronic homelessness (Saturday, 7/20/02)
The Bush administration wants to bringing funding from three federal agencies together and focus it with the intention of eliminating chronic homelessness in the United States within a decade.

Smaller families, larger houses (Saturday, 7/20/02)
On the average, American houses are now 230 percent larger than they were 50 years ago, even though families have gotten smaller, and most Americans have been saying that they don't need larger houses.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: CEO Sister (Saturday, 7/20/02)
CEO Sister is a leading online community for minority businesswomen.

Leading indicators unchanged (Friday, 7/19/02)
The Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators has been holding steady. The Index is known for doing a pretty good job of forecasting economic activity several months ahead. Meanwhile, the Labor Department reports that there was almost no inflation at all during the month of June. Still, new polls indicate that Americans are becoming somewhat more concerned about the state of the American economy.

Little movement in London (Friday, 7/19/02)
A big subway strike is causing a monumental case of gridlock in the UK's big city, and it could mean major trouble for the Blair government.

Meds issue back on top of the Senate agenda (Friday, 7/19/02)
Janelle Carter reports from Washington on the Senate debate over how to add a prescription medication benefit to Medicare. Polls are showing that it is an important issue to older Americans, who tend to be politically active, so it isn't surprising that both parties are talking about it as an important election approaches. Whether they would prefer to take the issue out of the campaign by passing something soon or to have it as an issue and be able to blame the opposition during the campaign is still a question.

What are the implications of the corporate scandals for the fall election? (Friday, 7/19/02)
The Washington Post's E. J. Dionne writes about the Democrats' effort to portray themselves as watchdogs, while the paper's Terry Neal says it may not be easy for Democratic candidates to fully exploit the mess at the expense of the Republicans in the fall campaign, because both parties have taken about $1.1 billion in soft money over the past decade, the greatest share being from corporations.

Are business students preoccupied with the corporate scandals? Apparently not. (Friday, 7/19/02)
At least, Jackie Mah finds a high degree of non-concern among students at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

Many Americans are scheduled to become old at an inconvenient time (Friday, 7/19/02)
Today's USA Today reports on what could become a major retirement crisis in the United States.

How will the big deficit affect you? (Friday, 7/19/02)
If you strain to remember, you may recall Y2K and the big controversy at about the same time over how to spend the huge federal surplus. It's safe to stop worrying about either. Realistically, surpluses aren't likely to return for quite a while, and economists generally agree that there's no good reason that government should be bringing in more than it's spending, particularly during a time when more economic stimulus is needed. However, large deficits can cause trouble, because it means that government is competing with the private sector for available capital. This tends to drive up the cost of money, meaning that you can expect to be paying more for a mortgage, for instance. The big $165 billion shortfall might also impact on Social Security, according to David Cook's article from the Christian Science Monitor.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Green Money Journal (Friday, 7/19/02)
The Green Money Journal has been offering information for those interested in socially and environmentally-conscious investing since 1992.

House and Senate try to get together (Thursday, 7/18/02)
The two houses of Congress are beginning work on compromise legislation intending to give Americans reasons to trust the stock market. Moreover, many people do need reasons, according to Caroline Mayer and Claudia Deane, who write about how the big stock value declines are affecting people and their plans.

Don't overdo it, Greenspan advises (Thursday, 7/18/02)
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve fears that it could be too easy to go from too little government regulation to too much, and, as a consequence, strangle the golden goose. He doesn't want to see corporate chiefs forced to verify their companies' finances for government regulators. George Gilder agrees. Here's Virginia Postrel's summary of his interview in Wired magazine.

WTO decision (Thursday, 7/18/02)
The World Trade Organization has decided that the U.S. Administration's steel tariff policies violate WTO rules.

U.S. jobless claims decline last week (Thursday, 7/18/02)
First-time jobless claims fell to their lowest level in nearly a year and a half, according to the latest data from the United States Department of Labor.

Unarmed women take over oil terminals in Nigeria (Thursday, 7/18/02)
D'Arcy Doran reports from Ugboegungun on the unusual protest and its relation to the disconnect between Nigeria's resources and its people's needs.

Worker conflicts in Canada and China (Thursday, 7/18/02)
Ford intends to close its truck plant in Oakville, Ontario, and the Canadian Auto Workers Union says the issue will be central to new contract negotiations across the country's auto industry.

Meanwhile, in far-away Inner Mongolia, workers occupy a plant over questions of what the government owes workers of money-losing state-owned factories when they are privatized. China's overall economy is the fasted growing in the world, but most of the action and most of the beneficiaries are in the country's southeastern urban regions. Observers might be forgiven for suspecting that the Chinese government is willing to abandon millions of impoverished unemployed factory workers and farmers from the countryside, whose incomes have been declining, in order to further the country's economic revolution, if it can. The question is whether the nation's economy and perhaps its political system can be transformed before social upheaval occurs, which could threaten everything. It has taken almost a hundred years for the "new China" to emerge from many centuries of feudalism. There appears to be stability at the moment, but many people in China and elsewhere are holding their breaths, and major Party officials are likely to be among them.

European executives have gotten less secure too (Thursday, 7/18/02)
Mark Landler reports from Frankfurt on the change of mood and decline of cronyism in Europe that means less political protection for corporate executives.

Not what he meant to say (Thursday, 7/18/02)
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has been giving the Administration's political strategists fits because he doesn't calculate the likely political impact of everything he says before he says it. In fact, many find his independence and his tendency to speak directly refreshing, even when he misspeaks. Jonathan Weisman reports on the latest flap that has many in the Administration holding their shaking heads. Secretary O'Neill said on television that he never sold any stock when he was head of Alcoa.

