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New European, U.S., and Japanese numbers (Friday, 2/28/03)
Economists had expected price stability in Europe during the month of February, but that's not what happened. Forecasters were off a bit in the United States too, but in a happier way. Fourth-quarter GDP growth was about twice what had been expected. In Japan, the unemployment rate hit 5.5 percent in January, according to the government's Labor Force Statistics Office.

Paychecks may be disappearing (Friday, 2/28/03)
Persons who have been laid off have found that their paychecks have disappeared altogether, of course, but Russ Wiles reports on a more general tech trend. Here's news about payroll cards as opposed to payroll checks.

Billionaires lose billions (Friday, 2/28/03)
Forbes magazine reports that the world's economic slump has affected its richest people. According to the magazine, there are 476 billionaires in the world now, and their collective worth has declined by $141 billion from last year.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The World's Richest People (Friday, 2/28/03)
Here's Forbes magazine's latest list of the world's billionaires. Bill Gates still tops the list, and Oprah Winfrey has made the list for the first time. Barry Diller is among those who used to be on the list but who is no longer a billionaire. Incidentally, there are "rich" billionaires and "poor" billionaires. Oprah's net worth is now approximately $1 billion, which is how much Bill Gates gives away each year. Here's another view of the latest list.

Hubbard to clean out his desk tomorrow (Thursday, 2/27/03)
The Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, R. Glenn Hubbard, has resigned, and will be replaced by Harvard economist Gregory Mankiw.

New proposal from UA flight attendants (Thursday, 2/27/03)
Flight attendants at United Airlines claim that the new contract they propose would save the company $1 billion over the next six years. Here's more from Dave Carpenter. Meanwhile, a union official in Texas says that American Airlines may be facing bankruptcy.

Democratic support for a Republican (Thursday, 2/27/03)
At the moment, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan may find his truest friends among Senate Democrats. Marcy Gordon reports from Washington on the support that the Chairman is getting from Senators who believe that the White House is trying to undermine Greenspan following his cool remarks about the President's tax plan. Well, not what young people would call "cool," but, well, you know...

Jobless claims rose last week (Thursday, 2/27/03)
First-time claims for jobless benefits rose to their highest level in two months last week, according to data from the Labor Department.

Fox in charge of the chicken house? (Thursday, 2/27/03)
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has met with Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, and, apparently, things did not go well. Here's more from Hollywood...Florida. One labor leader who has what some Democrats might consider to be a surprising or unnatural relationship with the Republican White House has been the President of the Teamsters, but that connection may be wearing thin.

Incidentally, George Bush is president, James Hoffa is head of the Teamsters, Richard Daley is mayor of Chicago...WHAT YEAR IS IT?

Greenspan urges changes (Thursday, 2/27/03)
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve has warned about the consequences of delay when it comes to changing the Social Security and Medicare systems to accommodate the huge aging boomer population. Also, he thinks that there should be different measurement methods underlying the Consumer Price Index, the principal measure of inflation.

CEO Funk (Thursday, 2/27/03)
Maybe the malaise that President Carter felt had gripped the nation some years ago has spread to corporate executive suites. John Byrne of Business Week says that the of confidence on the part of CEOs is holding back the American economy.

How big a threat does China pose to Japan, economically speaking? (Thursday, 2/27/03)
Brian Bremner examines the realities, but emphasizes that the sky doesn't seem to be falling.

My big brother, my boss (Thursday, 2/27/03)
It's always been a bad idea to scratch yourself if you work in one of those cubicles. However, Stephanie Armour reports that it isn't just co-workers who may be watching you. Overall, monitoring and surveillance of workers by employers has reached epidemic proportions.

You're hired! Oh, by the way... (Thursday, 2/27/03)
Some jobs don't pay all that well, but others don't pay at all, and they're getting takers. Jon Swartz says that California techies don't want to lose their edge so that they'll be in position when things get better. Some are working for free in order to maintain their skills.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Food Security and Safety (Thursday, 2/27/03)
Despite its title, this study is not about possible terrorist threats to the U.S. food supply. Instead, the report, published in the U.S. Department of State's journal, Economic Perspectives, deals with food as a basic economic resource and its role in foreign aid programs.

Bush loses support on the economy (Wednesday, 2/26/03)
A new survey from the Pew Research Center finds that more Americans now disapprove of the President's handling of the economy than approve.

Funding for mass stats renewed (Wednesday, 2/26/03)
Congress has restored $6.6 million to pay for keeping track of mass layoff statistics. The Bush administration discontinued the practice of collecting these statistics several weeks ago.

Northwest seeks concessions from its pilots (Wednesday, 2/26/03)
Northwest Airlines is asking its pilots to accept concessions in order to reduce its overall labor costs, but Teamsters officials are saying that, at the same time, hundreds of managers have received bonuses.

Union membership declines (Wednesday, 2/26/03)
New data from the United States Department of Labor shows that union membership has fallen to its lowest level in twenty years, in large part because of the loss of manufacturing jobs in recent years. Thirteen-point-two percent of the American workforce is now unionized, according to the Labor Department report.

Actors may combine forces (Wednesday, 2/26/03)
A merger of the two major actors unions is looking more likely. Actors and writers, as well as other people working the film and television production industries, have been experiencing pressures because of the use of new technologies as well as the surge in the number of so-called "reality shows" on television, some of which might better be referred to as "voyeurism shows" or "humiliation shows." Many actors work in television commercials as well, and may feel threatened by the possibility that Tivo-like personal video recorders, with which viewers can easily avoid seeing commercials, may begin flooding the market soon, fundamentally altering the relationships among shows, advertisers, and viewers. Television advertisers already are examining new possibilities for somehow embedding commercial plugs into the programs themselves, and these may or may not rely so heavily on the use of actors.

The downside of increased home values (Wednesday, 2/26/03)
Thomas Fogarty reports that home values have increased sufficiently to make capital gains taxes a major factor for people who are considering selling, including many people who never expected to be "that well off" and still don't feel wealthy.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Asian-Nation (Wednesday, 2/26/03)
The Asian-American population has enlarged significantly during recent years, as the United States has become increasingly diverse in many ways. Asian-Nation: The Landscape of Asian America is a gateway created by SUNY sociologist Cuong Nguyen Le.

Four dead in employment agency shooting (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
A man opened fire following an argument in a temporary employment agency in Huntsville, Alabama. He killed four persons and wounded another.

Consumer confidence plummets (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence has declined to a 9-year low this month.

What will happen after Saddam is gone? (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
It may be highly premature, but an increasing number of people seem to be thinking more about the post-Saddam era in Iraq than about how he will be separated from power in the first place. Nonetheless, the UN fears a food crisis following a war, but the Bush administration says it's preparing for that and is setting aside $100 million for immediate humanitarian aid after the war, all of which makes it sound as if war is a decided done deal in the White House.

Air strikes on the bottom of the earth (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
Actually, given what is on everybody's mind, we probably should be careful to say "airLINE strikes." In fact, employees of one Australian and one New Zealand airline walked off their jobs, but only briefly.

AFL-CIO executive council meets in Florida (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
The Detroit Free Press' John Gallagher says the big labor federation, while still representing 13 million workers, is bedeviled by a variety of problems.

Hiring slows as employers hold their collective breath (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
Employers are likely to continue hesitating when it comes to adding new staff, as long as the uncertainties in the international situation persist. Juliet Williams writes from Milwaukee about the results of a new Manpower, Inc. survey of businesses. Business activity has slowed because of war anxieties too, according to the Washington Post's Alec Klein, so many who already have jobs have less work to do, which can cause further anxiety about possible layoffs.

