International press reports on life and work in the revolutionary new world economy
				NewWork News Archives
							Home

O'Neill calls for major effort to assist the underdeveloped world (Friday, 5/31/02)
At the end of a 10-day tour of Africa with rock star Bono, the Treasury Secretary says that first priority should be given to cleaning up the water in poor regions, which he says will require the kind of effort it took to defeat fascism during the Second World War. He declined to say how much money should be committed to development efforts, however. Meanwhile, Dean Yates reports from Indonesia on a U.N. meeting at which conferees have been nearing agreement on a tentative but ambitious sustainable development plan. One-hundred heads of state will meet in Johannesburg in August.

Texas high court rules in favor of forced arbitration (Friday, 5/31/02)
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that employers can force workers to accept binding arbitration rather than going to court to settle employment disputes. Speaking of arbitration, United Airlines flight attendants have been awarded a 7.5 percent pay raise. Twenty-six-thousand attendants are affected.

IBM cuts 2,000 jobs (Friday, 5/31/02)
According to a union spokesman, the cuts came from the company's services division and are much greater than anticipated. Corporate executives confirm that cuts have occurred, but won't say how many.

Unemployment in Japan holds steady (Friday, 5/31/02)
April's unemployment rate in Japan was 5.2 percent, and it's the eighth month in a row that unemployment has been over five percent.

Fewer layoffs, but no big hiring boom in sight (Friday, 5/31/02)
Employers are waiting to see whether the expansion will be sufficiently lengthy and robust to justify permanent workforce increases. Here's more from today's Philadelphia Inquirer.

Sweatshop professionals (Friday, 5/31/02)
That anyone would believe that it possibly can be a good idea to work medical residents past the point of exhaustion suggests that we should continue the search for intelligent life on earth. The fact that even famous university medical centers routinely require residents to work more hours than many slaves throughout history also calls into question the rumor that universities are places with a heavy concentration of smart people. Columnist L. M. Sixel says there may be hope now that hospital accreditation is being challenged in a number of cases.

Sara Lee settles racial harassment suit (Friday, 5/31/02)
One-hundred-thirty-nine employees will receive $3.5 million.

SEC employees challenge "pay parity" plan (Friday, 5/31/02)
Two-hundred employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission claim that the plan favors managers and supervisors.

"Industrial action" at a major newspaper (Friday, 5/31/02)
Talks between the Washington Post and the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild have stalled, so the union's officials are asking workers to withhold their bylines in order to call attention to the sputtering negotiations. That is, writers, photographers, and artists would continue to do their work, but leave their names off of it.

College money to get a bit cheaper (Friday, 5/31/02)
Overall, interest rates in the United States are about where they were when John Kennedy was in the White House, but the Department of Education says that the cost of some student loans is set to go even lower.

Why D. C.-area highways seem more congested (Friday, 5/31/02)
More commuters are spending more time in their cars, according to D'Vera Cohn and Dan Keating, and more of those people are traveling alone. Also, the use of public transportation in the Washington, D. C. area has declined during the past decade. How much of your life do you really want to spend alone in your car?

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Civil Rights Center (Friday, 5/31/02)
The Civil Rights Center is a creation of the United States Department of Labor and assists in the enforcement of laws prohibiting discrimination, among other responsibilities.

More cuts at Nortel (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Nortel Networks is a Canadian telecommunications equipment company that used to be much larger than it has been recently. It's been hit very hard by the great reduction in capital spending resulting from tremendous over-capacity in the telecommunications sector. The company already has cut more than half of its workforce since the beginning of 2001, which meant about 50,000 job losses. Now, it expects to eliminate another 3,500 jobs.

First-time jobless claims fall again (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Jobless claims were down again for the second week in a row. Here's Jeannine Aversa with more on the latest numbers from the Labor Department.

Longest strike at Hershey continues (Thursday, 5/30/02)
There have been five strikes at Hershey Foods in nearly a century, and the current one is now the longest. The argument is over employee contributions to increasingly costly health care. Marc Levy says it's a sign of times that are a changin'.

Irish airline cancels flights (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Aer Lingus, Ireland's state-owned airline, is grounding most flights because of a combination of financial and labor problems. The question is whether or not the shutdown will be permanent.

Patient, care for thyself (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Self-serve hospitals don't work too well, and, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the growing nurses shortage is beginning to hurt the quality of patient care. Among other things, the nursing profession tends to have a fairly high turnover rate because of low pay, long hours, and high stress. Burnout is common, even though some nurses leave the field only temporarily in order to do something else for a while and replenish.

AARP joins those accusing drug companies of antitrust violations (Thursday, 5/30/02)
The organization with a name that sounds like an amphibian mating call is one of the most influential political action organizations in the United States. With a huge membership that includes a great many older people who are among the most politically active in American society, when AARP decides to throw its weight at an issue, the earth may wobble in its orbit a bit. The organization of people 50 and over has decided to join in lawsuits against several drug companies.

A less privileged third of the population is still separated from the digital economy (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Several consumer organizations claim that the "digital divide" continues to shut out many Americans, and they would like to see efforts continued that would close the gap. Access to the Internet should be made universal, they feel.

CHO's in demand (Thursday, 5/30/02)
According to Jay Lyman, that could mean Chief Hacking Officer. Companies wanting to make their computer systems more secure are looking to people with some of the very skills that want protection from.

Democratic think tank calls for changes in the way teachers are paid (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Some parts of a report from the Progressive Policy Institute sound as though they could have come from a conservative think tank rather than one with a liberal reputation, and it may mean growing consensus about the obsolescence of tenure in public education. Here's more from Tamara Henry of USA Today. Meanwhile, seeing a lack of support from Congress, the Administration is backing off a plan for privatizing many Native American schools.

Educated young flood into volunteer roles (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Mary Beth Marklein reports that new college grads in large numbers are seeking opportunities for service.

Will weighs in on gunslinger pilot issue (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Columnist George Will has been thinking about the controversy over whether commercial airline pilots should be armed, and he's never reluctant to share his thoughts. The White House has said "no," but there is a move in Congress to override that decision with new legislation. It would certainly change the job description of people who are used to thinking that their responsibility is to move the plane from point A to point B.

Incidentally, in case anybody ever asks, George Will has produced more than 3,000 syndicated newspaper columns. He's also a regular commentator on ABC News' Sunday morning news program. He's around sixty-years-old, but when he still looked like he was about twelve, he was a young political science professor at Michigan State University before first going to Washington as a Congressional staffer for a brief period. We understand that some people have nightmares about him. That is, they dream about having to debate him in public. He may have an IQ somewhere in quadruple digits and his command of the English language makes most writers cry.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Sustainable Development Online (Thursday, 5/30/02)
Sustainable Development Online comes from the European Foundation and includes access to extensive database resources relevant to debates having to do with sustainable development issues.

Deutsche Telekom to cut tens of thousands of jobs (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
Deutsche Telekom has been losing money, so it will slice 11 percent of its workforce, which amounts to about 30,000 jobs.

Jennings' special on prescription medications on TV tonight (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
On ABC-TV tonight, Peter Jennings examines the prescription drug industry and the general question of why prescription medications are so expensive. Check your local TV schedule for time and channel, although it will be on at 10 PM in most markets in the eastern time zone, 9 central, as they say. Jennings claims that Americans are spending $90 billion more on prescription medications now than only about six years ago. That's "billion" with a "b."

Incidentally, if you've listened to Peter answer questions on talk shows and somebody were to tell you that he was a Rhodes Scholar and has a doctorate from Yale, wouldn't you believe it? In fact, he's a Canadian-born high school dropout, even though he's superbly educated, tremendously sophisticated, and, in addition to being principal ABC News anchor for so many years, also has served as bureau chief at various major foreign locations. In the new economy generally, as has been the case in much of the major media for years, there are really only two questions: "Do I really know anything," and "Can I really do anything." If the answer to those questions is "yes," there aren't any other important questions. If the answer is "no," there aren't any other important questions either.

Consumers becoming more cautious (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
Despite increases in spending and consumer confidence recently, the Conference Board reports that American consumers are becoming less optimistic about the months ahead. There are numerous signs that the recovery is decelerated a bit, reports John Berry of the Washington Post.

White House believes Russia will get into the WTO next year (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
If Rip Van Winkel were to awaken today, he would be astonished to learn about the new relationship between the U.S. and a major part of what used to be the Soviet Union. The latest news is that Russia seems to be moving toward membership in the World Trade Organization, according to Administration officials, in large part because of a strengthening economic relationship with the United States. More open economic ties usually means less likelihood of military clashes. For example, despite centuries of military conflict, it seems inconceivable now that Britain and France would go to war. In the case of the U.S. and Russia, there seems more danger of ACCIDENTALLY blowing each other to smithereens, given that a lot of the old Cold War missiles are still in place. They're working on that, though.

A MILLION new jobs? (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
Yvette Armendariz of the Arizona Republic reports on plans to create a million new trade and tourism jobs across several Western states over the next thirty years.

Space becoming less of a status symbol (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
There used to be a space race in most offices, with higher-ranking movers and shakers expecting to have more space in which to, well, move and shake. Possibly because some people are just shakers and don't need much space, but also because of an evolving work culture, office size is becoming more standardized, according to John Gallagher of the Detroit Free Press.