That isn't true, and it isn't what he meant. He meant to say that he didn't see any of the proceeds. Nobody has accused him of doing anything wrong while Alcoa's CEO, and, in fact, he's generally held in high regard. However, it's not the sort of thing that Republican pols want to hear in public during a time when the Bush administration is trying to put out fires having to do with the corporate behavior of several former executives who work in the Administration, including the President himself, who, a new poll finds, is perceived by many Americans as too much influenced by big business.

Republicans discuss how to stick it to the Democrats (Thursday, 7/18/02)
With a very important midterm election less than four months away, Democrats are encouraged that the corporate mess and big biz' connections to a Republican administration can be translated into effective campaign issues. However, Republican state party leaders have been meeting in San Francisco with the hope they can turn the tables on the Democrats, who have their own corporate connections and donors. Will it work? There are many wildcards operating, including questions about how much the national Administration's strengths or weaknesses will generalize to local or statewide races. It might be clearer if this were 2004. On the other hand, maybe not. Stay tuned.

Bush not ready to give up on Social Security privatization (Thursday, 7/18/02)
It doesn't seem to be a good time, and many Republicans really wish that he'd let it go for a while, but President Bush remains unswayed in his view that part of Social Security should be linked to the stock market.

What's it worth to you? (Thursday, 7/18/02)
A new survey by an organization whose job it is to promote markets for what higher education institutions are selling summarizes the correlation between the holding of various degrees and lifetime earnings, all of which has to do with the extrinsic value of the credentials, not necessarily with either the extrinsic or intrinsic value of knowledge itself.

Learning about the economics of health care online (Thursday, 7/18/02)
Health care professionals have found that control of the health care sector and also of their own fields and careers has slipped out of their hands and into the hands of MBAs who don't know how to cure anybody of anything. As we've reported previously, many physicians have decided to add an MBA to their current list of academic credentials. Brenda Rios reports for the Detroit Free Press that many health care professionals want to learn more about the economics of their field, but have little time for going to class. So, the University of Michigan-Dearborn is about to offer convenient opportunities online.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Rural Economy at a Glance (Thursday, 7/18/02)
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City now provides a monthly summary of the rural farm and nonfarm economies. The Bank also has taken the lead in studying possible non-agricultural alternatives for rural America in the new information economy.

Corporate fraud bill passes House (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
First, the Senate, now the House. The House of Representatives has passed a bill to toughen criminal penalties for executives engaging in corporate fraud. The President wants a bill he can sign before the Congress goes on summer recess. Differences between the House and Senate versions have to be worked out. The Senate vote was unanimous. The House vote was 391 to 28 in favor.

Incidentally, the Democrats are hoping to make the corporate debacles into an issue in the fall election, and perhaps in 2004 as well. However, a new poll from the Washington Post and ABC News indicates that the mess hasn't been sticking to the President so far. His overall approval rating remains extremely high, although that may be more related to his role as Commander in Chief right now than to his role as economic leader.

An encouraging word...with reservations (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
Chairman Greenspan told the Senate Banking Committee that the American economy has held up well despite last fall's terrorist attack and other negatives, but with lingering effects and some uncertainties. For instance, he's concerned that "infectious greed" among some executives could suppress consumer confidence. Mr. Greenspan speaks to a House committee today.

Government workers strike in the UK (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
Schools closed in Britain today after thousands of government workers strike for higher pay. Here's more from Jeremy Lovell in London.

Job cuts at Intel (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
Intel's earnings were down during the second quarter, but mostly because of higher costs, not shrinking demand. The big chip maker will cut 4,000 jobs in an attempt to deal with the problem.

More pilots to be cut at Northwest Airlines (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
Northwest Airlines expects to lay off another 40 pilots this fall, which would bring the total to 570 for the year.

Housing construction slips (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
The housing sector helped to hold up the U.S. economy for quite a while when other sectors were slumping. Now, Leigh Strope reports that new Commerce Department data show that housing construction was down during the month of June.

More people want in (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
The September 11 terrorist attack seems to have stimulated interest in American citizenship, but it also has increased the amount of time the U.S. government is taking to approve applications.

Overtime case settled (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
Some companies apparently call store employees "managers" in order to keep from having to pay overtime. RadioShack has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a class-action suit.

On the limits of pure intelligence (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
There were no IQ tests available at the time, but there's a good chance that John Quincy Adams was America's smartest president, but that didn't keep him from being one of its least effective. He was a high-quality person, though, and is remembered for having spent many of his post-presidential years as a member of the House of Representatives. Effective leadership in business may require some of the same attributes as successful political leadership. Some minimal level of intelligence seems to be necessary, but, beyond that, more IQ points might not make as much difference as other characteristics. Malcom Gladwell writes in The New Yorker about how misplaced emphasis on pure intellect and the "star system" has helped American corporations get into their current trouble.

Economic growth in Africa (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
Overall, economic growth across the African continent was respectable last year--4.3 percent--but it wasn't enough to relieve poverty very much, and a lower growth rate is expected this year. Africa may be the most troubled region in the world, given nearly a dozen wars on the continent, an enormous AIDS problem, and grinding poverty.

Uncle Sam may need PR help (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
The federal government seems to have the wrong image as an employer. Helen Rumbelow reports that for many young people, their dream job isn't a government job.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Livelihoods Connect (Wednesday, 7/17/02)
Livelihoods Connect comes from Britain's Department for International Development and the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Sussex. It is a learning site to help people understand sustainable livelihoods and their role in reducing global poverty.