Anxiety at Los Alamos (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
There was a time several decades ago when many of the nation's best technical brains were brought together at Los Alamos, New Mexico to design and produce the first atomic bomb. Jobs at Los Alamos have been considered "plumbs" over most of the years since too, but not so much very recently. Leslie Hoffman reports that anxieties are growing that a contract with the University of California may come to an end because of scandals, and that this could result in a destructive "brain drain."

West Coast bust (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
When it booms, it booms, and when it busts it busts. Mark Sappenfield and Dean Paton report from San Francisco that it's mostly bust at the moment across a range of West Coast states, where unemployment is high, the tech wreckage is still piled up, and tourism is slumping, among other things.

Doing your part for cost control (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
Shannon Buggs of the Houston Chronicle tells what you can do to help control the rising cost of health care.

Uncle Sam as creditor (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
The Small Business Administration has a loan program to help people acquire real estate and large equipment. Yvette Armendariz reports that the program is becoming more popular.

The AMT Zone (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
Sandra Block of USA Today says that more and more middle-class people are surprised to find that they're being drained by the alternative minimum tax, which, originally, was intended to make sure that the rich pay taxes. Problem is, it wasn't indexed to inflation.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Big Payoff (Tuesday, 2/25/03)
Based on 2000 Census data, The Big Payoff quantifies the value of higher education when it comes to the cold, hard cash of lifetime earnings potential.

A takeover in Belgium (Monday, 2/24/03)
Union activists are holding 48 nuclear plant executives hostage to protest the planned elimination of 81 jobs. In labor-related news on the other side of the Atlantic, Leigh Strope reports that a union-run luxury hotel in Florida is being sued by the feds.

IMF agrees to help Uruguay (Monday, 2/24/03)
The Uruguayan government and the International Monetary Fund have reached agreement on new loans.

East aims to surpass West (Monday, 2/24/03)
Some sort of time-lapse photography covering the entire European continent would show continual "morphing" over the past thousand years or more, and would suggest the folly of assuming that things will long remain as they have been during the recent past. The shortness of the human life-span encourages insufficient perspective.

Within the memories of the great majority of people now living, Western Europe has enjoyed a huge economic advantage over the Eastern countries. But, not so many years before our birth, Vienna was the unchallenged "capital" of Europe. Things change, and, then, change again, and are likely to continue doing so. Alan Cowell reports from Budapest for the New York Times on how foreign investors are fueling Eastern European economies. While most Western European countries seem to have entered a period of "sluggishness," the more interesting opportunities for innovation and growth may be in places like Hungary.

In the United States, the current generation of young adults grew up during the 1990s and the longest economic expansion in American history. They came to expect that strong economic growth and plentiful jobs simply represented the "natural state" of things, rather than a condition that has been hoped for, vigorously pursued, but seldom achieved.

Similarly, older Western European political leaders have expressed frustration that many young Europeans don't seem to understand why so much energy has been given to building and enlarging the European Community. The younger generation has never known anything other than peace among European nations, and tends to assume that it is the natural state of things. One EU official said that his generation feels that they have accomplished quite a lot in recent years, considering that Europe has been at peace since the mid-1940s now, after centuries of European wars. "We feel we've done rather well," he said, "but many young people don't seem to get the point."

Diseases of affluence or political complacency can easily set in when the new generation in charge has grown up as the beneficiary of the investments, labors, and sacrifices of their elders. Then, opportunity is offered to other young people in other regions who have not been similarly advantaged, and the cycle begins all over again. Nations rise, and nations fall. Is Europe's center of gravity shifting eastward?

Paternalistic management may be making a slight comeback, but in a somewhat different guise (Monday, 2/24/03)
There was a time when many American factory workers spent most of their earnings each month in stores owned by their employers. Then, with the urging of some organizational consultants, many workers favored "participative management" in which power within the company could become somewhat more decentralized and more widely distributed. Workers wanted a greater say in company affairs, particularly those that influenced them.

Then, management started severing part of the traditional connection between worker and company by shifting a greater share of the risk arising out of changing market and competitive conditions to workers, which has meant diminished job security and more frequent job changes. Many employers also have been relying more on temp, part-time, and contract workers, as well as "outsourcing" arrangements in recent years, while also leaving full-time employees with more responsibility for decisions affecting their employment, health, or retirement security. The Washington Post's Albert Crenshaw tells how the combination of two of these--healthcare during retirement--has become a major issue for a lot of people.

However, not all individuals are prepared to make the well-informed decisions previously made by company professionals, sometimes in conjunction with union leadership, particularly in financial areas, so employers are beginning to step in again. Most employers want their workers to keep the responsibility for the consequences of their own financial decisions, but an increasing number are willing to offer financial advice. Is it a good idea to take it, or should you seek more independent counsel on such important matters? Here's more from Michelle Higgins and Ruth Simon of the Wall Street Journal.

Incidentally, in a sluggish economy, many "free agents" are finding that the "freedom" has mostly to do with excess free time now. Here's more from Eileen Gunn on the hard times that many independent workers are experiencing.

If somebody is caught climbing over the White House fence, yelling "I must see the President!," it might be a governor (Monday, 2/24/03)
Robert Tanner writes from Washington about the growing number of state governors that are looking to the President, himself a former governor, for emergency financial assistance.

Committing suicide...slowwwwwwly (Monday, 2/24/03)
One of the many problems with an economic downturn is that can set the stage for additional economic problems later. The American economy relies much more heavily now on innovation, so it's not good to hear that many U.S. companies are cutting their R&D budgets. The consequences for a company and for the economy as a whole can be similar to what happens when states or localities have to cut back on their investments in education. During the years ahead, it's likely that much of America's most challenging economic competition will come from China, rather than Japan and Western Europe, as has been the case during much of the past half-century.

The unfamiliar era of "debt deflation" (Monday, 2/24/03)
The top executives at Hoisington Investment Management expect recovery to be slow because of "debt deflation," something that's really new about the new economy. Scott Burns asked what on earth that is. Here's what they told him in Austin, Texas.

Are you reading this on an airplane yet? (Monday, 2/24/03)
Before long, you should be able to go online routinely at 35,000 feet or more. Business trips can mean uninterrupted business. Some airlines and many hotels already are offering broadband Internet access. Joe Sharkey tells how it's shaping up so far.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Economic Impact of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack (Monday, 2/24/03)
The General Accounting Office offers a 40-page review of ten reports from nearly as many organizations on the economic impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.

G7 finance ministers say they'll be vigilant and ready (Sunday, 2/23/03)
Finance ministers from the world's seven richest industrial nations have been meeting in Paris, and have promised to take action if the global economy weakens. This includes an apparent promise from the European central bank to cut interest rates if necessary, according to Alister Bull and Nick Antonovics. Here's more from Brian Love and Luca Trogni, also in Paris.

Just as it is hard to think about ways to increase your income when you're sitting in your dentist's reception room waiting for a root canal, it's difficult for most of us to think of much else other than major war in Iraq, which may be imminent. European officials believe that war anxiety has caused harm to the world's economy, and Julie MacIntosh reports from New York that many major CEOs seem to agree that both uncertainties about war and a war itself could harm the economy.

On the other hand, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow has told his fellow economic ministers in Paris that a quick resolution to the crisis over Iraq is likely to result in a quick recovery of the global economy. American Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has been saying similar things, indicating, for instance, that war anxiety is the only thing holding the U.S. economy back at the moment. Neil Chatterjee reports from London that a survey has found that oil industry experts polled expect oil prices to decline 30 percent later in the year after an Iraq war is over. But, as Caroline Baum of Bloomberg News writes, many economists on Wall Street don't agree. They believe that it will take more.