Many employers not seen bending over backwards (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
Many employers aren't as flexible as they like to let on when it comes to allowing flexibility for their workers. Here's more from ABC News on flexible work schedules as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Careful...you may be exposing your company to hackers (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
Instant messaging can provide a "backdoor" or "basement window" into which hackers can crawl, according to security experts. Here's more from Michelle Kessler of USA Today.

Okay, now, which of you is the parent? (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
Marilyn Gardner says that the age-old generation gap is disappearing in many American families, but is that such a good thing? We don't know either. In many cases, though, you won't have difficulty distinguishing the mother from the child. Mom's the one with the business.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Office of Foreign Assets Control (Wednesday, 5/29/02)
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is a division of the United States Department of Treasury and works in service of U.S. foreign policy and national security by enforcing sanctions against targeted states and other organizations that sponsor terrorism or narcotics trafficking.

Odd couple begins to sing solos together (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
The pop star Bono and the D.C. government star O'Neill have been traveling together in Africa. They share a common concern for Africa's economic development and the easing of poverty on the continent, but they have differences on how well money has been spent in Uganda. Here's more from Paul Blustein on the road in Wakiso. Incidentally, Secretary O'Neill's proper dress might suggest that he's a rich guy from a highly privileged background. The "rich guy" part is true, but he's a self-made zillionaire from an impoverished childhood that you might not believe who gives every indication of being serious about wanting to help others climb out of their holes.

The American healthcare system continues to moan and groan (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
As if the fact that tens of millions of Americans have no health coverage at all and that costs are skyrocketing for those who have access to health services weren't enough, there are an estimated 126,000 hospital nursing vacancies in the United States, as well, which means that fierce bidding is going on. In some areas, the shortage of nurses is leading to the hanging out of "closed" signs. Meanwhile, if you've been thinking that everything the public sector does should be "privatized," it must mean that you would like to leave the American combat commitment in Afghanistan and elsewhere to mercenaries. You must also be enthusiastic about for-profit prisons and hospitals.

Speaking of the hospitals, Steve Sternberg reports on the controversy over whether thousands of avoidable deaths can be attributed to treatment in the for-profit hospitals. On the other hand, if you've got LOTS of money and want to show it off, and also want pampering in addition to health care, there are special services available for you, as Ceci Connolly reports. Finally, if you want to hear your doctor sputter as his/her face gets red, just mention the drug companies that try to "go over his/her head" by encouraging patients to bug their physicians about prescription medications they see advertised on television.

Security hits airport budgets (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed his famous "hierarchy of needs," which has become one of the best-known and most widely-cited ways of looking at human motivation. The basic idea is that some types of needs take priority over others. The individual will be preoccupied with, say, the need for security, unless or until that need is relatively well-satisfied and can be dealt with routinely, thus freeing up time, energy, and attention for other things. Basically, Maslow's hierarchy is an elaboration of a simple two-part hierarchy, which says that self-preservation or maintenance takes priority over growth. If you spend all your time and energy on preserving yourself as you are, you'll never be able to get around to growing beyond what you are.

Similarly, economic historians seem to believe that the development of civilization required economic surplus. So long as people have to consume every last bit of energy on survival, they'll never get around to creating new things for themselves. As we've been reporting recently, individuals and corporations are having to spend more on security during an age of terrorist threats. According to Barbara De Lollis, that's also the case with airports. What will be the impact on American society? Will there be less for creation and "progress" from now on, and, so, will American become a different kind of place?

Remember the Edsel, remember 8-track, remember Y2K, remember...surplus? (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
It may not be time to consign "surplus" to the dictionary of antiquated usage, but there hasn't been much talk about it in Washington lately either. Instead, "national debt" has become a familiar term again, and maybe we can expect more of it. Rob Hotakainen reports that the Bush administration is asking Congress to raise the ceiling.

Turkey pleases IMF officials (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
The big international lender of last resort likes what Turkey has been doing to encourage the recovery of its economy, but wants to see a strengthening of the Turkish banking system and more privatization.

More tech inflation (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
The dot-commotion of the late '90s resulted from inflated expectations and some grossly inflated stock values that drove the entire market up, where it remains largely overvalued to the present day, according to many analysts. However, this USA Today article reports that Morgan Stanley says that American corporations greatly inflated their technology purchasing too, resulting in the wasting of approximately $130 billion.

Rising anxiety follows the Enron debacle (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
Research conducted by a Rutgers University professor finds widespread anxiety about pension security across the American work world.

New deal in Vegas (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
A tentative five-year agreement has been reached between a big hotel-casino company and unions representing culinary workers and bartenders in Las Vegas. In other labor news, 2,000 workers at Chiquita in Honduras have gone on strike at 10 banana plantations.

Newly minted MBAs hit with multiple whammy (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
Carlotta Mast reports on the various reasons that this year's crop of graduating MBAs are finding a very different job market waiting off the campus than recent grads enjoyed.

The disconnect between riches and accomplishment (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
In recent years, something has gotten out of whack in the executive suite, and Jay Hancock of the Balitmore Sun doesn't think it's good for the country.

Insurance that may not smell right (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
A worker dies, and a life insurance company pays the beneficiary--the employer. Do you like the sound that that? Film producers have taken out policies of movie stars for years, and corporations have tried to protect themselves in similar fashion by insuring highly-paid executives. Is it a repugnant policy (pun not intended, but not necessarily regretted either) only if it involves the rank-and-file? Here's more about the growing controversy from Adam Geller.

What it takes for welfare recipients to make it in the world of work (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
The former Wisconsin governor and current Bush II administration cabinet member describes what the White House would like to see to make welfare reform succeed better. Meanwhile, editorial writers at the Minneapolis Star Tribune invite Washington officials to remember that a lot of workers have children, and that includes many of those who have been on welfare.

How to write a good cover letter (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
Many employers recognize that "cover" can mean either "include" or "conceal," as well as some other things. They'll have that in mind as you attempt to introduce yourself. Kevin Donlin has some step-by-step advice.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: State Child Care Profiles (Tuesday, 5/28/02)
These State Child Care Profiles provide information and access to additional resources for each state and comes to you from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Capital investment also lags in Asia (Monday, 5/27/02)
Alan Wheatley reports that part of the problem in Asian economies is similar to the capital investment drought afflicting the U.S. economy: there is still considerable excess capacity.

Incentive for hanging in there (Monday, 5/27/02)
Eventually, all of the private airport security personnel will be replaced by federal employees, but the Transportation Security Administration isn't ready quite yet. As a consequence, $500 bonuses are being offered to people who will stay on for a while.

One of the growing costs of being in business (Monday, 5/27/02)
Security is taking a larger slice of corporate budgets now, as Kris Maher of the Wall Street Journal reports. Also, the New York Times reports that new means are being used and new competencies are required. It isn't just about flashing badges anymore.

Smaller severance packages (Monday, 5/27/02)
Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports that managers and executives are getting less when they leave their jobs, and this might impact on the recovery.

The high cost of splitting (Monday, 5/27/02)
Eileen Alt Powell writes about why most people suffer financially when they divorce.

Refinancing isn't just for home mortgages (Monday, 5/27/02)
People carrying heavy accumulated debt from their student days may find that this is a good time to consolidate and re-do their loans. Here's more from Jane Kim in New York.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Investment Reading List (Monday, 5/27/02)
Here's a suggested reading list that can be considered a home-study course on investing from Efficient Frontier.

Japan's first quarter may have been a very good one (Sunday, 5/26/02)
After a decade of struggle, the once-mighty Japanese economy may finally be getting to its feet again. In fact, preliminary estimates are that first-quarter growth in Japan may even have exceeded the strong GDP growth in the U.S..

Feeling alone (Sunday, 5/26/02)
Argentina's President Eduardo Duhalde seems to be wondering how many other officials really want to help end his country's persistent and paralyzing recession. He wants to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund, but feels he isn't getting the support he needs from other politicians.

Gains by Arizona women (Sunday, 5/26/02)
During the 1990s, the income of women in Arizona on average increased at a higher rate than that of men. One reason: more women going into technical fields where many persons with the necessary skills are being welcomed by employers whether or not they have degrees in the field. In general, the new economy is more competence-oriented and less credentials-oriented than the old.

Improving call center morale (Sunday, 5/26/02)
Sprint has found that wearing a telephone headset, sitting in front of a computer screen, and handling up to 800 calls per day is a job that many people have difficulty sticking with. Brahm Resnik writes about what the company has been doing to make it a happier situation for workers and to reduce a very high turnover rate. Why aren't more employers doing more to reduce worker stress? Some may feel that they don't have much incentive to do so, but, turnover numbers can be among the very practical indicators of being wrong about that.

"Spirituality" no longer taboo in the American workplace (Sunday, 5/26/02)
The meaning of the term "spiritual" is much in the eye of the beholder and is used in a variety of ways by people who subscribe to conventional religious ideologies as well as by people who do not. Generally, though, whatever their particular belief systems or lack of them, most people who are interested in "spiritual issues" appear to be in pursuit of the personal wholeness that helps define a human being as well as the need to locate oneself in larger contexts in order to support feelings of meaning and security. The "whole person" goes to work--we don't simply send our technical skills--so there is increasing recognition of the need to support the whole person. Here's more from Frances Taylor Grandy of the Hartford Courant about changing attitudes in American work settings. Meanwhile, Lisa Belkin finds that office life isn't always as unsupportive and predatory as many have come to expect. Here are some examples of extreme generosity and kindness at work.