The Senate speaks with one voice (Tuesday, 7/16/02)
Ninety-seven Senators were present to vote on the business fraud bill, and they all voted in favor of it. It's stronger than what the President asked for, and it's stronger than the House bill, so whatever becomes law is likely to be somewhat different. Also, when nearly 100 big-ego'd, mostly independent, personally ambitious, ideologically varied big-time politicians all vote in the same way on the same thing, it suggests a stampede that may have been more glandular than neural. It seems to be a measure of how scared people are, but not necessarily a measure of clear thinking.

Agreement at UPS (Tuesday, 7/16/02)
Some of UPS' regular customers have been arranging alternative service elsewhere because of fears that there could be a Teamsters strike soon. But, the Teamsters and United Parcel Service have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, only about two weeks before the old contract was set to expire.

Would it help if the President told us how BAD things are? (Tuesday, 7/16/02)
President Bush has made two speeches very recently intending to calm the waters and boost investor confidence, and, each time, contrarian stocks have gone down. Yesterday was enough to give nearly anybody a severe case of vertigo. The Dow dropped 439 points, which was enough to make programmed trading kick in and initiate buys. As a consequence, the big index ended up down only 45 points for the day, but everybody on Wall Street may have been taking nausea pills. Here's more analysis from Floyd Norris for the New York Times.

The euro's strength against the dollar (Tuesday, 7/16/02)
The euro edged ever so slightly past the U.S. dollar in value yesterday, which is creating slight smiles of satisfaction across the continent. However, as Steven Erlanger writes from Berlin, it may be more about fallout from the scandals on the U.S. side of the Atlantic than about confidence and strength on the European side.

They want him to tell them that everything will be okay (Tuesday, 7/16/02)
Alan Greenspan, the highly credible, widely respected Chairman of the Federal Reserve, will be speaking the Senate Banking Committee today, and they're hoping to hear soothing things. Here's more from Caren Bohan.

Tough job for O'Neill (Tuesday, 7/16/02)
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill is an independent and phenomenally successful self-made former CEO who, unlike his boss, certainly was not born on third base, and he knows it. As head of Alcoa, he earned tens of millions of dollars from stock options that, from all indications, were a legitimate result of his having a lot to do with increasing shareholder value ten-fold during his tenure. In an administration where, in the present climate, having been a big-time corporate leader is not seen as an asset by many, O'Neill may be just the kind of former executive best suited for communicating what business leaders should be like. David Cook writes from Washington about why Secretary O'Neill's job isn't easy.

Minority women move ahead in American companies (Tuesday, 7/16/02)
A new report from Catalyst finds that minority women have been making some progress in the executive ranks of American corporations.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: CAP@Columbia (Tuesday, 7/16/02)
Two professors at Columbia University have created CAP@Columbia in order to give you access to resources from the university's securities analysis and investment courses.

A euro now costs a dollar (Monday, 7/15/02)
The euro has reached one-for-one parity with the U.S. dollar. Here's more from Frankfurt, Germany. Meanwhile, European leaders are keeping a close eye on the battering of the U.S. economic system that is occurring because of accounting "irregularities," to put it euphemistically. They aren't gloating, though, knowing that there's no reason they could not have some of the same problems on their side of the Atlantic. They're holding their breath.

Book cooking in Washington (Monday, 7/15/02)
Martin Crutsinger discusses some of the ways that your government does creative things with your tax money in order to put a nice face on things. It may be that government and corporate accountants have had some of the same inspiration. Speaking of government and corporations, many of the nation's governors are meeting in Idaho and, as it turns out, are among the least pleased about the big-time corporate scandals, given their effects at the state level.

There's gold in them thar teeth (Monday, 7/15/02)
At least for those who haven't had to cash it in. Eileen Ambrose of the Baltimore Sun reports that many people are finding that their "golden years" aren't quite what they expected. Many were looking forward to a time when they would have both enough time and enough money, as well as health. For many, there is more time, but less money, and, of course, health can also be a problem. The good news is that this is a better time to be old than during most of human history, because when body systems start to sputter, technology often is capable of "fine tuning" things with medications. The bad news is that many people are finding that those medications can be their biggest expense during later years, assuming that they can afford the pills at all. Kim Norris has some advice on some of the ways you may be able to cope with sky-high medication costs, and one of these ways is to visit a pharmacist in Canada. For those living in Detroit, for instance, that can be fairly simple, because Windsor, Ontario is within sight. It's a little harder if you live in, say, Kansas. Finally, the Detroit Free Press' Susan Tompor says that there are some things you can do before you get old that will help you deal with health care costs once you are.

Aviation's gain is a loss to many other agencies (Monday, 7/15/02)
USA Today reports that aviation security is absorbing a lot of officers and causing shortages elsewhere.

Not the year of generous raises (Monday, 7/15/02)
The "supply and demand" processes you studied in Econ 101 are operating just as you should expect, and, among other things, that means prices are being held down in many sectors of the economy. Of special interest to many people will be the cost of labor. Those who receive raises at all this year probably won't find them impressive.