We're sure you appreciate our having made all this perfectly clear, while settling all the issues once and for all. Actually, we believe that anyone who claims to know what is going to happen or what U.S. policy should be in order to make things turn out nicely is missing part of the problem. His enemies readily claim that President George W. Bush really doesn't know what he's doing. That may be true, but, if so, it doesn't necessarily make him different from the rest of us.

The bottom line is that we are in a new historical era and the world is a very different place from what it was even during the recent past. Most of our ideas and decision rules are a product of previous times. We have no right to expect familiar outcomes under unfamiliar conditions which no one as yet understands.

However, there are a growing number of examples of how catastrophically wrong things can go, even when there is no malice. Joseph Hazelwood, former captain of the Exxon Valdez, may still be trying to kick himself in the ass fourteen years after he allowed the worst oil spill in American waters to happen. Now, at least 96 people are dead and many more hospitalized with burns and injuries simply because a rock band wanted to show off, and, because a surgeon made an unwarranted assumption and didn't bother to check, 17-year-old Jesica Santillan is dead, following a botched heart-lung transplant.

If the latter example weren't bad enough, according to a CBS News report, Duke University Medical Center officials may have handled things in almost the worst way possible once it was determined that Jesica was brain-dead, by not responding to the family's request for a second opinion and by determining on its own to withdraw life support. If you have heard the rumor that universities are filled with a lot of smart people, you may want to withhold judgment for the time-being.

After the first successful test of the atomic bomb at Trinity, Los Alamos, New Mexico on July 16, 1945, some scientists said that they weren't entirely sure that the test would not set fire to the earth's atmosphere.

So, for heaven's sake, President Bush, please be careful.

US Air says it needs to drop pension plan (Sunday, 2/23/03)
Executives from bankrupt US Airways have told a judge that the company probably will have to liquidate if it cannot be relieved of its pension plan for 6,000 pilots.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Behavioral Research Council (Sunday, 2/23/03)
The purpose of conventional economic theory is to sufficiently account for the functioning of economies so as to be able to make more accurate forecasts and recommend policies that will be more influential in producing desired outcomes than would be the case without the theory. Economists have chosen to make use of assumptions and measures that serve these ends.

As a consequence, even though economists know as well as anyone that people don't always behave rationally, the assumption of rationality has been useful in economic theory because it has tended to serve their purposes better than more complex assumptions.

Similarly, while, in principle, psychology is relevant to economics, because it all comes down to the economic behavior or large numbers of people, whether or not it is worthwhile to incorporate behavioral or psychological factors into economic theory depends on the extent to which behavioral processes themselves are well-understood or measurable. Until fairly recently, the consensus among most economists has been that, given the imprecision of psychological knowledge, behavioral factors may as well be ignored in economic models.

However, this has been changing, because psychological science is much more advanced now than it was only a few years ago. Behavioral economics has been coming of age. For instance, here's the Behavioral Research Council, a division of the American Institute for Economic Research.

Double dip, after all? (Saturday, 2/22/03)
The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index was up in January by the largest amount in nine months, in large part, because of increases in energy prices at the consumer level as well as at other level that have the effect of driving up the cost of a range of consumer products. Pierre Belec of ABC News reports that Wall Street is worrying that war-related energy price increases could push the American economy back into recession.

Of course, in addition to oil price increases and continuing uncertainty, there will also be the cost of a war itself. Saddam's former chief of staff, General Nizar al-Khazraji who, defected, believes that the Iraqi dictator would like to turn Baghdad into a Stalingrad or a "Blackhawk down" situation for the American forces. The former general was interviewed recently on the CBS television program "60 Minutes II."

Former General al-Khazraji says that Iraqi forces will be no match for the U.S.-led forces in open warfare, so the U.S. military can be expected to prevail in the countryside, whether or not the Iraqi army resists. Saddam's plan may be essentially to give the outer regions away, intending, instead, to suck the U.S. into a house-to-house swamp in Baghdad itself, a city of 5 million people, larger than Los Angeles.

This could greatly prolong the war and make it far more likely that the U.S. will suffer thousands of casualties of its own, while causing major civilian Iraqi casualties. Saddam hopes this would help radicalize most of the Arab world while greatly increasing the cost of the war for the U.S. as well as the global economy, meaning that the U.S. will be under increased pressure from most non-Arab nations as well. According to the former Iraqi general, Saddam will gamble that the U.S. will lose its taste for continuing and abandon its efforts, leaving him in power. The reasons would be, in part, but only in part, economic. Stay tuned.

German business people worry about their country's new rocky relationship with the U.S. (Saturday, 2/22/03)
Germany was America's enemy during the latter half of the 20th century's teens and the first half of its '40s, then a close ally for nearly 60 years. Now, while still allies and collaborators on many things, the relationship between the two countries has gotten a bit prickly again. David McHugh reports that many people, Germans as well as Americans, are hoping that the current official disagreement over Iraq won't jeopardize the $122 billion in annual business between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Germany's RWI economic institute fears that the country's economy has slipped back into recession, as reported by Elise Kissling of Frankfurter Allgemeine.

If there is a real estate bubble, war could be the pin that pricks it (Saturday, 2/22/03)
An invasion of Iraq could mean the end of the U.S. real estate boom and possibly a decline in housing values, according to RealEstateJournal.com, a service of the Wall Street Journal.

A moving experience (Saturday, 2/22/03)
Larry Margasak reports that the Senate Finance Committee has found that the government sometimes is exceedingly generous in covering the cost of moving for federal employees.

Disney World cuts back (Saturday, 2/22/03)
Many part-timers at Disney's big Florida theme park are having their hours cut back, and the company says that layoffs are possible.

The recession slammed California harder than many thought (Saturday, 2/22/03)
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that employer tax filings are showing that the recent recession cost California twice as many jobs as experts had concluded previously.

A conversation with Secretary Snow (Saturday, 2/22/03)
Business Week recently conducted a Q&A session with the new Secretary of the Treasury, John Snow.

Another test of agriculture (Saturday, 2/22/03)
Malthus was wrong...at least so far. While the world's population has exploded, our capacity for producing food has exploded even more, meaning that there has been more food per capita for a huge global population in recent years than there ever was for the far smaller populations throughout history. The principal reason that there are still so many hungry people in the world is not because of a food shortage problem, but, instead, because of a food distribution problem. Recent decades have been characterized by many hungry people in some regions while those in other regions have been trying to figure out what to do with surpluses or how to get farmers to produce less.

Still, many human problems don't have permanent solutions; instead, we just have to keep muddling along and do the best we can. A world-wide food shortage is still a future possibility, given that demographers expect a population surge between now and the middle of this century. In fact, world population is expected to increase by another 50 percent by mid-century, then level off at about 9 billion persons. We may need another agricultural miracle. Here's more from Laurent Belsie of the Christian Science Monitor.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The EROD Directory of Organizations (Saturday, 2/22/03)
The Education Resources Organizations Directory contains information on more than 4,000 national, regional, and state organizations offering information or assistance on education issues and topics. The directory is updated continually.

The G7 talk in Paris about what to do (Friday, 2/21/03)
If a U.S.-led coalition really is going to conduct an invasion to overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein, time is of the essence, and not just because of the approaching heat of summer or the brief period in early March when moonlight will be reduced, giving an advantage to U.S. and British troops, which, with their hi-tech gear, can fight in darkness just fine.

The world also needs a major reduction of the geopolitical uncertainty that is having a major impact on economic conditions worldwide. Finance ministers from the world's richest industrial countries are meeting in Paris to see what can be done, not about the increasingly likely war that is on everybody's mind, but about the global economy. One of these is Francis Mer, France's Finance Minister, and he acknowledges that the French economy will not grow as much this year as government forecasts had indicated.