Have you really been as wealthy as you've felt? (Sunday, 5/26/02)
Economist Edward Wolff believes that many Americans have been suffering from an illusion of wealth, and 401(k) have been among the major culprits. Here's more from the New York Times' Louis Uchitelle.

Okay coach, what should I do now? (Sunday, 5/26/02)
Some managers are learning that they're effectiveness isn't as great as it might be because of a self-limiting style, and there are personal coaches available now to help on leadership and relationship issues, among other things, so that they can play at the top of their game.

"Buying American" is becoming harder (Sunday, 5/26/02)
Before globalization set in with such a vengeance, national economies were more isolated and it was easier to support American workers by simply buying American-made products. However, the new economy is global and highly interdependent. Information, capital, and products move effortlessly across national boundaries. If you want to buy an American-made product, you'll first have to identify it, and that isn't easy. Most large American corporations think of themselves as global companies now, and may make use of labor in many parts of the world. Moreover, many familiar American brands aren't even really American anymore. Here's more from T. R. Reid of the Washington Post.

Some estate planning fundamentals (Sunday, 5/26/02)
Some things may be so basic as to be "no-brainers," but people keep doing them anyway. Here are some examples from Michelle Singletary.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Estate Planning: FAQ (Sunday, 5/26/02)
Do you intend to write your last check to the undertaker and hope it bounces, or would you like to leave something behind for some of the people are likely to survive you? Here are some frequently asked questions, as well as some that may not be asked all that frequently, from the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys. At any rate, there are LOTS of questions and lawyerly answers to guide your planning for a time when you will not be here.

Bush and Putin discuss Russian economy publicly and take questions (Saturday, 5/25/02)
The elected leaders of the United States and Russia appeared together at what was called Leningrad University when the two presidents were young. The fact that it isn't called that anymore reflects how much things have changed in a few years. The American president emphasized how important a free-market economy is, not only to Russia, but also the rest of the world, in large part because of the belief that open trade creates stability and makes military conflict unlikely. The post-Soviet Russian economy, which for a while was an international basket case, is doing quite well at the moment, but observers disagree on the condition of Russia's developing democracy, given what appear to be some authoritarian trends.

Meanwhile, the other former Communist giant, China, continues to make economic waves that are being felt throughout Asia. Politically, things are both more and less clear than they are with Russia at this point. We're probably justified in calling China a "former Communist" giant, because, even though the country continues to be a single-party state, communist doctrine seems to have been left behind somewhere in the 20th century.

Air marshal training (Saturday, 5/25/02)
Here's what it takes to train the people whose job it is to protect air travelers in flight.

A bit much? (Saturday, 5/25/02)
Pilots and flight attendants are willing to help US Airways cut costs in order to attract federal assistance and stave off bankruptcy, but feel that $685 million is too much to ask.

Signs of national maturity (Saturday, 5/25/02)
In the broad span of history, the United States is still quite new, and, until recently, at least, with the exception of Native Americans who tend not to think of themselves as the descendants of Asian immigrants, most Americans were either born someplace else or were the children or grandchildren of people born someplace else. However, that seems to be changing, as Michael Powell reports from New York. Census data indicate that more and more Americans are thinking of themselves simply as Americans. One of these is entertainment star Whoopi Goldberg who doesn't like to be called "African American," she says. Just make that "American," period. She has a point. No one would think of her as African in any sense, least of all Africans. Americans tend to be instantly recognizable as Americans wherever they go in the world.

Consider hiring rules in your search (Saturday, 5/25/02)
Columnist Diane Stafford says that employers are still able to be quite selective, despite last quarter's strong GDP growth. What will it take to land the job you want? Look at it from your prospective employer's point of view. Here's what consultant Peter Lemke is telling his corporate clients about hiring.

Flying solo (Saturday, 5/25/02)
The old industrial economy was organized along quasi-paramilitary lines dominated by large-scale complex hierarchical organizations with fairly permanent workforces. The new economy, on the other hand, tends to be far more fluid and flexible, and that includes a vast number of people who work on their own. Here's more from Dan Pink's book, Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself.

Texas job agency needs reinvention, according to report (Saturday, 5/25/02)
A legislative report calls for a fundamental restructuring of the Texas Workforce Commission's leadership.

Wanted: People who can work upside down (Saturday, 5/25/02)
How many jobs are available in Antarctica and who wants them? You might be surprised.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Shovelbums (Saturday, 5/25/02)
Shovelbums may be able to help you obtain employment in archeology. It will help if you're an archeologist, of course.

Trade bill passes the Senate (Friday, 5/24/02)
President Bush has achieved a major victory by getting the so-called "fast track" trade bill he wants through the United States Senate. It was a bipartisan victory for the President, with two-thirds of the Senators voting for the bill.

Final first-quarter growth numbers are in (Friday, 5/24/02)
A month ago, it was estimated that the U.S. GDP grew by 5.8 percent during the first quarter of this year. It's turned out to be 5.6 percent, which still represents vigorous recovery. The high rate of growth isn't expected to hold up, though. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Britain's economy remained mostly unchanged during the first quarter.

EU leader doesn't want to call it "war" (Friday, 5/24/02)
As President Bush attempts to convince European leaders to support U.S. efforts to combat terrorism and perhaps even feel a little better about the possibility of a new war against Iraq, EU officials may gearing up for a bloodless battle with the U.S. over steel tariffs.

South Korea's taxi drivers join strike (Friday, 5/24/02)
The strike in South Korea only days before the start of the World Cup finals is spreading. Now, thousands of taxi drivers have decided to turn off their engines.

Defeat for Duhalde in Argentina's lower house (Friday, 5/24/02)
A vote early today may make it harder for the country to gain IMF economic assistance.

Fox's first big privatization (Friday, 5/24/02)
Mexico's President Vicente Fox was once a high-level executive for Coca Cola, and, as one might expect, given his training and background, he has quite a lot of confidence in the private sector's ability to run most things better than government. His government's first big privatization starts today. Mexico's largest insurance company will be sold.

Workers strike at Fiat plant in order to protest planned cuts (Friday, 5/24/02)
Italy's big Fiat motor company plans to cut 2,800 jobs. Workers at a truck plant walked off their jobs for two hours in protest, although it's unclear how many participated. Additional strikes are planned. Meanwhile, IBM has started its planned round of job cuts.

Will the only marksmen aboard a plane be the terrorists? (Friday, 5/24/02)
The Administration decided that pilots shouldn't be allowed to carry guns, because they don't have the necessary shooting skills. However, it turns out that federal air marshals may not either, given their new training requirements. There's a move in Congress to pass legislation which would arm pilots after all. Stay tuned.

State governments expected to be $27 billion short this fiscal year (Friday, 5/24/02)
Many states are having severe budget problems because of declining revenues. Barbara Hagenbaugh reports on what the National Conference of State Legislatures is saying about the big state tax slump and its consequences.

Suit accuses teaching hospitals of violating anti-trust laws (Friday, 5/24/02)
Medical residents say their pay has been kept artificially low for decades. Here's more from L. M. Sixel of the Houston Chronicle.

Mixed picture for U.S. children (Friday, 5/24/02)
A report from Kids Count finds that the overall condition of American children has improved during recent years, but that the number of kids living on the "threshold of poverty" in working families now surpasses 10 million. Meanwhile, Minnesota Senator Wellstone is leading an effort to develop an alternative to the Republican welfare bill that would increase spending for training and child care. Wellstone is running for re-election this year in what is likely to be a very close race, the outcome of which possibly could determine which party will control the U.S. Senate after the November elections.

A Half measure (Friday, 5/24/02)
Robert Half International will set up its own unit to advise businesses on audits, and they plan to hire 700 from Arthur Andersen's staff to do the work.

Standing pat as policy (Friday, 5/24/02)
Economic writer Robert Samuelson says that the world's prosperous societies are all conservative now, but he's not talking about partisan ideology.

The stress of powerlessness and meaninglessness (Friday, 5/24/02)
It's been known for a long time that some of the more stressful occupations are ones in which people lack control with little opportunity to act, rather than react, and that there can be health consequences. Here's one of the latest studies along this line conducted by a researcher at the University of Texas Health Science center.

Keeping the clean room workers clean (Friday, 5/24/02)
Here's a job you may not have thought of, but somebody's got to do it. Jane Larson writes about the people who clean the special garments that are worn by tech staff in hi-tech clean rooms. For sure, it ain't your ordinary Laundromat.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Social Security Benefits Planner (Friday, 5/24/02)
How large will your Social Security checks be? Here's the Social Security Benefits Planner from the Social Security Administration.

Strikes begin in South Korea (Thursday, 5/23/02)
More than 30,000 metal and chemical workers went on strike yesterday, and they've been joined by thousands of hospital workers today. When added to other troubles, it's all turning into an unholy mess for the South Korean government at a time when they would like to show a positive face to the world during the World Cup finals that South Korea has coming up in a few days. Here's more from Judy Lee in Seoul.

Leaders meet to plan for migrant initiative at EU summit (Thursday, 5/23/02)
The apparent resurgence of Europe's lunatic right, as expressed in increasingly blatant anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant attitudes, has some people worried. Among them seem to be Britain and Spain's top leaders. They're meeting and are seeking support for a overall European policy on migrant workers.

Bankruptcy reform bill stalled after five years (Thursday, 5/23/02)
As we've reported a number of times, there isn't any shortage of people both inside and outside of government who believe that it's a bad bill for a number of reasons. However, Philip Shenon of the New York Times explains why arguments related to abortion are holding it up. In other Congressional news, Robin Toner tells why "liberals" are happy that the welfare debate has moved on from the House to the Senate side.