Have you thought about China lately? (Monday, 7/15/02)
If you think that most Chinese people wear Mao suits, you're slightly behind the times. You may not be able to find a Mao suit now, even in a museum. If you think China has a vast number of poor people, you're right about that, but it also has a growing number of rich-over-night people too, as well as a rapidly-expanding educated, affluent middle-class that drives cars on freeways while talking on cell phones. Yes, there are lots of rice paddies and water buffalo, but there are also lots of gleaming skyscrapers. THOUSANDS of new ones have been built just during the past seven years or so, in fact. China is undergoing a transformation that may be unique in human history, given the speed with which it is happening. Here's a major report from the New York Times. Also, watch PBS' "Wide Angle" next week, which also is about China. Check your local listings.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Marketing Profs (Monday, 7/15/02)
Marketing Profs offers strategies and tactics used by marketing companies. The information and advice really does come from marketing professors and other professionals in the field, they say.

But who really knows what to do? (Sunday, 7/14/02)
The President is emphasizing what most members of his own party as well as most Democrats agree with: public confidence must be restored, because the American economy, the key to national well-being as well as national security, is in genuine jeopardy. However, because there is never more than a fairly loose relationship between realities and public opinion--meaning that people's attitudes and opinions are affected by factors other than the facts themselves--nobody really seems to know what to do. American society is a complex dynamic system that largely runs itself; nobody, including the President or the Congress, is fully "in charge." The President, who occupies what may appear to be "the driver's seat," has no more than a steering wheel only loosely connected to the front wheels in front of him.

Moreover, an important midterm election that will determine who controls both houses of Congress is less than four months away. The Republicans are mindful that the President's ability to provide effective leadership in the task of restoring public confidence may be compromised by his administration's dependence on and close connections to major American corporations as well as his own and the Vice President's own corporate governance history.

Some Democrats smell blood, but, as we've reported previously, former President Clinton and others apparently have been urging caution when considering going to war against big business and trying to stick it to the Republicans. Reason: millions of Democrats also are part of big business and identify with it, as stockholders, employees, or managers. The Democrats' problem will be to find some way to make the current scandals into an effective campaign issue without being seen as hampering the Administration's efforts to deal effectively with the problem.

Congressional Democrats do see a clear opportunity to make use of the present situation in their effort to oppose the partial privatization of Social Security. Whatever the underlying facts of the matter, there will be little public taste for linking the old-age security net to the stock market for a while. Even those members of the President's commission, including the highly regarded former Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who have favored privatization, probably have done so based on the assumption that the market isn't rigged.

Legally, it doesn't appear that the President will have any problems related to his previous role at Harkin, because the Securities and Exchange Commission examined his stock sale a decade ago and decided that insider trading was not involved. Further, President Clinton's SEC head, Arthur Levitt, reviewed the case and agreed with the original ruling.

Incidentally, he's the man who wanted to tighten SEC regulations but ran into opposition from both parties. In fact, the current mess can be seen, in part, as a result of a progressive loosening of the government's watchdog and enforcement functions over about twenty years and across several administrations of both parties. However, for various reasons, some people obsess and are likely to continue doing so, so legalities are one thing, politics is something else. Apparently, many Americans are still haggling over Whitewater. In fact, many Americans still regard the Civil War as a "war of Northern aggression," so don't count on the Harkin question's being put to rest during an election year.

However, charges of accounting fraud levied against Halliburton Corporation and Vice President Cheney, who served as the company's CEO during the second half of the 1990's, could blow up in the Administration's face, and there is evidence that the President and his advisors are most concerned with both the legal and political implications of this case. Both Public Citizen, a generally liberal organization, and Judicial Watch, the generally conservative organization that has filed a lawsuit against both Halliburton and Cheney, are pushing this, and the SEC started an investigation in May. This is one to watch. It could affect, not only the Administration's ability to perform effectively in relation to the current crisis, but also the 2002 and 2004 elections. Whether the Democrats will be able to take full advantage of opportunities, however, is a serious question, given their tendency to shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly.

Meanwhile, is the worst over for the stock market? Will there be additional depressing front-page revelations? We certainly don't know, and it isn't clear that writers at the New York Times know either. There are reasons to wonder, they say.

Governors moan together at their latest summer get-together (Sunday, 7/14/02)
One of the principal things there is to moan about if you're a state governor is your busted budget and health care's role in busting it. Speaking of health, it appears that nice summer weather is related to illness. At least, a lot of workers have been calling in sick.

Older Americans are not amused (Sunday, 7/14/02)
The crash in the value of your portfolio can be particularly inconvenient if you're along in years and have been expecting to use your equities to support your old-age. It is said that many retired people are trying to live off their credit cards. Some have built up as much as $60,000 in credit card debt and no real way of paying it off.

Is another strike brewing? (Sunday, 7/14/02)
The New York Times reports on baseball's latest round of labor problems.

Surprise! What you learned in college is that you shouldn't believe everything you hear (Sunday, 7/14/02)
About the time that this spring's new crop of hi-tech university grads were choosing a major, forecasters were saying that it would be a decade at the very least before the big gap between demand and the supply of techies would begin to close. So, many young people did what they thought they were supposed to do to secure a nice career for themselves and also help out the American economy. It's not a very funny joke, but apparently it's on them anyway. Here's more about the rough job market for tech grads.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Youth Rules (Sunday, 7/14/02)
Youth Rules is part of the United States Department of Labor and intends to help improve the health and safety of work environments for young workers.

Seriousness sets in across Washington, D. C. (Saturday, 7/3/02)
Under ordinary circumstances, big-time politicians tend to spend a lot of time posturing, cultivating alliances and deals, and attempting to mold public opinion in service of their own long-term political agendas. However, there are times when immediate realities are so serious that politicians, just like normal people, get scared and push most conventional politicking aside. September 11 was such a time. So was the anthrax scare last fall that reached right into the Capitol Building and Senators' offices. These were no-B.S. situations that required grownup action at a time when nobody knew what might be next.