Another is the new American Secretary of Treasury, John Snow, who, because of the country he represents, is being watched closely by a lot of people and who is very much aware of the war-threat drag on American and, thus, global economics.

There's certainly enough cynicism to go around, but, as is almost always the case in geopolitical affairs, dynamics are complex and multi-faceted. Many people around the world regard Saddam Hussein as one of modern history's monsters, perhaps qualifying for membership in whatever club Adolf Hitler belongs in.

Still, as Mark Twain remarked, while history doesn't repeat itself, it often rhymes. Much of the anti-war rhetoric recently sounds like a verbatim transcript of things that were being said and written about Hitler more than 60 years ago. Throughout much of the 1930s, Winston Churchill was one of the few voices crying out from the political wilderness in Britain, insisting that a deal could not be made with Hitler and that it was dangerous to trust him about anything, but we all know what happened. Many people in the United States, where some still deny that the Holocaust ever happened, were claiming that Roosevelt and Churchill were the real evils, not Hitler. Germany adopted Austrian-born Hitler and made him Chancellor, while France collapsed quickly and allowed the formation of the puppet Vichy government. As many as 60 million lives could have been saved if the world had stopped Hitler early, but that just wasn't in the air.

While some street demonstrators recently have been right about fascists being involved in the current conflict, they are wrong about where they're located. They're not in Washington or London, but in Baghdad. Also, the fact that France has been doing more business with Saddam than nearly any other country, and also the fact that German Chancellor Schroeder calculated that he might be re-elected only if he could hold the Greens in his coalition, requiring a certain kind of campaign rhetoric, are significant points that can help explain the recent behavior of French and German leaders. It's not all about Saddam or the threat that he may present to the world.

On the other hand, are there real reasons for concern about the consequences of an invasion? Is it possible that things really could go straight to hell? Without a doubt.

But, on the OTHER hand, are there real reasons for concern about the consequences of allowing Saddam to remain in power and continue with his plans for eventually dominating the Middle East, and, therefore, because of oil, much of the industrialized world? Is it possible that things really could go straight to hell? Without a doubt.

Despite what TV comics have said in order to make a living, George W. Bush is not stupid and he's certainly not weak. However, he may be an intemperate fool who had too little early education and who has spent far too little time educating himself since undergoing an epiphany of some sort when he was about forty years old to become the highly focused and disciplined man he is now. It's too early to tell. How history will judge him will depend on how all this comes out, and nobody really knows what's going to happen. Moreover, there is much that is not under the control of the American President or anyone else.

Leading Indicators dip (Friday, 2/21/03)
The Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators declined in January, which suggests rougher times ahead. The Index has a reputation for being quite good at forecasting economic conditions several months ahead of time.

New head of Calpers (Friday, 2/21/03)
Calpers stands for the "California Public Employees' Retirement System" and is the nation's largest pension fund. A union leader has become Calpers' new leader. He is Sean Harrigan, and he has been a vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

Are you really an "independent contractor?" (Friday, 2/21/03)
The Mary Kay organization has lost a $11.2 million lawsuit that may help define the difference between "independent contractors" and "employees," according to columnist L. M. Sixel. Companies like people to be called "independent contractors" rather than "employees," because it costs them less. Another popular dodge in recent years has been to call people "managers" even when they don't manage anything in order to avoid having to pay overtime.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Your Taxes (Friday, 2/21/03)
As in years past, the New York Times wants to help you with your taxes.

A war's impact on the global economy could be staggering (Thursday, 2/20/03)
New research from Australia estimates that a short war in Iraq would slam the global economy to the tune of $1 trillion. If it's a long war, the cost could be triple that amount.

Discouraging numbers (Thursday, 2/20/03)
A variety of new reports suggest that the American economy may be in worse shape than many have thought, according to Anna Willard in Washington. For instance, first-time unemployment claims were up more than experts had expected, according to the United States Department of Labor.

Secretary Snow is off to a summit meeting (Thursday, 2/20/03)
Finance ministers from the G7 are meeting in Paris this weekend, and newly-sworn-in Treasury Secretary John Snow will be among them. The G7 is the exclusive club made up of the world's seven richest industrial nations.

Steel workers accept concessions (Thursday, 2/20/03)
Workers at Weirton Steel Corporation have ratified a new one-year contract that will their pay and freeze pension benefits. Here's more from Vicki Smith in Weirton, West Virginia. Meanwhile Ethan Allen is closing three plants in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, resulting in the loss of 584 jobs, and Disney World has announced a hiring freeze because of all of the uncertainties brought about by general economic conditions and a possible war in Iraq.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Migration Information Source (Thursday, 2/20/03)
In part, because global population is so much larger now than it was during earlier periods of migration, the total number of people who are moving from one region to another for their various reasons may be the largest ever. The Migration Information Source from the Migration Policy Institute offers an opportunity to examine global migratory trends every which way, meaning a highly multidimensional analysis.

Recession in the Big City (Wednesday, 2/19/03)
Overall, the American economy has been performing unimpressively, but not consistently so across sectors or geographical regions. For example, new housing construction is hotter than it's been in 16 years. However, Leslie Eaton tells about the particularly tough times in New York City, where, as David Leonhardt reports, the big snowstorm certainly hasn't helped the city's budget problems. Kirstin Downey and Anitha Reddy of the Washington Post write that, while the storm has given many workers some unexpected time off, for quite a few, it will be without pay.

Detroit expected to benefit in the new global economy because of its airport (Wednesday, 2/19/03)
A top aviation consultant says that Detroit's economy should provide a major advantage to the region's economy over the years ahead. Here's more from John Gallagher of the Detroit Free Press.

More tech layoffs (Wednesday, 2/19/03)
Micron Technology, the big memory chip manufacturer, intends to lay off 1,800 workers. The tech sector has been one of those, along with the airline industry, that has been suffering greatly during the past couple of years. However, John Swartz reports that, while war might further handicap the overall economy---even thought getting it over with so as to reduce uncertainty might be helpful--technology companies may benefit significantly.

It's harder for some people to dress for success (Wednesday, 2/19/03)
People may or may not judge books by their covers, but people are often judged that way. Even people who are trying to get the most out of a second chance in life won't have a second chance to make a first impression. Alex Polier writes from New York about Career Gear, a nonprofit organization that helps people who have been down and out but are ready to get their lives under control now dress for job interviews.

How much are you willing to pay in order to get into trouble with the IRS? (Wednesday, 2/19/03)
There are lots of people out there who are collecting high fees in exchange for big tax-saving tips that won't work because they're really scams. The Internal Revenue Service knows about them all and has compiled a list of a dozen of the most common, which, for some people handicapped by too much gullibility or greed, can also be the most attractive.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Presidents of the United States (Wednesday, 2/19/03)
The White House doesn't want you to forget who its occupants have been since President John Adams first moved in on November 1, 1800. Fifty years can be a very long time in the modern history of world politics, so the institution of the American presidency has exhibited remarkable continuity over more than two centuries, and it isn't because everyone occupying the office has been saintly or a genius. Several American presidents were slaveholders, for instance, and some of them thought the slavery institution was just dandy. Some have been largely incompetent, some corrupt. Andrew Johnson made a number of public appearances while drunk, including during his Vice Presidential inaugural address following the election of 1864.

Compared to some other chief executive roles in democratic countries (e.g., the British Prime Minister), the American presidency is relatively weak, meaning that the American Constitution, both by what it specifies and by what it deliberately leaves unmentioned, has enabled a society in which power is quite widely distributed. During those times when a real clinker has been president, there have been some limits to the damage he could do. On the other hand, when genuinely remarkable individuals have been president, they have been able to accomplish a lot.