Who wants to be an employee? (Thursday, 5/23/02)
Joshua Goodman reports from Buenos Aires that the hottest TV game show in Argentina right now is one in which the sought-after prize is simply a job. Meanwhile, Thousands of striking workers dissatisfied with the Argentine government's handling of the worst Latin American economic crisis in quite a while marched on the presidential palace yesterday.

Jobless claims were down last week (Thursday, 5/23/02)
First-time jobless claims fell during the latest week for which data are available. Nonetheless, the recovery still doesn't seem like a recovery to those who are seeking work.

Well, now, THAT'S not very Republican of him (Thursday, 5/23/02)
Stereotypes and caricatures, by definition, are distortions of reality, and many people tend to rely on them when they think about politics. Democrats will always be Democrats, Republicans will always be Republicans, liberals are liberals, and conservatives are conservatives, and if it's all crystal clear and predictable to you, there are a lot of folks with scams to sell who will want to take advantage of your naivete and gullibility. In political life, caricatures have made things simple and convenient for the Clinton haters and Bush haters recently, who can be added to the Jefferson-haters, Lincoln-haters, Roosevelt-haters, Nixon-haters, and all the other haters through the history of world politics. Such an orientation tells us far more about the hater than about the hatee, including a lack of self-awareness, let alone self-insight.

Let's see now, was it the same Republican Charlton Heston, current president of the National Rifle Association, who marched with Martin Luther King in 1963? Same guy. Also, it was during "conservative" Republican President Nixon's administration that wage and price controls were instituted for a while, when both the EPA and OSHA were established, and affirmative action was extended. It was "liberal" President Kennedy who was the "cold warrior" who tried to unseat Fidel Castro and who stared down the Soviet Union's Nikita Sergeivich Kruschev over both Berlin and Cuba. It was also the President's younger brother Robert Kennedy, presumably a "liberal Democrat" as well, who was counsel to the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy's Senate committee before becoming a leading campaigner against corruption in the Teamsters union and the nemesis of Jimmy Hoffa.

Sometimes Democrats act like Republicans and Republicans act like Democrats. In addition to the fact that people tend to be complicated by their nature, research shows that we tend to attribute the unattractive behavior of the people we like to situations and of those we don't like to personality ("Well, under the circumstances, he couldn't help it," as opposed to "He's just that KIND of guy"). Moreover, our Constitution puts politicians into politician roles where they have no alternative but to behave like politicians. As Hubert Humphrey once remarked, "Politics is the art of the possible."

Now, is it really a "conservative" Republican president who favors full insurance parity for the treatment of psychiatric disorders? Is he also the "free-market" president who has imposed protective tariffs on imported steel, which are making many trading partners, including those in Asia, so angry? Is he also the president who recently signed the huge farm subsidy bill into law that has angered Canadians so much? Same guy.

Moreover, you may have noticed that almost all of the stuff that Bush and Gore campaigned on in 2000 has mostly dropped off the radar screen. Given the unpredictable nature of events and situations, would it have been different with a President Gore? During the campaign, Republican Senator Fred Thompson said that it was important to keep in mind that "none of what either of these guys is proposing is going to be enacted."

If you believe that Republicans and Democrats simply can't have anything in common, how do you explain the marriage of Democratic strategist James Carville and Republican strategist Mary Matalin? Moreover, how about the marriage of former big-time Democratic Senator Nancy Kassenbaum to very big-time Republican Howard Baker, former Senate Majority Leader, former White House Chief of Staff, and current Ambassador to Japan?

Incidentally, if you believe that George W. Bush and Dan Quayle are dolts, say, but admire Laura Bush and Marilyn Quayle, respectively, what are you really saying about the women you admire? Similarly, if you believe that Al Gore is a jerk, but you like Tipper, how does that add up?

Typically, American politics is both more and less than meets the eye, but a bumper-sticker, supermarket tabloid, comic book, good guy vs. bad guy mentality won't do, whatever your ideology.

Answering Bill's call (Thursday, 5/23/02)
Those who believe that hi-tech and the Internet can adequately replace face-to-face interaction in higher education, business, or other major areas of life might consider that Mr. Technology himself calls the world's major CEOs to his home near Seattle each year so that they can have eye contact as they plan the world's future. Here's news about the latest Gates Summit.

Nude model union formed (Thursday, 5/23/02)
Several models who pose nude for art students want higher wages and better benefits, and they might also want not to have to sit in a draft. Here's more about the new Philadelphia Models Guild.

Workplace apprehension (Thursday, 5/23/02)
Terrorists spread terror, and the September 11 attack certainly did that. But, while "terror" may be a bit strong for what has been reverberating through American work settings, as Mary Deibel reports, the aftermath certainly hasn't been one of relaxation.

Too many choices (Thursday, 5/23/02)
Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Tompor reports that Ford Motor Company intends to simplify the range of 401(k) choices for its workers.

Employment perk at GW (Thursday, 5/23/02)
There's a lot of government in Washington, D.C., of course, but there's a lot of higher education too. The District and its immediate vicinity is home to many universities and colleges, and is also well-known for its high housing costs. One of the best-known D.C. higher ed institutions, George Washington University, has made arrangements to help university employees get a good deal on a mortgage.

A chance to play soldier before trying the real thing (Thursday, 5/23/02)
Jeff Adler of the Los Angeles Times writes in the Washington Post about the U.S. Army's use of video games as part of their recruitment effort.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Taxes by State (Thursday, 5/23/02)
Who wouldn't like to look forward to a retirement that is as non-taxing as possible. What a happy state! Actually, you may want to take into consideration the tax burden you'll be facing when choosing a state to work in as well.

Last-minute Bush push on trade bill (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
Not too many people in the Administration are referring to it as "fast track" legislation anymore, apparently thinking that term carries the wrong connotations. However, the bill soon to be voted on in the Senate would restore presidential power to negotiate trade deals more directly after an eight-year hiatus. A provision that would have provided low-interest loans to workers laid off because of trade was turned back when the Vice President exercised his Constitutional duty to break a tie vote in the Senate.

U.S. to begin sending checks to Yugoslavia again (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
Yugoslavia's government has agreed to cooperate with the UN war crimes tribunal, and that's enough for the United States to resume financial aid to the country.

China cultivates broader ties with Taiwan (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
After more than fifty years, direct trade, transport, and postal connections may be re-established between China and Taiwan. China has invited some influential people from the island to come to Beijing to talk about it. Here's more from Jeremy Page and Alice Hung. China considers Taiwan to be part of China and expects eventual reunification. The latest moves seem to suggest that China wants to accomplish this by a gradual strengthening of ties as the political/economic gap between the two societies gradually narrows through evolution, rather than trying to force reunification through military means.

If the bankruptcy bill becomes law, get set for trouble, professors say (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
Dozens of law professors believe that pending bankruptcy legislation is flawed at least because it would still allow people to shelter assets in very expensive, well, shelters.

Dues increase sought to fund political battles (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
The AFL-CIO seems ready to approve a 4-cents-per-month dues increase across its 66 member unions with political purposes in mind.

GAO finds racial and gender problems at government weapons labs (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
According to the General Accounting Office, there seems to be something wrong with the labs' hiring practices. Here's more from today's New York Times.

Argentina's government continues to try to please the IMF (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
President Duhalde says that his government is doing what will be necessary in order to reach a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The central government is expecting to reach agreements with its provinces within the next ten days. Meanwhile, the IMF has agreed to give Argentina more time to repay what it already owes.

Ratification vote underway in Germany (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
Members of IG Metall began voting yesterday to decide whether the tentative contract that would end the rolling strikes that went on for ten days will be accepted.

Unusual duo's gigs on the road (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
Musician Bono and U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill are making the rounds together in Africa because of a common interest in that region's economic progress.

Increase in the use of temps (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
The pickup of the American economy has resulted in many companies needing more help, but they're holding off a bit on permanent hires until there is strong evidence that the recovery will persist. In the meantime, more are calling in additional temps to help. Yesterday's announcement of a dip in the Index of Leading Economic Indicators during April may mean that many employers will try to hold off a little longer on increased hiring of permanent workers.

Going back (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
They left their homes to settle in Venezuela with hopes of a better life. Now, some of their descendants have had enough and want to return to their ancestral homes.

The best IT employers (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
According to a survey, here are the 100 best places to work if you're in information technology. The list, plus a lot of detailed analytical information, appears in Computerworld.

Harvard students may no longer be quite so superior by definition (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
Following a long period during which simply being enrolled at Harvard seemed to be worth an "A," the faculty has voted to restore the grade to its intended meaning, even within the context of a famous world-class university.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy (Wednesday, 5/22/02)
Here's PBS' companion web site for its recently broadcast six-hour documentary series called Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy which is based on the Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw book by the same name. Among other things, the book, TV series, and web site provide an historical context for current issues having to do with globalization and trace the long contest between the ideas of Keynes and Hayek, two of the most influential economists or recent centuries.

Is the recovery beginning to wilt? (Tuesday, 5/21/02)
The Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators does a pretty good job of forecasting economic activity a few months ahead, so the Index's slump in April has a lot of people worrying about an anemic recovery following what turned out to be a fairly anemic downturn. However, despite everything, Americans in general seem more upbeat than you might expect at this point, not only about the year ahead, but also about their children's long-term prospects.