Now, Congress, the Administration, and the rest of the country are faced with the third national emergency in only ten months. As Senator John McCain told the National Press Club the other day, unless confidence in American business can be restored quickly, the economic effects of the current string of debacles could last longer than the lives of most of the people listening to his speech. It isn't 1929, but the American economy is in jeopardy, as investors get desperate and consumers lose confidence. Incidentally, the stock market didn't fully recover its 1929 losses until the late 1940s, after the Great Depression, after the Second World War.

So, in rapid succession, things have been happening in Washington. President Bush made a speech that was intended to restore confidence in the stock market, but it didn't work. Instead, investors had their worst week in a generation. The U.S. Senate, in a bipartisan mood to hang somebody, passed tough legislation, which, in the current climate, is highly likely to become law. The President quickly called a meeting of his corporate fraud task force at the White House.

The Senate also has voted to ban "insider loaning," something the President has said he favors, even though he was the beneficiary of just such a loan from an oil company a decade ago. Bush's political opponents choose to interpret this as hypocrisy, and, while it may be, there is also an alternative interpretation, which the White House offers in defense. It's useful to keep in mind that Senator John McCain, who helped lead the movement toward campaign finance reform, has freely acknowledged that he also has accepted the "soft" money to which he has objected. His quarrel has been with a system which, so long as it exists, necessarily infects everybody who wants to survive politically.

In a court of law, it is said that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. In partisan politics, a person often is presumed guilty, even if proven innocent. The past ten years have been dominated by "Clinton haters" and "Bush-Cheney haters" who insist on the use of double standards and putting the worst possible spin on their opponents' attitudes and actions.

For example, how should one interpret the fact that Vice President Cheney is shown in a video while CEO of Halliburton Corporation praising the work of Arthur Andersen? Despite actions that have destroyed the company's reputation and business, is it possible that there were also people in the company doing good work over all those years? Large numbers of former Andersen employees feel that it was highly unfair for them to lose their jobs as a result of the actions of others in the company.

Does EVERYONE in government behave as though they're on a radio talk show or part of some sort of hospital patient population? We think not. We expect, for example, that if Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright were having a discussion, it would be highly civil and reflect mutual admiration and respect. Similarly with Robert Rubin and Paul O'Neil or with William Cohen and Donald Rumsfeld. Given the partisan polarization and reliance on stereotypes and caricatures, it is hard to defend rationality without being seen by somebody as defending "the enemy."

Not only are these "times that try men's souls," they're also times that require sober, thoughtful grownups, both men and women.

McCain loses one in the Senate (Saturday, 7/3/02)
While both Republican and Democratic Senators have been in a mood to clean corporate house, they aren't prepared to pass everything that is proposed. Senator John McCain believes that stock options are really a corporate expense and should be treated as such, even though most corporations presently don't do that. A result is that profits usually are inflated, he says, which, in turn, tends to inflate stock values which makes those very options worth more. McCain was intercepted by the Senate's Democratic leadership.

Uncertainty in Venezuela drives up oil prices (Saturday, 7/3/02)
The price of crude has increased because of political and labor instability in one of South America's largest economies, which also happens to be a member of OPEC.

Here's who's helping produce your bananas (Saturday, 7/3/02)
The New York Times reports on widespread use of child labor in Ecuador's banana fields.

Job cuts at Sprint (Saturday, 7/3/02)
The big telecom slump seems to be affecting everybody. For instance, Sprint has announced that it plans to cut 1,200 jobs from its long-distance service.

Moats around castles (Saturday, 7/3/02)
Jackie Spinner reports that, despite changes in the law regulating the accounting industry, executives who are seen as looting their companies may still be able to make use of the unlimited homestead exemption. Other kinds of shelters are under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service.

Expect a BIG federal deficit this year (Saturday, 7/3/02)
It appears that the federal government will be spending about $165 billion more than it takes in during 2002, which is more than expected. The surplus is long gone, but many experts are saying that this would not be a good time for a surplus anyway, given the need to stimulate the economic recovery.

CEO pay diminishes a bit (Saturday, 7/3/02)
In part because shareholders are taking a more active role in how their money is spent, CEO remuneration is already coming down out of the stratosphere.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (Saturday, 7/3/02)
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a major D.C.-based "think tank" with a mostly conservative agenda and strong Republican Party connections.

Help! Please protect me from myself (Friday, 7/2/02)
Following early limited experiments in ancient India, Periclean Greece, and the Roman Republic, plus some seeds sown during Europe's high Middle Ages, there weren't many self-government efforts until the American experiment, which, until fairly recent years, was more a matter of oligarchy than democracy in the modern sense.

Plato regarded democracy as "mob rule," and preferred his idea of well-groomed "philosopher kings." The idea that virtually all adults, whatever their gifts or lack of them, should be given a say in government has come hard over a long period of time, and, in fact, still is resisted by many. In a popular democracy, the majority of people can have what they want, whether or not it is wise. If you want a system that prevents your favorite-love-to-hate doofus from holding office, it's likely to be a system that would have prevented George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as well, given their modest social origins and lack of formal education.

The "creative tension" set up by a statement of principles, however different from the realities of the time, plus a legal separation of powers, has resulted in a broadening of the franchise and increasing democratization over many years. Very recently, the idea of democracy has become popular over much of the world, although, like gardening, which requires the right soil conditions, democracy seems to require certain preconditions as well, if it is to succeed.