From the White House, here is information about all of the Presidents of the United States, not just those who have lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which is to say that George Washington is included.

Venezuela's oil exports expected to return to normal soon (Tuesday, 2/18/03)
Venezuela is one of the world's largest oil exporters, so global economic leaders have been concerned about the impact of the 78-day strike that slowed output to a trickle for a while, particularly in light of a possible disruption of oil supplies from parts of the Middle East if a U.S.-led coalition invades Iraq sometime soon. However, the head of Venezuela's state-owned oil industry expects oil production to be back to normal soon. James Healey reports that gasoline prices are exceeding $2.00 per gallon in some parts of the country, which might eventually seem inexpensive if crude oil prices were to reach, say, $80.00 per barrel.

Is the expected war really about an American urge to control Iraqi oil? Probably not, at least not in the sense that's often implied, but the U.S. has an interest in preventing some others from controlling it. The United States isn't nearly so dependent on oil from the Middle East generally as many other countries are, and, given the size of the American market, oil tends to find the U.S. anyway, when it's wanted, no matter who pumps it or how many intermediaries there may be. That is, even if Iraq doesn't sell oil directly to the U.S., it may sell it to somebody else who will, in turn, sell it to the U.S. Commodities find their markets, and the U.S. uses a lot of oil, much of which it produces itself, incidentally. There would be no particular advantage for the United States to take over Iraqi pumps, and there are all sorts of reasons for not wanting to do that.

However, some of the "chess players" in the Administration and elsewhere may be thinking about competition from China's rapidly expanding economy over the next 20-30 years, and China no doubt has oil more on its mind now than during earlier years too, as it attempts to become the world's dominant society sometime this century. Both the U.S. and China, as well as many other of the world's industrial economies, may be very concerned about the prospect of Saddam's controlling all of the oil in the Middle East, which is what could happen if he were to obtain fully operational nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them throughout the entire region.

News provider cuts jobs (Tuesday, 2/18/03)
Reuters is like the Associated Press and United Press International, except that it's the largest. At least, it was before cutting 3,000 jobs following a record loss.

Bush's Ifs (Tuesday, 2/18/03)
Daniel Altman says the President's economic plan is really a gamble and that economists are choosing up sides and placing their bets as to whether the President will win or lose big. Of course, the country will either win or lose, as well. Meanwhile, Paul Geitner reports from Brussels that European Union officials are trying to guess how a war in Iraq will affect economies, including those close to home.

A shortage of engineers may be the result of a shortage of imagination (Tuesday, 2/18/03)
America may have lost its imagination, so far as space is concerned, and that means that NASA is struggling with too little funding as well as too few young aerospace engineers to replace the aging generation that got humanity to the moon and beyond. Meanwhile, other kinds of technical people are finding jobs wherever they can, and, for many, that means moving from the slumped tech sector to the booming mortgage sector.

Headhunters no longer confine themselves to recruiting top executives (Tuesday, 2/18/03)
Sheila Mullan reports that recruiters are searching for just the right individuals to fill a variety of corporate jobs, so you could get the call, even if you're not lusting after a senior executive job. She has suggestions about what to do after you've overcome the initial feelings of flattery. Incidentally, many people who are finding the jobs the want are surprised to learn that they will have to pay their own moving expenses. There are many ways in which the new economy is new.

Tax torpedo (Tuesday, 2/18/03)
Scott Burns tells why some early retirees feel as though they've been in the tax man's sights all along, and that he's let fly. Here's how you can end up paying taxes at a far higher rate than you expected. Speaking of taxes, suppose you're not working, but it's not because you're retired, at least, not voluntarily. USA Today's Sandra Block tells how you can reduce the April 15 bite a bit if you're unemployed.

Starting a new business is less hazardous than commonly thought (Tuesday, 2/18/03)
A new SBA study that attempts to control extraneous variables a little more carefully finds that 67 percent of new businesses succeed for at least four years.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Choosing a Recruiter (Tuesday, 2/18/03)
Business 2.0 passes along a list of Internet resources intending to offer guidance in choosing a recruiter.

Greenspan's future analyzed (Monday, 2/17/03)
There are times when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's statements are deliberately ambiguous, so as not to set off some sort of stampede in the markets. But, as Martin Crutsinger reports from Washington, he left little doubt about his meaning recently when he criticized the President's big new tax-cut proposal. Does it mean that some of his more powerful fellow Republicans consider it a betrayal and will be out to get him?

Another benefit of having money to begin with (Monday, 2/17/03)
Albert Crenshaw explains why the President's proposed tax-free accounts would help the wealthy become far more wealthy, presumably implying that the gap between the wealthy and everybody else would get even wider. Meanwhile, one gap that seems to be narrowing, according to David Leonhardt, is the wage gap between working men and women. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women working outside the home now average earnings that are 77.5 percent of what men earn. If that seems like less than parity, you're right, but it's up from 77.1 percent in 1993, and it represents the narrowest gender wage gap on record.

The Earned Income Tax Credit rules have changed (Monday, 2/17/03)
The IRS says that more low-income workers and military personnel will qualify for the 2002 tax year. The bad news about 2002 is that there were a record number of personal bankruptcies.

Some of the ways you can invest while serving your favorite causes (Monday, 2/17/03)
Kaja Whitehouse of the Dow Jones News Service says there are more options for "socially-responsible investing" than many people realize.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Board Strategies (Monday, 2/17/03)
If the changed regulatory atmosphere has you reluctant to serve on a corporate board because of liability concerns, Board Strategies may be able to help you with some of the practical questions.

Afghanistan needs teachers...fast, and a UN agency is preparing to help (Sunday, 2/16/03)
Along with North Korea, the Taliban's Afghanistan certainly was a finalist in the "worst place on earth" competition. However, now that the Taliban has been relieved of power, Afghanistan is trying to return to something resembling normal, civilized life, and that means that children must be educated. However, what the Taliban called education had no resemblance to genuine education, so a viable system must be brought back to life, and that means re-training thousands of women who once were teachers but had to stop working and mostly hide out during the infamous Taliban years. The United Nations Children's Fund is stepping up to the plate.

Which Latin American country has economic problems plus a beleaguered president? (Sunday, 2/16/03)
There are several right answers to that question. Here's news about one named after Simon Bolivar from Juan Forero in Bogata, Colombia.

If you're a union leader, you may be in danger of being trampled by presidential wannabes (Sunday, 2/16/03)
Leigh Strope reports from Washington that a growing number of Democrats who would like to gain their party's presidential nomination for 2004--and there are a growing number of them--are doing nearly everything but send candy and flowers to leaders in organized labor.

Many retirees now have an additional reason to stay healthy (Sunday, 2/16/03)
Harold Brubaker writes from Philadelphia about the growing number of retirees who are being affected by healthcare that won't be forthcoming from their previous employers as they were told.

Who DOESN'T benefit from higher-quality automobiles? (Sunday, 2/16/03)
Jeffrey McCracken reports in the Detroit Free Press about the harder times experienced by auto repair people.

Corporate perk areas (Sunday, 2/16/03)
An increasing number of companies are including within their newly designed campuses some of the facilities you would expect to find in neighborhood strip malls. Here's more from Dan Wascoe of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Financial Statements (Sunday, 2/16/03)
If you're involved in planning or running a business of your own, you may be interested to know that Entrepreneur.com wants to tell you about financial statements.

WTO stumbles on agricultural issues (Saturday, 2/15/03)
Efforts on the part of ministers from countries belonging to the World Trade Organization to get together on agricultural reforms have been fruitless so far. Stuart Grudgings and Tim Large report from Tokyo on deadlock at the WTO.