Bargaining power vs. the power of the state (Tuesday, 5/21/02)
There can be tactical advantages associated with threatening to strike when it's least convenient for your opposition. On the other hand, it can backfire if your threats are interpreted as meaning that you consider your entire society to be the opposition. South Korean unions are threatening to strike just as the country is gearing up to co-host the World Cup finals, and the Korean government doesn't think this would be good for the national image at a time when much global attention will be focused on South Korea. Here's more from Kim Myong-hwan in Seoul.

Kabul has one of the world's least-privileged economies (Tuesday, 5/21/02)
Pamela Constable reports on desperate conditions in Afghanistan's capital. Drought, decades of war, and the devastation left by its Taliban rulers would be enough to flatten the quality of life in any city, even if it weren't for the returning flood of homeless refugees.

Strike authorized at UPS (Tuesday, 5/21/02)
Teamsters members have voted to authorize a strike at UPS if its leadership feels it's necessary. Company executives are downplaying the likelihood that it will occur.

What it takes to make an open society secure without closing it (Tuesday, 5/21/02)
The Roosevelt administration created many new government agencies to help cope with the emergency of the 1930s, and many Republicans have been complaining about "big government" and its intrusiveness ever since. However, the new Transportation Security Administration is a product of the Bush II administration, and is part of a national response to a new kind of emergency. The TSA says it will need nearly 60,000 well-trained workers to make commercial flight secure. Meanwhile, a jury has ruled that planes are safe for crews, but they weren't referring to terrorism. In this case, it has to do with the quality of the air in the planes.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Entrepreneur Test (Tuesday, 5/21/02)
Can you tell whether you really have what it takes to start your own business by taking The Entrepreneur Test? We have no idea. It all depends on whether sufficient research has been done on the "test" to demonstrate statistical reliability and validity. However, the site also offers an interesting discussion of entrepreneurs and contains links to many interesting or useful sites if you're thinking about starting a business.

Who are the terrorists? Are they the world's poorest? (Monday, 5/20/02)
New research finds that many of the people directly involved in terrorist violence are among the relatively privileged, as reported by Sebastian Mallaby. However, this still leaves open the more general question of the role of global poverty in setting up conditions that encourage terrorism.

Improvement in business travel expected (Monday, 5/20/02)
For the venders, that is. It may or may not improve for the travelers. At any rate, here's news about the expected recovery of the travel sector from a new survey conducted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives and BusinessWeek Research.

Could the American economy keep functioning if most people were suddenly to become secure about their personal value? (Monday, 5/20/02)
Keeping up with the Jones can be hard when the Jones are scrambling to keep up with somebody else. If you feel that you've just GOT to have that fancy car that costs tens of thousands of dollars, is it simply because of the need to get from one place to another? Many Americans, and others, work so hard because they're struggling to add value to themselves in their own eyes and the eyes of others. Many use net worth to assess personal worth, and, trying to get ahead in a rat race can be futile, particularly if the winners of rat races are rats. Here are some related ideas about affluence bracket creep from Chet Currior of Bloomberg Business News.

Incidentally, if you think it doesn't take too much to make Americans re-examine their life priorities or to change their attitudes, public opinion experts meeting in Florida seem to agree that, contrary to what you've been hearing, research shows that it takes more than an attack on the United States resulting in thousands of deaths.

Striking workers would get to sit in front of their TVs at a convenient time, assuming that there would be finals to watch (Monday, 5/20/02)
South Korean unions have been threatening to strike beginning today just in time for the World Cup finals. The dispute isn't a new one, though. It's about wages and the government's privatization plans.

Another Minnesota export (Monday, 5/20/02)
What do you think of when you think of Minnesota? Lake Wobegon? Prince? A governor who is hard to wrestle with? Ten-thousand---no, make that about 15,000 lakes? The Mall of America? Grain from Midwest fields milled and sent throughout the world? Global corporations such as 3M? Well, you can add to all the ordinary Minnesota exports a lot of call center jobs from American Express. When you call for assistance from now on, someone in Asia may be eager to help you. Hi-tech has made geography largely irrelevant, and it's another sign of a highly integrated--globalized--economy.

Why the tech sector still slumbers (Monday, 5/20/02)
One of the attributes of high-technology is that it is easy to replicate and, so, easy to generate over-capacity quickly, which dampens demand for a while. Not only that, but, as Jim Hopkins and Michelle Kessler of USA Today report, corporations during the 1990s spent billions of dollars on stuff they really didn't need and probably won't use to full capacity under any circumstances.

Ah, ah, ah...careful. Home equity loans can be too easy (Monday, 5/20/02)
The equity in your home can seem like money just sitting there waiting to be spent. Mary Sit-DuVall thinks you should borrow on that equity only for VERY good reasons.

What are acceptable lifetime earnings for an MBA? (Monday, 5/20/02)
A new survey finds that many of the people who are directly affected think that less than $5 million would be about right.

Friedman thinks education should be turned over to the market (Monday, 5/20/02)
One of the principal contests of the 20th century was between those who believe that the "invisible hand" of the market does a smarter, more efficient, and fairer job of distributing opportunities and resources than central planners. Highly centralized government-controlled economies have mostly disappeared from the world, so, overall, the market enthusiasts have won a lot of battles. Still, there are many who believe that there are some things that should not be privatized or turned over to competitive forces. One of the more fierce battles continues in relation to education. Tamara Henry says that you may not realize that economics Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman is the father of education vouchers, and, as he and some others believe, is also one of the principal champions of America's poor.

Rank has its privileges, even when it comes to layoffs (Monday, 5/20/02)
Research indicates that managers and professionals are less vulnerable to layoff during rough times than the rank and file. Here's more from the Christian Science Monitor.

Versatility helps in a tight job market (Monday, 5/20/02)
Being perceived as a dilettante or "jack-of-all-trades" probably won't help, but you won't find a lot of enthusiastic employers wanting to hire you right now if you're perceived as being able to only one thing either. Here's more from Norean Radke Sharpe and Gordon Prichett of the Boston Globe.

Book about mothers and careers overcomes huge publicity (Monday, 5/20/02)
Warren St. John of the New York Times says that Sylvia Ann Hewlett's Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children has had as much publicity as dozens of other new books put together, but almost no one's buying. It can't be because people don't know about it. Meanwhile, many working mothers find that having their own businesses provides the flexibility they need for family responsibilities better than conventional jobs. But, if you're self-employed, how can you communicate to others how important you are? Here's more on status symbols and their value from the Arizona Republic.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Wages.com (Monday, 5/20/02)
Wages.com is an Australian jobs site that also offers access to wage and salary information.

Strikes snarl things in Italy (Sunday, 5/19/02)
Italian unions are butting heads with Prime Minister Berlusconi over labor reform issues. Among other things, the strikes are making it harder to get from point A to point B over much of the country.

Proposals for helping with prescription medications (Sunday, 5/19/02)
An election year can make things harder or easier, depending. The big farm subsidy bill got passed because neither major party wants to be seen as anti-farmer during a time when a few Midwestern farm states could determine who will control Congress following the November election. Thus, the issue was quickly taken off the table and out of the campaign that lies ahead. Similarly, the Republicans decided to send what may have appeared to be a message to the Supreme Court recently but was really a message to gun owners in the same states when the Administration said that they think the Constitution guarantees the right for individuals to have guns, not just militias. Message to gun-owning voters in key states this time: "You won't have to worry that we'll end up wanting to take away your guns if we control Congress." Democrats aren't likely to campaign on gun control this time either and for the same reasons.

Sometimes, though, politicians would rather have the issue and can be reluctant to take "yes" for an answer. It's possible that both parties would like to be able to blame the other for not having a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare before election day. We'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, Julie Edgar of the Detroit Free Press provides a quick description of some of the alternative proposals that are knocking around in Washington.

Telling them you really care (Sunday, 5/19/02)
Many of Latin America's poorer countries have felt unappreciated by the Europeans, and EU leaders want to try to fix that. Here's more from Constant Brand in Madrid.

Commission to recommend that housing help be linked to work (Sunday, 5/19/02)
A Congressional commission's report will recommend that people who get federal housing assistance be required to work. Here's Jennifer Loven with more details on this and other recommendations to come. Meanwhile, Daniel Altman writes in the New York Times that the House's efforts to toughen up welfare work requirements could backfire, and some are wondering specifically what problem Congressional Republicans are trying to solve.

Are you worrying more about your employees and enjoying it less? (Sunday, 5/19/02)
It's easy to get paranoid in the present climate. Life becomes intolerable if we decide we can't trust anybody. On the other hand, employers certainly don't want to hire the next person who has plans for destroying the United States. Pre-employment examinations have gotten more careful.

Also, though, once you've hired a new worker and can be fairly confident that s/he doesn't have pockets full of hand grenades, you may want to take a close look at whether or not you're being cheated. Stephanie Armour of USA Today reports on the creative ways some workers have been inflating expenses for which they seek reimbursement.

Salmon workers canned in Alaska (Sunday, 5/19/02)
Whoops. Seriously, and it is very serious for the families affected, Alaska's salmon fishing industry has been slumping badly, and that means job losses. Here's more from Kodiak.