For one thing, if a sufficient number of individuals are sufficiently ignorant and irresponsible, democracy doesn't seem capable of working. John Kennedy reminded us that civilization hangs by a thread, and eternal vigilance is required. Nothing ever seems to be settled once and for all. Even slavery, humanity's most primitive institution, was not done away with in the 19th century. Given huge population increases and powerful modern dehumanizing forces, more people in the world seem to be living under conditions of slavery now than ever before.

Whether or not George Santayana was right when he said that we're condemned to repeat history if we don't remember it, the world certainly does seem to behave as though it has Alzheimer's when it is incapable of remembering even recent experiences. In the United States, despite spectacular successes, democracy still is an experiment, and its long-term success isn't guaranteed. A LOT depends on the extent to which individuals are informed and willing to accept responsibility.

There has been much in the news during recent days about the growing AIDS epidemic in China, where, presumably, about 1 in 6 persons has never heard of AIDS. Many more have no idea what causes it or how it is transmitted, so have no chance of figuring out how to prevent HIV infection.

Many Americans are in a similar situation with respect to their knowledge of human nature, and, of course, economic life. Many have no idea where their prosperity comes from, and, so, have no idea how to encourage it or how they might inadvertently sabotage it.

For instance, once again, like a monotonously familiar ancient superstition that simply will not go away, there seems to be a growing movement to use the power of the state to limit how much executives can be paid. We believe that the treatment must fit the diagnosis, and that this sort of prescription is based upon a total misunderstanding of the nature of the disease.

True, when a few corporate employees--in this case, top executives--leave with hundreds of millions of dollars while the company's owners, the investors, are left with nothing, something certainly seems to be wrong. Many of the numbers are stunning--but is the problem with how much money the executives get, or HOW they are getting it?

It goes back to basic high school business law: "The law does not look into the adequacy of a consideration." In plain English, this means that the government does not decide how much a product or service is worth. Sellers and buyers are free to work that out themselves. A service or a piece of property is worth what somebody is willing to pay in a fair market economy.

Either a competitive market determines how much things should cost, including labor, executive or otherwise, or the state decides. Those who can remember further back than a half-dozen years or so will recall that the centralized state-controlled economy turned out to be one of modern history's most disastrous experiments, costing enormous misery and countless lives.

You may think that an executive can't possibly be "worth" tens of millions of dollars under any circumstances. But, would you have the government limit how much a Hollywood studio can pay a star? How much a basketball team can pay a player? And, if you make, say, $60,000. per year, that's 400 TIMES as much as many people in China who make $150 per year. Is that fair? Shouldn't government do something to stop it? Are you really worth that much more than the person in China?

Why is a Hollywood studio willing to pay someone like Tom Hanks a guarantee of $20 million for about four month's work during shooting? Is it because they're generous or kind or feel that Mr. Hanks can use the money? No, it is because they have calculated that it will be in their best economic interest to do so; that by doing so, they are likely to earn more money than if they did not have his services available, and they must compete with other producers in order to get him. Shouldn't they be free to decide to pay him what they like, so long as it's THEIR money and THEIR risk and so long as they're exercising their own informed consent?

Is it likely that the owners of WorldCom made a conscious informed decision to pay their top executives enormous amounts of money while losing their own investments? No, not likely. The problem is not that executives, as a class, are paid too much, or that the state rather than the market should decide what executives should be paid. The problem is that that the market hasn't been working properly. As some commentators have pointed out recently, a market is not a state of nature, but a creation of law and government. The government doesn't decide how many points each player should get, but it is responsible for formulating and enforcing the rules of the game.

The problem isn't how much executives are paid, but WHY they are paid what they get. If it's because of conscious, deliberate, informed choice on the part of the owners within a competitive market, that's one thing. However, if it's because a fair competitive market isn't operating, that's something else. Also, the government as well as a company's owners have responsibility for eliminating inherent conflicts of interest, because these limit the extent to which a genuine competitive market can operate. They rig the game.

If it's because of fraud, that's certainly something else. If it's because the owners haven't been minding the store, that's also something else. And, if they aren't paying attention or don't know what they're doing, whose fault is that? Should they look for somebody on a white horse to protect them and their interests? Is it the responsibility of the Congress to take care of them? If some of their executives have violated the law, they should call the cops, but isn't it their responsibility to pay attention long before the REALLY bad things happen?

If someone steals your car under any circumstances, that's a crime, and they should be arrested and prosecuted. If the government doesn't do its job, you've got a legitimate beef with the government. However, if you leave the doors unlocked and leave the keys in it with the motor running, you might also throw your back out trying to kick yourself in the...well, you know. And, our sympathy will be somewhat muted.

Janet Whitman reports from New York on a survey of Fortune 500 executives suggesting that many corporate board members often don't know much about accounting. The stockholders own the company. Isn't it their responsibility to insist that people on the board know what they're doing and remain fully awake? If they're the wrong people for the job, get somebody else.

If the market were working and if company owners were taking their share of responsibility, executives of struggling or failed companies would not be getting out town with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. If the company's doing poorly, executives should be doing poorly and probably should be fired. If the company is doing well, and its executives really are the reason, stockholders probably will wish they could pay them more.

Retail sales better than expected (Friday, 7/2/02)
Retail sales in June leaped upward 1.1 percent, which was more than expected. Warm weather and air-conditioned malls are given some of the credit.