Unions consider a BIG bitter pill (Saturday, 2/15/03)
Leaders of unions that represent workers at American Airlines have been meeting to decide what can be done about the company's call for $1.8 billion in wage cuts that executives feel are necessary to keep the airline in the air.

The hard job of squeezing blood out of stones (Saturday, 2/15/03)
Debt collectors aren't having an easy time of it right now, as many Americans who are in too deep struggle within a cranky economy. Here's more from Richard Leong in New York. Still, improved conditions may be poking up above the horizon. John Berry of the Washington Post tells what some of the experts are saying now that recent statistics look better than expected.

Why you may want to invest in companies run by women (Saturday, 2/15/03)
The mutual fund run by Ingrid Dyott invests heavily in companies she has reason to believe treat women well. Here's more from the Christian Science Monitor's David Francis.

Pirates in the workplace (Saturday, 2/15/03)
The Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America believe that many American workers spend quite a bit of their employers' time illegally swapping copyrighted materials on the Internet, and they've published a guide intended to help employers prevent the problem and avoid being sued.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Unequal Treatment (Saturday, 2/15/03)
Unequal Treatment is a report on persistent healthcare disparities between minorities and whites in American society.

Donaldson's in (Friday, 2/14/03)
William Donaldson has been confirmed by the United States Senate, so he will become the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Duct and cover (Friday, 2/14/03)
Federal officials are in a terrible box. If government intelligence indicates that the chance of a terrorist attack has increased, they will be in real trouble if they don't tell the public and something happens. On the other hand, continual warnings encourage people to ignore them all, just as the Surgeon General's health warning on cigarette packs long ago became invisible to addicted smokers. Of course, announcement that an attack is likely can help dissuade the attackers, just as telegraphing a burglar's intentions can encourage him to pick a different house and different time. That is, announcing that an attack is likely may make it less likely.

But, when the government issues a terrorism alert, what are we supposed to do with that information? This time, officials have tried to get a little more specific, saying that you might be well-advised to lay in a supply of duct tape. At the very least, this advice has boosted the economy's duct tape sector, and the economy needs whatever help it can get. It remains to be seen whether attempting to seal your windows with duct tape will be as effective in protecting against chemical or biological attack as the government's "duck and cover" admonitions during the 1950s would have been against the dropping of an nuclear bomb in your immediate vicinity.

Duct tape can be a little like chicken soup--it can't hurt. However, one expert said that if we're concerned about their personal safety and well-being we would be well-advised to stop smoking, look both ways when crossing the street, use our seat belts, and not drink and drive. On the off chance that you are able to seal up your house with duct tape so that poison gasses can't get in, it will mean that oxygen won't be able to get in either, so it's not a long-term solution. Your house has to breath if you want to.

There is something to be said about an understanding of probabilities. There is SOME probability that an attacker will lop a bomb on the very square foot of ground on which you happen to be standing out of the more than two-and-one-half million square miles that make up the United States, just as there is SOME probability that you will be struck by a meteor while scratching your left ear with your right hand. But, how much of your scarce time and energy do you want to use for protecting yourself against these things as opposed to all of the other dangers in life?

However, real risks vary. If you're living in a tiny Alaskan village, you probably won't have to worry about Al-Qaeda dropping a nuclear bomb on you, once they've managed to buy one from North Korea or Saddam, although the possible future threat directly from North Korea may be another matter, if Kim Jong Il decides to make a point after he's tested his long-range missile. However, either a conventional Hiroshima-type nuclear bomb or a much cruder, easier-to-make-and-deliver "dirty bomb" that simply scatters radioactivity in all directions would be very bad news in Manhattan. So would poison gas in any major congested area, even though its effects will tend to be localized. You probably won't have to tape your windows in that Alaskan village.

Moreover, duct tape may not be much help in protecting you from biological weapons, if disease-contaminated and suicidal individuals simply fly back and forth among a number of major American airports, spreading the bad stuff in each crowd with which they come into contact. The perpetrators would be long gone, and possibly long dead by the time Americans begin to get sick, and few will know where they picked up the illness in the first place.

If you live in Washington, D. C., New York City, or any other metropolitan area that not only has high population density but also major targets that are either highly symbolic or essential to the normal functioning of American society--e.g., governmental, financial, communications, etc.--the wise guys among us should not minimize. Amy Joyce tells what employers and others are doing in Washington, D. C.

Greenspan gets support of a key Republican (Friday, 2/14/03)
Alan Greenspan probably doesn't see his job as one of being a cheerleader for any administration. Many Republicans have started calling for his head now that he has indicated that he doesn't favor the new tax-cut program proposed by the President. However, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist isn't among them.

House approves stricter work rules (Friday, 2/14/03)
If the House of Representatives has its way, stricter work requirements will apply for persons receiving cash assistance from the federal government. The 230 to 192 vote was mostly along party lines.

Optimistic economists expect the U.S. economy to gather steam (Friday, 2/14/03)
A panel of economic forecasters expects the American economy to strengthen throughout the remainder of 2003, according to Martin Crutsinger in Washington. However, if a war in Iraq is prolonged or goes badly, all bets are off. According to new data, the manufacturing sector had a pretty good January, but the University of Michigan's measure of consumer sentiment dropped during the month. However, war anxiety seems to be a major reason, so quick success in Iraq might lift consumer mood too.

First Venezuela, now Nigeria (Friday, 2/14/03)
A union representing the Nigerian oil industry's white collar workers intend to strike beginning tomorrow. Nigeria is the world's seventh-largest oil exporter. In other oil industry news, L. M. Sixel of the Houston Chronicle reports that American energy companies are under pressure to guarantee gay rights.

Rising sun in Japan? Maybe too early to tell (Friday, 2/14/03)
Japan's economy grew more than expected during the final quarter of 2002, but officials are saying that optimism about the future may not be justified yet. Meanwhile, Asahi Shimbun reports that unions are wanting to stick with traditional pay standards in their negotiations, despite a deflationary economy.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Global Trends (Friday, 2/14/03)
The World Bank maintains a research team for the purpose of forecasting global economic trends.

The future of Clinton's favorite Republican could be in jeopardy...but maybe not (Thursday, 2/13/03)
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan didn't make too many friends in the Administration or among the President's supporters in Congress when he said he doesn't favor another big tax cut and worries that deficits could spin out of control. In fact, he may have killed the President's chances of getting his new tax-cut plan through Congress while reducing his own chances of another term as head of the Fed besides. At the very least, the White House has been thrust into a defensive mode by the Chairman's remarks. Greenspan isn't a politician, so he tends to say what he believes, and that can be dangerous in any of the world's hypocrisy capitals. When former Senator Fred Thompson announced that he was leaving the Senate to resume his acting career, he said "After eight years in Washington, I simply longed for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood."

Northwest will invoke industry cuts in new labor negotiations (Thursday, 2/13/03)
Several major airlines have managed to make deals resulting in reductions in wages and benefits, and Northwest Airlines intends to use those precedents as bargaining tools, according to Liz Fedor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Meanwhile, an increasing number of airline pilots are complaining about the Transportation Security Administration's proposed requirements to enable pilots to qualify for carrying guns on flights.

Dip in jobless claims may be a good sign (Thursday, 2/13/03)
The Labor Department's measure of first-time jobless claims fluctuates, so week-to-week "ripples" can be expected. However, last week's drop of 18,000 jobless claims may mean something because it was more than expected.

Bye-bye health benefits (Thursday, 2/13/03)
Many retirees have expected their health benefits to continue after their careers have ended, because that's what their companies have promised. However, bankruptcies and sales of businesses are changing things for a growing number of people. Here's more from David Caruso in Philadelphia.