How to make a living in the vanishing middle (Sunday, 5/19/02)
Hi-tech is making the new economy newer each day in a great many important and fundamental ways, and not because you may be able to order your toothbrushes online now. For instance, Wal-Mart became the world's largest corporation in part because of the great cost efficiencies arising from its heavily computerized "just-in-time" inventory system. Technology has been increasing efficiencies and, thus, increasing productivity and the American standard of living in other ways as well, but each time a "middleman's" work is made unnecessary at a cost saving to somebody, somebody else's life is disrupted. Dana Hedgpeth tells how travel agents are trying to hang on during a time when it is becoming easier for travelers to find the best deals and book online themselves. For many women executives, booking the travel isn't the hard part. Here's why business travel typically is different for a woman than for a man.

Some feel that the rumors of recovery may be premature (Sunday, 5/19/02)
Don't shout "recovery" from the rooftops and call a lot of attention to yourself unless you want to have to explain if things don't work out. Here's why many experts are skeptical about all the economic recovery talk.

When to quit your day job? (Sunday, 5/19/02)
People with full-time jobs who start businesses on the side are more likely to be able to handle both when their businesses aren't doing much. However, if there are signs of eventual success, there's likely to come a time when about 100 hours per week would be required to keep all the balls in the air and something will have to give. The decision of when the climb off the big ship to set out entirely on your own and paddle your own canoe isn't an easy one.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Institute for Development Policy and Management (Sunday, 5/19/02)
The Institute for Development Policy and Management is located at Britain's University of Manchester. It conducts research and training relating to developing and transitional economies.

Job cuts at Bell South and elsewhere (Saturday, 5/18/02)
Bell South will cut up to 5,000 jobs, they say, while AOL Time Warner, which set an American record for losses in a single quarter recently, will cut 100 jobs. On the other side of the country, Boeing will lay off 1,500 workers. Meanwhile, CNET reports a big increase in traffic on Internet jobs sites last month.

Ford moves quickly toward merit raises (Saturday, 5/18/02)
Ford Motor Company has moved ahead without delay to fix its profitability problems, and with apparent success. Jamie Butters of the Detroit Free Press reports that merit raises will come this summer, although bonuses will be delayed a while longer.

Sweetness turns sour in Pennsylvania (Saturday, 5/18/02)
Steven Greenhouse, one of the New York Times' brighter lights, offers some perspective on the lengthening strike over health costs at Hershey Foods.

Okay, let's settle this once and for all. Is the Japanese economy beginning to recover or not? (Saturday, 5/18/02)
Well, yes and no. It depends on whom you ask. Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun reports that you will get different answers from private vs. government analysts, keeping in mind that government usually is more interested in influencing events than simply forecasting them, and it's hard for high government officials to describe things without influencing them.

D.C. does better than its suburbs (Saturday, 5/18/02)
Job creation has been hotter in the District of Columbia. Here's more from Neil Irwin of the Washington Post.

Freight yard engineers object to being replaced by machines (Saturday, 5/18/02)
It's not all self-interest, according to them. There's also a safety issue underlying their decision to take it to court.

Vegas casinos never close? (Saturday, 5/18/02)
A strike could do it, and that possibility is brewing in America's big desert gambling and entertainment mecca.

What to do about bosses from hell (Saturday, 5/18/02)
If you have a boss you wouldn't wish on anybody other than possibly your enemies or some competitors, you might want to take a look at Harvey Hornstein's new book, Brutal Bosses and Their Prey.

What does "communism" still mean in Vietnam? (Saturday, 5/18/02)
China's ruling party continues to call itself "communist," even though it now promotes economic policies that seem to be the opposite of what 20th century ideologues would have tolerated during the years when Marxism was sweeping much of the world. North Korea's government still regards itself as communist as well, and, at the very least, does seem to share quite a lot with the repressive Stalinism of the old Soviet Union over many years. How about Vietnam? David Thurber reports from Hanoi on whether the seeds of capitalism and democracy are sprouting.

Nice timing for this news (Saturday, 5/18/02)
Recently, a survey showing how little many high school students know about history depressed a lot of people who feel that it's important that a society not lose its memory. If you would like to lift your mood a bit, here's what Christine Romero has to say about some high school seniors who compete in demonstrating how much they know about economics. Incidentally, to say that many students don't know history is not to imply that their elders necessarily know any of it better. And, by the way, how's your own knowledge of economics? Here's a pop quiz.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Encyclopedia of the New Economy (Saturday, 5/18/02)
It's important to think of "the new economy," not simply in terms of "dot-com companies," but as something far more fundamental and multi-faceted. Here's an Encyclopedia of the New Economy for help in gaining perspective.

Japan hits U.S. steel imports with tariffs (Friday, 5/17/02)
You will remember that President Bush imposed protectionistic tariffs on imported steel recently, making many Congressional Republicans as well as international trading partners upset in the process. Now, Japan has retaliated by imposing tariffs of its own. Meanwhile, President Bush's trade bill has been held up in the Senate over benefits for retired steelworkers.

US Airways' plan for avoiding bankruptcy (Friday, 5/17/02)
The troubled airline is asking both the federal government and its employees to help it stay alive with loans and concessions, respectively. Here's more from Matthew Barakat. Meanwhile, Marcy Gordon reports that personal bankruptcies in the U.S. have been running at record levels.

Expect things to be different in the Senate for welfare (Friday, 5/17/02)
The welfare bill that passed the House is largely what conservative Republican House members wanted, but, as Laura Meckler writes from Washington, the Senate bill is likely to represent a compromise with different provisions.

Tech boom, round two? (Friday, 5/17/02)
Larry Magid of the Los Angeles Times says that there are preliminary signs that the tech sector is about to recover, which will mean jobs as well as opportunities for new entrepreneurs. What will the new businesses look like?

Strike continues at Hershey Foods (Friday, 5/17/02)
The dispute centers on health-care costs, and talks have broken down. In Germany, ten days of strikes have ended, but now there's disagreement over what the effect of wage increases will be on the German economy.

How Iraq is doing with the embargo (Friday, 5/17/02)
Howard Schneider reports from Baghdad that economic life appears to be returning to normal levels. Iraq's oil embargo didn't make any difference, so they stopped it. U.S. restrictions may not be making any difference to Iraq any longer either.

Get set to hear more about patients' rights (Friday, 5/17/02)
Quite a lot does go on in Washington that doesn't appear on front pages each day. For instance, the White House and key Congressional Democrats have been trying to reach a compromise on patients' rights legislation, but, as David Espo reports, talks have broken down short of a deal. Given that there is a major election in six months that could determine which party will control Congress, either one or both parties might prefer to have the issue rather than the agreement.

Get sick quick! (Friday, 5/17/02)
Columnist L. M. Sixel says that many people don't realize that they can lose contributions to their medical account if they don't spend the money before leaving their job voluntarily or involuntarily.

Is "living wage" in the eye of the beholder, and what are its effects? (Friday, 5/17/02)
Time magazine examines the "living wage" movement that's been gaining momentum in some parts of the country and takes up the question of whether it costs jobs.

Why morale is so important, and what to do about it (Friday, 5/17/02)
The current edition of CIO Magazine offers advice on how to improve worker morale and why you should want to do so.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Center for Economic Studies (Friday, 5/17/02)
The United States Bureau of the Census maintains its Center for Economic Studies in order to assist governmental, academic, and business researchers and policy makers.

Rolling strikes come to an end in Germany (Thursday, 5/16/02)
It appears that Germany's big labor union, IG Metall, has been successful in obtaining a pay raise of more than three percent for thousands of its members. It was the first big strike in Germany in seven years.

Vote on welfare bill delayed (Thursday, 5/16/02)
Laura Meckler reports from Washington on partisan haggling over how to follow up the 1996 welfare reform law. Generally, House Republicans side with the President in wanting more work required of welfare recipients, while House Democrats want more money for child care and education to enable people who make the transition from welfare to work to get out of poverty, which, according to them, isn't happening yet for the most part. The dispute has delayed the House vote, according to the New York Times.

In New York City, Republican Mayor Bloomberg, who has spent much of his life as a Democrat, seems to agree with the Democratic approach. He wants to be sure that New Yorkers get the training and support they will need to qualify for really good jobs, not only to sever their dependence on the welfare system, but also to leave poverty behind. Whether the 1996 welfare reform law has been a resounding success depends on whom you ask. There seems to be more general agreement that the telecommunications and "freedom to farm" acts of the same year have turned out to have disappointing, if not disastrous consequences.

Many Republicans want to promote, not penalize marriage (Thursday, 5/16/02)
Many House Republicans have been saying that a solution to the persistent poverty problem in the United States might be marriage. Not surprisingly, some of the same people have wanted to change the tax law so as to eliminate the so-called "marriage penalty." Curt Anderson writes from Washington that Republicans in the House have decided to postpone a vote on the tax issue after Democrats attached a measure to the bill that they don't like.

Congress approves bankruptcy reform (Thursday, 5/16/02)
Not the American Congress, though. In this case, it's Argentina's Congress, and it's one of the changes on which the International Monetary Fund has been insisting as a precondition for IMF help.

Minnesota state workers may resume last fall's strike (Thursday, 5/16/02)
Twenty-eight-thousand state workers in Minnesota may have thought they had a new contract. After all, there was tentative agreement between the negotiating parties, and union members approved it. However, legislative approval is also required, and that might not come.

College costs, but it pays as well, and why is that? (Thursday, 5/16/02)
Columnist Jim Barlow suggests that you start saving for your child's education now--and tells how to do it--if you want to contribute to his/her long-term financial security. U.S. Census data show a clear correlation between degree-possession and earnings.