Look who isn't talking (Friday, 7/2/02)
A surfer has noticed that relatively few people are talking about work, jobs, and careers online.

Japan worries about external factors too (Friday, 7/2/02)
As if Japan needed additional reasons to explain its long, unsuccessful struggle to start its economic engine, given the huge bad bank loans and lack of political will for biting a few bullets. At any rate, Yuri Kageyama writes from Tokyo that there is worry about the global economy's effect on Japan's recovery efforts. Meanwhile, in the U.S., .

Putin puts a general in charge (Friday, 7/2/02)
The Russian economy needs a little military discipline, apparently, at least in the judgment President Putin. Is it possible that the old KGB officer is a bit nostalgic for the "good old days" of the Soviet COMMAND economy? Here's more from the UK's BBC.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Insead KNOWLEDGE (Friday, 7/2/02)
Insead KNOWLEDGE is published by Insead business school based in France but also with campuses in Asia.

How low can they go? (Thursday, 7/11/02)
The worst bear market in years continues to growl and chew up wealth, as the major indexes hit their lowest levels in 5 years, despite President Bush's efforts to stimulate confidence.

Analysts attribute the stock decline to a number of factors coming together, but the rash of corporate accounting scandals isn't seen as helping a great deal. President Bush and his most partisan critics seem to agree that it's because of a few bad apples, but critics of his administration include him and the Vice President among them. One might expect that the economic crisis could precipitate a political crisis as well, given accusations being made against both the President and the Vice President stemming from their own earlier involvement in corporate governance. Also, a man who once portrayed himself as some sort of "superpatriot" alternative to the major parties, also is under fire. It's Ross Perot, and many people are more than curious about what role he may have played in creating California's energy crisis a while back.

Still, politics, like religion, is all about ideology, and politicians almost never appear in public without behaving politically, which is to say, without attempting to influence public interpretations in a given way. Public perception and opinion are what drive things, even when neither has much relationship to demonstrable realities. So, sometimes politicians are coated with Teflon, and sometimes nearly everything sticks to them.

At the moment, President Bush's favorable ratings remain very high, just as Bill Clinton, whose administration had multiple scandals and controversies swirling around it for years and who probably could have been convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, still, despite everything, might easily have defeated Bush if he could have run for a third term.

Conservative commentator George Will has been saying that the corporate problem is more systemic than about a few personalities, which is probably closer to the truth, even though neither Bush nor his most partisan critics are likely to want to hear it. Complex dynamic systems are harder for most people to think about than individuals. This helps explain why Hollywood uses stars to sell movie tickets and why people often direct their good feelings toward presumed "heroes" and their frustrations toward their favorite villains, even when the realities are far more complex.

It is an axiom of market economics that something is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it, assuming fair market competition (i.e., a game with fair rules and without cheating). So, it happens that much of economics is about perceptions and ideology too. Stocks are worth what somebody is willing to pay for them, and many things influence this willingness or lack of it. Ideally, we like to have means available for measuring those things which are capable of being measured, as well as persons who are competent in their use. Of course, in addition to competence, we also need people who are motivated to use those means to reflect realities to the extent possible, rather than deliberately distorting in service of their own self-interest. When people cheat, things tend to get fouled up.

The current crisis of confidence that is driving stock prices lower arises, in part, from deliberate efforts to inflate stock values, just as "irrational exuberance" a few years ago also contributed to the inflation of many stock prices. Each day's news not only casts doubt on the motivation and behavior of some individuals in positions of corporate responsibility, but also makes us wonder how much of the celebrated boom of the 1990s was "real" and how much fictional.

While the current mess might make the Republicans somewhat more vulnerable this fall and might even make President Bush vulnerable in 2004, it's possible for the Democrats, once again, to organize one of their famous circular firing squads. Democrats need to remember, not only that a far larger proportion of Americans now own stocks than only a few years ago, but also that millions of Americans work for the approximately 17,000 U.S. companies that are publicly traded, and lots of those people are Democrats. Also, a lot of corporate CEOs are Democrats. It isn't a good idea to wage war against big business if it means doing battle against many of one's own supporters. Moreover, both parties have become highly dependent on corporate benefactors, so we shouldn't assume that the next day's bad corporate news necessarily will spotlight only Republican corporate leaders.

It is said that Bill Clinton is telling Democratic candidates in the fall election to be very careful about trying to wage war against major business. The demographics of America have changed dramatically in recent years, as has the overall political landscape. Clinton may understand more than most the systemic nature of the current mess, which can mean that it isn't necessarily a sure-fire partisan winner, no matter what the facts are.

The majority of Americans believe that corporate accounting is excessively creative (Thursday, 7/11/02)
WHAT we know depends entirely on HOW we know it. As many philosophers of knowledge would say, epistemology comes first. What does it take to accurately describe reality? It's the most basic question in science, journalism, religion, politics, economics, and daily life. Garbage in, garbage out. And, even if you pump good stuff in, but the mill is malfunctioning, garbage out anyway. In the 2000 election, people who understand the mathematics of measurement saw a problem with the means by which we attempt to measure voter preferences, even though it was easier for the general public and highly partisan political observers to "demonize" by focusing on personalities rather than systems and processes.

How about the means by which we are able to tell what is going on in a business? The available tools are very sophisticated, but even a very good tool can be mishandled or abused. You can use a high-quality hammer to build a house, or pound the daylights out of somebody's foot. Your choice.