Many Chinese workers are finding it hard to get their pay (Thursday, 2/13/03)
Philip Pan writes from Guangzhou that some workers are finding that nothing short of threatening suicide seems to work simply in order to get paid for work already completed.

Fowl news for workers losing their jobs (Thursday, 2/13/03)
Two poultry firms, one in Georgia, one in Minnesota, are cutting approximately 700 jobs.

Ethics training spreads across university business programs (Thursday, 2/13/03)
Ron Nissimov of the Houston Chronicle tells how recent corporate scandals have led to increased emphasis on ethics in programs aimed at training the next generation of business leaders. Leigh Strope writes that labor unions also are mobilizing to use their pension-fund investment clout as part of an effort to bring about changes in the way publicly traded companies operate. Among the companies that many reformers have in mind as they plan their strategies certainly is Enron, which a joint committee in Congress has been studying for a year. The House-Senate Joint Committee on Taxation presents its findings today, which one Senator describes as "eye popping." And, in what might be considered by some as a delicious "goes around, comes around" irony, even the IRS is confused by the complexity of Enron's procedures for avoiding taxes. Here's more on that from David Cay Johnston of the New York Times.

The checks are in the mail (Thursday, 2/13/03)
No, really. Boeing is sending out 80,000 bonus checks as part of an employee incentive plan.

Help for reservists (Thursday, 2/13/03)
As more military reservists and members of the National Guard are being called to active duty, more and more lives are being disrupted. Suddenly, individuals and their families can be put into a major bind as a consequence of their willingness to serve. Chris Woodyard of USA Today tells what many companies are doing to help.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Workplace Trends & Forecasting (Thursday, 2/13/03)
The Society for Human Resource Management conducts ongoing research, of which its Workplace Trends & Forecasting program is a part.

Fed Head sees little change in the American economy (Wednesday, 2/12/03)
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress yesterday that the economy is in about the same condition as six months ago, with geopolitical uncertainties doing most to keep it in a rut. Business Week's Michael Wallace says the Chairman seemed somber and sometimes fairly vague, particularly when talking about the President's stimulus plan, although his lack of enthusiasm for additional tax cuts may prevent the President from getting new tax-cut legislation through Congress.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors also issued its forecast yesterday, saying that low inflation and some accelerating growth is expected through the remainder of the year. Their forecast may be predicated on the assumption that the situation with Iraq will be resolved soon, and that uncertainty about the effect of war and its aftermath on oil prices will be reduced.

The President, gambler as he sometimes appears to be, seems to be staking quite a lot on the chance that a war against Saddam Hussein will be quick and won easily, and that things will go well afterward. He may be expecting that relations with and among some European countries will improve, that the American economy will be released from the constraints imposed by geopolitical uncertainty, and that he will have sufficient political capital accumulated to push his domestic agenda through Congress. On the other hand, if the war and its aftermath go badly...

Donaldson confirmation issue goes to full Senate (Wednesday, 2/12/03)
William Donaldson, President Bush's nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, has been approved by the Senate Banking Committee. Now, it up to a vote by the whole Senate.

Russian economy still growing (Wednesday, 2/12/03)
The year 2002 was the fourth year in a row that the Russian economy underwent expansion. In fact, Russia's GDP grew at a fairly nice 4.3 percent last year.

More job cuts may be coming to Wall Street (Wednesday, 2/12/03)
Those who have been thinking that layoffs have run their course on Wall Street will have to think again. Investment bank leaders, including Goldman Sachs' CEO, another 5-10 percent reduction is likely by the end of the year.

Work-sharing hasn't caught on in Japan (Wednesday, 2/12/03)
The idea is attractive: let people share jobs so that fewer workers have to be laid off entirely. However, as Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun reports, even with government subsidies, the plan hasn't been popular. In fact, many employers are losing whatever enthusiasm they might have had originally.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: MIT OpenCourseWare (Wednesday, 2/12/03)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology has made extensive course materials available free online at MIT OpenCourseWare.

Greenspan assesses significance of war clouds (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve says that war uncertainty is the principal factor holding back the American economy.

Average Germans not feeling an economic crisis (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
Germany is facing an uncertain future, even though many individuals aren't feeling it all that much yet. Steven Komarow writes from Berlin that this is why sufficient political capital hasn't accumulated to make necessary reforms possible.

Farm feud (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
New financing for most federal agencies is being held up because of a Congressional fight over whether to provide farmers with additional aid. Here's more from Alan Fram in Washington.

DOL files discrimination complaint against Whirlpool (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
Whirlpool Corporation is being accused of racial discrimination by the U.S. Department of Labor.

College doors begin to close for many (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
With state budgets in their worst shape in a half-century, most state-supported organizations are getting less money, including colleges, where tuition is on the increase. Here's more from Mary Beth Marklein of USA Today. Many colleges and universities are beginning to hurt now for other reasons too. Del Jones tells about the growing number of people who are earning degrees online, particularly MBAs.

Transferring poker skills (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
Many executives have found that proficiency at poker can help in the development of business proficiency. Marci Alboher Nusbaum has more on playing cards close to the vest, knowing when to fold 'em, and so on, from today's New York Times.

IRS decides to concentrate on auditing low-income taxpayers a little less (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
Quite a number of Americans are still scratching their heads because of previous stories about how lower-income Americans are more likely to be audited. Thomas Fogarty reports that the Bush administration wants to increase high-income audits by 70 percent.

Accused software thief dies (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
A former employee who has been accused of stealing Microsoft's products and reselling them has died at age 32.

Where singles are finding each other (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
Stephanie Armour reports that office romances have gained greater acceptance, and an increasing number of them are turning into permanent bonds.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Airline Traffic and Urban Economic Development (Tuesday, 2/11/03)
What are the community economic consequences of new airports or expanded airport facilities? University of Illinois Professor Jan Brueckner examines the case of Chicago in his working paper Airline Traffic and Urban Economic Development.

Chavez threatens strikers with imprisonment (Monday, 2/10/03)
Thousands of oil workers in Venezuela have been fired for their role in a two-month strike that was intended to force the country's President from office. He's now saying that they should be in jail.

Industrial production declines in Germany (Monday, 2/10/03)
Industrial production in Germany dipped last month by the greatest amount in four years.

Pay raises shrink at Fujitsu (Monday, 2/10/03)
Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun reports that, while Fujitsu isn't discontinuing the practice of giving annual raises, the raises will be smaller from now on, and other Japanese companies may follow Fujitsu's lead.

Chicago's North Side traffic jams explained (Monday, 2/10/03)
Columnist Bob Herbert says that the crush of traffic in part of Chicago last Tuesday morning was puzzling for a while, until it was learned that an untrue rumor had been circulating that Ford was hiring. The national joblessness problem has gotten grim, he says, and is worse than some of the statistics indicate. Jane Kim tells how the tax season is adding problems for those who have recently become jobless.

Still, not all American communities are suffering equally, and, in fact, some are doing quite well. Elkhart and Goshen, Indiana are examples of cities where job creation has been vigorous. In their cases, it's because of demand for RVs. It's certainly not hard times for all Americans. Some have the money to take to the road in style, and, because of the international situation, more people who might otherwise travel overseas, are feeling safer on U.S. highways.

Boston mayor zaps affirmative action (Monday, 2/10/03)
Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino has absolished a 25-year-old program that gave preference in the awarding of contracts to businesses owned by minorities and women. In other news about minorities, Mireya Navarro examines the reasons behind the lower rate at which Hispanics in the United States acquire four-year college degrees.