Of course, anyone who has ever learned how research must be conducted if you want to be able to trust results will know about the difference between "correlation" and "causation." It does appear that the more in-demand skills that pay well in the new economy are somehow related to the processes by which college degrees are obtained...in general, anyway. On the other hand, if corporations or the law required green socks as a condition of employment, there would be a high correlation between the color of workers' socks and their earnings, and possession of green socks would take on significant economic value.

So, how much of the emphasis on symbols is functional, keeping in mind that many degree holders will spend decades paying down their accumulated student debt? Research as well as common daily experience suggest that there is only a loose relationship between possession of "credentials," on the one hand, and genuine competence or even knowledge, on the other. An economy that greatly values performance may want to find a way of distributing opportunities and rewards according to a more valid criterion than academe's conventional symbols and titles.

It doesn't seem surprising that talented Africa-Americans first achieved major success in entertainment and sports. These are highly performance-based enterprises. You either can hit the ball or you can't. You either can sell the show tickets or you can't. Breakthroughs for people with gifts in these areas didn't come easy, but in sectors that depend so much on bottom-line performance, there have been fewer artificial obstacles than for persons whose talents lie elsewhere. A gifted athlete or entertainer is more likely to make it than someone with great potential abilities in, say, management, medicine, or academic research.

Incidentally, Katherine Peyton-Chaney reports from Chicago that what may or may not have qualified as an official recession for the American economy as a whole turned out to be a depression for a lot of African-Americans.

For many, bloody merger at HP (Thursday, 5/16/02)
After a lot of blood-letting among warring factions at Hewlett-Packard, the merger with Compaq is going through, and that means the loss of as many as 15,000 jobs. HP hopes to reduce redundancy as much as possible through attrition and early retirement incentives. Meanwhile, the depression in corporate capital spending has been rippling in all directions. Honeywell International says that it has too much production capacity, given current market conditions, so about 900 jobs are set to go in Minnesota.

States struggle to pay their bills (Thursday, 5/16/02)
State budgets all across the U.S. are in sad condition. The emergencies are resulting in cuts and bigger fees. Far to the south, Venezuela also has a major cash flow problem, and, as Alexandra Olson reports from Caracas, people have been taking to the streets again.

SAT undergoes derision, er, revision (Thursday, 5/16/02)
The College Board appears willing to change the venerable as well as often-maligned SAT to please its biggest customer, the University of California.

Too many neonatal doctors may be hazardous to the health of infants (Thursday, 5/16/02)
To somebody with a hammer, everything can look like a nail. Similarly, medical specialists tend to do what they do, and do it repeatedly. New research suggests that an oversupply of neonatal specialists often results in tests and procedures that can harm essentially healthy kids.

Stress and workers' comp (Thursday, 5/16/02)
Traditionally, employers have been more enthusiastic about workers' comp claims for physical injuries on the job, but other kinds of work-related ailments seem a bit too vague for many. However, Stephanie Armour reports that momentum seems to be building for the inclusion of stress-related illness.

In another galaxy, in another century rather than at work (Thursday, 5/16/02)
Millions of American workers are expected to call in sick now that the latest "Star Wars" flick is opening in theaters all across the country. Some companies have decided not to participate in the charade, and, instead, simply give employees time off to see the film. Why fight it? If you've ever tried to get your car fixed or get anything else done in many regions of Europe while the international soccer finals are on television, you know the feeling.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Survey of Current Business (Thursday, 5/16/02)
The Bureau of Economic Analysis at the United States Department of Commerce publishes Survey of Current Business in both print and online editions. Archives are also available online.

U of M law school wins one in court (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
A federal appeals court has upheld the admission policies of the University of Michigan law school, saying that race can be taken into consideration so long as there aren't quotas. Here are more details from Joan Biskupic of USA Today.

Spendy Americans (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
American consumers have been consuming at a high rate, according to Commerce Department research, and it is hope that will continue, given that consumers make up about two-thirds of the economy, and can have a lot to do with whether the U.S. economy continues to expand or falls back into a frump.

European politics may be making a right turn (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
Europe has a long history of being unkind or unaccepting of minorities or immigrants that extends back far beyond the fascism of the 1930s to the pogroms of the Middle Ages and before. Now, many are wondering if there is such a thing as collective repressed memory. Peter Ford reports that "ultra-conservative" political sentiment may be making a comeback across the continent. But what is it that they are trying to "conserve?" Calling some of this stuff "conservative" might amount to the greatest abuse of language since Joseph Goebbels.

INS detains 21 airport workers (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has been taking a close look at workers who have access to secure areas of American airports. Yesterday, they found 21 foreign workers at Twin Cities International who couldn't produce proper documents.

The alternative is fighting over who will get to eat the seed corn (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
The great failed 20th century Communist experiment demonstrated that about the only way to insure economic equality is to keep everybody poor. The Chinese government has decided that a quarter of the world's population won't put up with that plan too much longer, so it's been encouraging the development of a market economy lately, with considerable success in some regions and sectors. One natural consequence seems to be the creation of a group of folks who probably would have been considered by Mao as "enemies of the people" or "counter-revolutionaries," or something like that. These are the multi-millionaires, and China suddenly has thousands of them, many of them home-grown.

Teamsters strike vote scheduled at UPS (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
UPS and its workers are talking about a new contract, given that the current one runs out at the end of July. The vote scheduled for this weekend could give the Teamsters authority to call a strike if deemed necessary.

Are you wearing a sweatshop sweatshirt? (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
A lawsuit brought by garment workers in Saipan has been given class-action status.

More about those gay '90s (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
The 1990s was a boom period, some of which has gone bust since because it was mostly hot air in the first place. Nonetheless, new analyses of Census data show that American homes got larger and more valuable as family incomes also increased.

Shredding Andersen's core (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
Good will, reputation, public relations, credibility...things like that...are important for any business, but they're more critical for some than others. If you work for a car company that makes good cars and somebody at the home office screws up badly, you still have the tangible products to sell and customers may still want them. However, things are different at a place like Andersen, once the largest and among the most prestigious accounting firms in the United States. Somebody apparently shredded some documents, the Justice Department brings suit, and clients are rushing for the exits. Suddenly, there's nothing for at least 7,000 perfectly innocent, conscientious, competent workers to do, and their jobs evaporate. Kirstin Downey Grimsley of the Washington Post reports on how things are going for some of them and how they feel about it. Can you guess?

Fiat targets thousands of jobs (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
The big Italian automaker may be ready to cut as many as 6,000 jobs. Here's more from Turin, Italy.

Putting expense reports under the microscope (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
It appears that quite a number of employees in both public and private sectors have been a bit, er, casual, about their expense claims, and, as Stephanie Armour reports, bosses are cleaning their magnifying glasses and sharpening their pencils.

Another employer that helps workers get assigned homework (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
We told you about United Technologies yesterday. Now, here's another company that is offering higher education as a employment benefit. It's Minnesota's Marvin Windows. Marvin is not a member of the Windows family, incidentally.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: ERS Summer Internship Positions (Wednesday, 5/15/02)
The Economic Research Service at the United States Department of Agriculture offers summer internship opportunities in economics or information systems.

Japan has gone as far as it can go...maybe (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
Its economy, that is, and down, that is. Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa believes that Japan's long-struggling economy has hit bottom at long last and appears to be starting on the long road back.

Here's how to feel a little worse about strong job creation (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
Canada's economy has been creating new jobs at a fairly furious rate lately, and that's good news, but it can also be bad news for productivity, according to Janet McFarland in the Globe and Mail.

Northwest official opposes fare reduction for business travelers (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
Vacation travel has picked up, but business travel still falls considerably short of its pre-911 levels. Some are suggesting that airlines could benefit by simply cutting fares for business travelers in order to encourage more of them to fly from point A to point B like they used to. Northwest Airlines executive Tim Griffin doesn't think it would result in a net increase in his company's revenues.

Among the costs of doing business (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
If you check the latest edition of the Bribe Payers Index, you'll find that corruption, particularly government officials who solicit or accept bribes from companies, seems to be greatest in Asia, particularly on the Chinese mainland and on Taiwan.

University's clerical people want a raise (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
Clerical staff at the University of Minnesota believe they are underpaid, and they've told the Board of Regents about it. The latest university budget calls for a smaller pay increase for clerical staff than for faculty in percentage terms.

Wadda deal--for many, the ultimate job perk (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
Health coverage may be essential, a 401(k) may be nice, stock options can be attractive, or, at least, they used to be, but if you really want to inspire loyalty and keep some kinds of people in your organization, offer college, or grad school. Harry Bruinius writes from Hartford, Connecticut about United Technologies which is picking up the tab for the degree program of the worker's choice, job-related or not.

For more and more Americans, the retirement move has gotten shorter (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
Instead of a sunny part of the country, maybe just the sunny side of the street. Haya El Nassar writes in USA Today about the increasing number of people who are retiring to their own communities.

A hot occupation... maybe in more ways than one (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
Donna Liquori writes from Hyde Park, New York for the Naples Daily News that pastry chefs are very much in demand.

Job seeker loyalty (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
There are thousands of jobs sites on the Internet, but a new survey finds that most people are faithful to a single one.

Obstacle to promotion (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
In Norway, women who work in male-dominated occupations put themselves at a disadantage by working part-time when promotions come up. Here's more from the Norway Post.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Population Research Institute (Tuesday, 5/14/02)
What does PRI stand for? Public Radio International? Well, yes, but besides that. Partido Revolutionario Institucional, the party that dominated the Mexican government for 71 years until the election of Vicente Fox in 2000? Well, yes, that too, but besides that. PRI also stands for the Population Research Institute, the organization at Penn State University that maintains ambitious research programs on many issues having to do with population in the U.S. as well as globally.