Politically, it often depends more on what people believe, whether or not it's true., And, what do Americans believe about corporate accounting? A new poll conducted by CBS News has the bad news. Moreover, politicians in a democracy often follow as much as they lead, and they're supposed to, at least sometimes. Given the climate of opinion, there's not much downside to voting in favor of tougher laws to regulate business. David Ivanovich reports from Washington on the crackdown bill that has passed through the Senate. The Senate is also working on legislation that would intend to protect pensions, according to Caroline Mayer of the Washington Post.

Qwest agrees to a truce (Thursday, 7/11/02)
Qwest Communications has been featured in the news lately more than it might like, including acknowledgment that they're being investigated by the government. It's not a good time to continue old arguments, so the company and many of its retirees have decided to cool it a little. Here's more from Max Zjarman of the Arizona Republic.

Texas doctors and unions join forces (Thursday, 7/11/02)
The Texas Medical Association and the Texas AFL-CIO believe that new workers' comp guidelines would hurt injured workers, so they're getting together in an effort to stop them.

More on what to expect from the AIDS disaster (Thursday, 7/11/02)
If you've long gotten used to hearing that history's worst epidemic was Europe's "black death" in the mid-14th century, it's time to update your information. The AIDS pandemic is bigger and is costing more lives, although still not as great a proportion of affected populations. Among many other things, expect it to make 25 million children orphans.

Jobless claims up last week (Thursday, 7/11/02)
The latest Labor Department data show an increase in first-time jobless claims for the week.

Settlement in Vegas (Thursday, 7/11/02)
Lisa Snedeker reports from Las Vegas than an agreement has been reached on new contracts at the desert pleasure center's oldest hotel-casino.

Cars made in China (Thursday, 7/11/02)
The first Chinese-made automobiles will reach the United States before the end of the month, and they'll have Japanese brand names on them. Japan's largest auto companies are setting up major plants in China in order to save on labor costs.

Old news: public works projects tend to cost more than expected (Thursday, 7/11/02)
Research reported in the current edition of the Journal of the American Planning Association finds that cost overruns have been fairly consistent in the U.S. and Europe over the past century, and estimates haven't gotten much more accurate in at least 90 years.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Layoffs List (Thursday, 7/11/02)
The Washington Post keeps track of layoffs in the American economy by industry and by company. Its Layoffs List is updated weekly.

Europe may change its farm subsidies (Wednesday, 7/10/02)
Western European farmers have been dependent on subsidies for a long time. The European Union wants to make some fairly radical changes, but, as you might expect, there is resistance. Here's more from David Evans in Brussels.

Americans are hanging in there (Wednesday, 7/10/02)
Will Lester writes from Washington about Americans who are concerned about the string of corporate scandals, but public nervousness about the economy and the stock market has increased only a bit, according to the researchers. Meanwhile, Yuki Noguchi of the Washington Post reports that workers at WorldCom lost $1.1 from their retirement accounts with the collapse of the company's stock.

It's looking more and more like a jobless recovery (Wednesday, 7/10/02)
Authors of books with apocalyptic titles forecasting the disappearance of jobs in the new economy were looking pretty silly for awhile, given the labor shortages of the late 1990's boom. However, some are saying that they haven't changed their minds, but it may be taking longer than they expected. Dawn Gilbertson writes about the dearth of jobs in many regions, despite what still appears to be a recovery. Still, unemployment remains low by historical standards. Employers are simply trying to handle the increase in work that comes from increased economic activity without much additional hiring, and that means more hours for people already on the job, and that's meaning lawsuits over pay, according to Fay Hansen of the Christian Science Monitor. The relative abundance of people looking for work also means that pay increases across the U.S. economy are likely to be unimpressive this year.

Upswing in trademark applications (Wednesday, 7/10/02)
More trademark applications are seen as another indicator of growing momentum in the American economy.

Machinists in the news (Wednesday, 7/10/02)
Machinists at United Airlines have rejected the idea of a pay cut in order to help out, and machinists at Boeing have taken a first step in the direction of a possible strike later in the year. In other labor news the possibility of a strike at UPS seems to be sending some customers elsewhere at the moment.

Gender gap at nonprofits (Wednesday, 7/10/02)
Women who have managed to get through the "glass ceiling" and make it to the top jobs still earn less than male top executives once they get there. Moreover, the pay gap can be found in nonprofits as well as the for-profit corporations, according to new research from GuideStar.

Many boomers expect to keep on keeping on (Wednesday, 7/10/02)
The huge American baby boom generation has been used to setting trends since college days, and it may do so again by putting off retirement, in many cases because they can't afford it. If the job market remains weak, it will mean younger people and older people in competition for relatively scarce jobs with employers possibly trying to get around the laws prohibiting age discrimination.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Drug-Free Workplace Advisor (Wednesday, 7/10/02)
The U.S. Department of Labor's Drug-Free Workplace Advisor describes the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and also offers assistance to businesses and how to keep their workplaces drug-free, and that includes alcohol.

Flash! Something may be wrong with China's mines (Tuesday, 7/9/02)
Another mine explosion in China has killed at least 43 persons.

Continental initiative to end poverty and war (Tuesday, 7/9/02)
Poverty and war often feed each other, and Africa has plenty. Manoah Esipisu reports on the new African Union and its plans to end both.

The global health gap (Tuesday, 7/9/02)
There is a profound income gap, a wealth gap, and a digital gap, but there is also a major health gap. In fact, while there is not yet a "cure" for AIDS, there are an array of increasingly effective medications for prolonging the quality of life of AIDS sufferers and also for helping to control the spread and effects of HIV. However, those regions of the world containing the largest number of persons who nee