Farm bill becomes law (Monday, 5/13/02)
With the stroke of a presidential pen, the big farm subsidy bill has turned into law. By signing it, President Bush has made himself at least temporarily unpopular with some Congressional Republicans, but he knows that they won't have anyplace else to go on other issues, so he doesn't expect to be abandoned by them.

However, Democrats who insist on thinking in terms of stereotypes and caricatures may also be disappointed to find that their favorite love-to-hate-him political opponent doesn't always meet their expectations. In fact, sometimes he does what they probably would do. Actually, research on social perception shows that much of the consistency that people perceive in the behavior of others is really in their own minds. People filter their sensory experience, and ideologies are filters. In the real world of politics, for instance, Democrats sometimes behave like Republicans and Republicans sometimes behave like Democrats. When you look through a filter, you know how things are going to appear, no matter how they really are.

Incidentally, the Administration's efforts to persuade the Supreme Court to begin thinking in terms of the Constitution's guaranteeing individuals the right to have guns, not just militias, may arise from some of the same motivational sources as the farm bill. Reason: several Midwestern states that will be much affected by farm subsidies also contain a lot of people who are afraid the government eventually will want to take away their guns. These are some of the same states that may determine which party will control Congress after the November election. So, expect a number of Democrats suddenly to discover the reasonable virtuousness of gun-enthusiast arguments during the coming months as well.

Job growth may catch up soon (Monday, 5/13/02)
Many employers have been waiting to see if the economic recovery is real and lasting before taking the costly step of hiring more workers. A new survey from Manpower, Inc. suggests that many have become convinced and expect to add jobs next quarter. Also, in an economy increasingly influenced by its tech sector, it's good to hear that the Information Technology Association of America expects demand for tech workers to pick up as well.

Worked to death (Monday, 5/13/02)
Literally. The Washington Post reports on how little protection workers enjoy in China, sometimes with deadly consequences.

No "bank holiday" in Argentina (Monday, 5/13/02)
Despite widespread rumors, Argentina's economy minister has been trying to reassure the country that banks will remain open for business.

Negative mobility and the recent slump (Monday, 5/13/02)
The Minneapolis Star Tribune's Jean Hopfensperger tells about the dramatic lifestyle changes that can occur when professionals are laid off.

Worth more than money (Monday, 5/13/02)
Sometimes, the best contribution a corporation can make to a nonprofit organization is not cash but the expertise of its executives. Sara Terry of the Christian Science Monitor reports on the loaning of executives.

Lying to get ahead (Monday, 5/13/02)
Maria Perotin of the Fort Worth Star Telegram writes that quite a lot of the things commonly cited on resumes ain't necessarily so.

What can be worse than graduating and not being able to find a job? (Monday, 5/13/02)
How about graduating, not being able to find a job, AND being tens of thousands of dollars in debt? Seth Stern reports on the huge financial burdens many students are dragging behind them as they leave their campuses.

Sixty minutes intended to affect high schooler lives (Monday, 5/13/02)
Paul McWilliams hopes to communicate a lot about financial management and freedom when he delivers his Minimum Wage Millionaire talk to high school juniors and seniors. Here's more from Steve Rosen in the Detroit Free Press.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Child Care Statistics (Monday, 5/13/02)
The Bureau of the Census periodically collects child care statistics in its Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Ratification at United (Sunday, 5/12/02)
Ground workers employed by United Airlines have approved their new contract and will get their first raise in eight years. The deal will affect 25,000 employees.

In the "post-miracle" stage (Sunday, 5/12/02)
Japan and Germany both experienced crushing defeat in the Second World War. However, the victors decided to break with long historical precedent and, instead of permanently occupying these countries as conquerors, chose, instead, to rebuild their economies and establish them as independent democracies. It turned out to be a tremendous success. Both Japan and Germany managed to take spectacular advantage of the opportunities provided, and, within a few years, became post-war economic "miracles" as well as resolute allies of the United States. However, the past decade has been troublesome for both Japan and Germany. Among other things, both have had difficulty making a transition to the new global information economy. Japan's economy has been hampered by huge bank loans gone bad and has suffered a series of recessions in recent years, while Germany incurred the enormous costs of reunification at about the same time it has been struggling to modernize its economy in order to become less dependent on traditional heavy industry. David McHugh reports from Frankfurt on Germany's latest troubles, including the walkouts of nearly 3 million members of IG Metall, the nation's largest labor organization.

Making airports secure: the hard part (Sunday, 5/12/02)
Jim Barlow reports on the difficulty and high cost of checking the backgrounds of employees who have access to secure areas at American airports.

You've heard about "co-workers." Now, there are "co-employers" (Sunday, 5/12/02)
Adam Geller writes about the growing popularity of "professional employer organizations" and the growing dependence of small business on them.

Not a victimless economy after all (Sunday, 5/12/02)
There seems to be little doubt that the new economy really is new in a number of important ways, but that doesn't mean that all principles of the old economy have been repealed. For instance, remember a few years ago when some intelligent commentators were suggesting that there might not be any more recessions? David Leonhardt reports that we're gaining more perspective on the boom period of the 1990s and can now see that it wasn't quite what it appeared to be at the time.

Fine-tuning supply-demand pricing (Sunday, 5/12/02)
As demand increases in relation to supply, prices tend to increase. As supply increases in relation to demand, prices tend to decrease. Consumers accept that reality in relation to many products, but not necessarily all. For instance, one new movie might be ten times as popular as another. Shouldn't you be willing to pay ten times as much for a ticket, then? Here's more on efforts to extend variable pricing, while trying not to violate expectations too much and offend consumers.

Rhetoric vs. reality (Sunday, 5/12/02)
Some employers aren't quite as "family-friendly" as they claim. David Crary reports that many working mothers encounter informal obstacles to taking advantage of what may be formal policies and find that it may be held against them.

Gaining and losing at graduation (Sunday, 5/12/02)
Albert Crenshaw writes about the great number of young people who are about to gain a college degree and lose their health coverage.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Hispanic Business (Sunday, 5/12/02)
Hispanics make up a rapidly growing segment of the American population, and can be expected to impact on American society in a variety of ways during the years immediately ahead, culturally, linguistically, politically, and certainly economically. The print magazine Hispanic Business has a web site, and here it is.

Bush wants to increase work requirements for welfare recipients (Saturday, 5/11/02)
The President's plan is not greeted with enthusiasm by those who expect that the states will end up paying more to support the efforts of welfare recipients who would be required to work more. Will Lester says that the President is seeking bipartisan support from Congress.

US Airways contemplates bankruptcy (Saturday, 5/11/02)
US Airways says that it will need federal loan guarantees as well as concessions from its workers if it is to avoid bankruptcy. Here's more from Caroline Mayer in the Washington Post.

Children's summit ends (Saturday, 5/11/02)
The United Nations first children's summit has ended with general agreement that more will be done to improve the lives of the world's 2 billion children, but the devil may be in the details. Here's more from Edith Lederer.

Poultry workers have a friend in the government (Saturday, 5/11/02)
Apparently, it's been fairly common practice in the poultry industry for workers not to get paid for the time required to prepare for work, and the Labor Department says that's unacceptable. Randolph Schmit reports from Washington that a settlement has been reached with Perdue Farms and Labor is also suing Tyson Foods.

Job losses at IBM likely to be greater than expected (Saturday, 5/11/02)
Originally, it was announced that IBM intended to cut as many as 8,000 jobs. Now, it looks like it will be more like 9,500.

911 precipitated many career changes (Saturday, 5/11/02)
Stephanie Armour of USA Today writes about the impact of the September 11 terrorist attack on many people's career plans. Incidentally, it shouldn't take something so dramatic as an attack on thousands of innocent Americans to encourage an examination of life priorities. We've been surrounded all along by realities that can easily suggest there are some things more important than the conventional symbols of success.

How many people do YOU know who want to become a biologist? (Saturday, 5/11/02)
The latest edition of the Jobs Rated Almanac , soon to be released, lists "biologist" as the top-ranked occupation this time out of hundreds.

Muscle-relaxation exercises at work (Saturday, 5/11/02)
For a long time, it was assumed that "autonomic" meant "automatic," and, to a large extent, it does. The autonomic nervous system typically handles a variety of essential regulatory functions without your having to think about it. What surprised a lot of people, though, was research some years ago that showed that it is possible to gain a significant degree of voluntary control over one's autonomic nervous system, and, thus induce relaxation. You can use biofeedback procedures for this purpose, if you have the apparatus and training. However, deep-muscle relaxation exercises have been around for decades, and they can accomplish some of the same things for "retraining" the brain's stress response. Sherwood Ross reports on psychologist John Arden's suggestions for using these techniques in the workplace, maybe even surreptitiously. Dr. Arden has a new book called Surviving Job Stress.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Coalition on Human Needs (Saturday, 5/11/02)
The Coalition on Human Needs is an alliance of civil rights, religious, labor and professional organizations that favor public policies that meet the needs of vulnerable populations.

IBM to lay off thousands (Friday, 5/10/02)
For decades, IBM had the reputation as the company that had never laid off anybody...ever. When that policy finally changed some years ago, it was taken as a sign that the new economy had arrived and as a signal that job security, as traditionally understood, had ended in