Didn't make the list? Maybe next year (Monday, 2/10/03)
Stephanie Armour suggests that Wal-Mart may not be on anybody list of best companies to work for, including the increasingly prominent Fortune 100. Here's more about the dozens of lawsuits filed by employees against the world's largest retailer.

E-glitches (Monday, 2/10/03)
The Internal Revenue Service--now, now, now, that's "Internal," not "Infernal"--is offering many taxpayers an opportunity to file free online. But, the Los Angeles Times reports that it hasn't been working as expected for a lot of people. Meanwhile, Eileen Alt Powell says that many of the poor who want tax refunds quickly may end up paying interest rates that make garden-variety loan sharks seem reasonable. Here's more on why "instant refund" usually means "very expensive loan." Speaking of owing and paying back, Steve Dinnen writes from Columbus, Ohio about what may become debt collectors who are adept at kinder, gentler arm-twisting.

Companies restock pension funds, and, for many, it's not because of altruism (Monday, 2/10/03)
Arden Dale writes about the large number of underfunded corporate pension plans and why so many companies are scrambling to dump more money into them.

The President's Medicare proposal under examination (Monday, 2/10/03)
Janelle Carter says that many of the older people she's talked to aren't enthusiastic about the idea of hooking up with an HMO in order to have Medicare pay part of the cost of prescription medications, as the President has proposed.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition (Monday, 2/10/03)
Yale University's Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition examines all aspects of the "Atlantic slave system" that persisted in the Americas for centuries.

Close look at the new unemployment statistics (Sunday, 2/9/03)
Experts didn't expect January's unemployment rate to dip to 5.7 percent. Leigh Strope reports from Washington on why it happened. Here's even more analysis from SmartMoney's Monica Rivituso. Incidentally, the productivity numbers for the entire year of 2002 also were quite nice, even though there was a decline toward the end of the year. Here's more from Sue Kirchhoff of USA Today.

After the bubble (Sunday, 2/9/03)
Beth Healy of the Boston Globe tells about two quite different types of unemployed techies now that tech has gotten less cool in a job market that has gotten cooler.

Will some newly elected governors demand a recount? (Sunday, 2/9/03)
It's probably less fun to be a state governor right now than most times during the past half century. Amey Stone reports on the horrible condition of so many state budgets.

Nervousness about the Bush savings plan (Sunday, 2/9/03)
The President clearly doesn't intend to be remembered in history as a "do-nothing," caretaker president. He's and ambitious high-stakes gambler who will do what he can to restructure American society before he leaves office. He's been putting a lot of balls in play so that, if a war with Iraq turns out well and the American economy makes a nice post-war upturn, he'll be in position to use new political capital for pushing a lot of things through. The President's new savings plans could have far-reaching effects, some possibly unintended, and many people are nervous about them. Clearly, President Bush is not enthusiastic about redistribution plans for solving the problem of poverty in America. Instead, he doesn't mind seeing the rich get richer if it means a larger overall economy that pulls up people on the economic ladder's bottom rungs by lifting the entire ladder. He has other plans for redefining the federal government's relationship to America's poor, as well, which are in line with the traditional Republican preference for greater decentralization and a greater role for the states.

Most wouldn't spend the Bush tax cut (Sunday, 2/9/03)
If the President's proposed tax cut is intended to provide short-term stimulus to the economy, it might not work out the results of a survey conducted by a credit counseling firm are any indication. Only 20 percent of the people survey said they'd spend the money they would save on taxes.

Has Japan's time finally come? (Sunday, 2/9/03)
Investors and others have heard it all before, but Business Week's Brian Bremner says it may be time to take a chance on Japan.

How it is to be a black lawyer in America (Sunday, 2/9/03)
In the Twin Cities, at least, your chances of becoming a partner in a major law firm haven't improved tremendously in the last thirteen years, according to Deborah Caulfield Rybak. She also reports on Twin Cities black-owned law firms.

Attendance counts in new ways (Sunday, 2/9/03)
Companies trying to reduce costly absenteeism are offering special incentives to workers who have perfect attendance.

Out on a limb blowing your whistle (Sunday, 2/9/03)
If you're a corporate whistle-blower, you could find yourself facing the consequences in isolation. Houston Chronicle columnist L.M. Sixel says OSHA doesn't often support whistle-blowers, according to its critics.

When shelters provide no shelter after all (Sunday, 2/9/03)
David Cay Johnston says that some big accounting firms are being sued by people who were encouraged to use tax shelters that the IRS has denied.

Bethlehem Steel cuts retirees loose (Sunday, 2/9/03)
Bethlehem Steel says it can't afford to cover the cost of health and life insurance for 95,000 retired workers, so they're going to discontinue the benefits.

What would Goldilocks say? (Sunday, 2/9/03)
Diversity in the new economy has resulting in many employers having to try to satisfy a greater mix of needs and interests on the part of employees. But, trying to find an office temperature that satisfies everybody isn't a new problem.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: National Institute for Literacy (Sunday, 2/9/03)
There was a time in America in the not-too-distant past when much of society's work was done with a shovel or a pitchfork by large numbers of people who could neither read nor write. In the new economy, most of the really good jobs go to "knowledge workers" with very high-level skills, meaning that persons who are not literate are left hopelessly behind, often not qualifying even for the few remaining unskilled jobs. The National Institute for Literacy is a federal agency created in 1991 by a bipartisan coalition in Congress.

The Administration continues to push for big tax cuts (Saturday, 2/8/03)
The President and his new economic team have been making use of every opportunity to push for the Administration's $1.3 trillion tax cut package, including the swearing in of the new Treasury Secretary.

Testimony in the Tyson trial (Saturday, 2/8/03)
Tyson Foods is on trial for conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S. to work on its production lines. An undercover agent who had posed as a smuggler has testified that he delivered hundreds of illegal immigrants to the plant manager.

The Fed also cuts (Saturday, 2/8/03)
The Federal Reserve is processing fewer checks, so it needs fewer employees. Four-hundred jobs are to be cut with the closing of 13 of its nationwide sites.

Now hear this (Saturday, 2/8/03)
A jury has told a hotel in West Virginia to pay a half-million dollars for using electronic surveillance to eavesdrop on an employee.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Australian Bureau of Statistics (Saturday, 2/8/03)
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has lots of numbers, including those representing key aspects of the Australian economy.

Unemployment down in January (Friday, 2/7/03)
The unemployment rate declined to 5.7 percent in January, according to new Labor Department data. Nonetheless, as Mark Gongloff reports, this should not be taken to mean that America's labor market problems are fixed.

Donaldson impresses (Friday, 2/7/03)
Senators of both parties appear greatly impressed with William Donaldson, so he seems destined to become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission quickly and without difficulty. Here's more from Greg Farrell of USA Today.

Teamsters make a deal (Friday, 2/7/03)
Tentative agreement on a new five-year contract has been reached between the Teamsters union and four trucking companies. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Liz Fedor reports on Teamster opposition to a cost-cutting plan at Northwest Airlines.

Many major corporations line up behind the University of Michigan (Friday, 2/7/03)
Anne Gearan tells why so many large companies oppose the President on the University of Michigan affirmative action issue. They want things left the way they are because they think better workers result. In a knowledge economy, corporate diversity concerns would not be served if most of people graduating from major universities were Caucasian. Incidentally, the EEOC says that the number of job discrimination cases has reached a 7-year-high, and this causing corporations to take another look at their diversity policies and possibly expand the concept's definition, according to Vicki Lee Parker of Raleigh's News & Observer.

Schools near military bases would lose funding (Friday, 2/7/03)
The President's budget would eliminate the subsidies that the federal government has been providing to school districts that educate the children of military personnel stationed nearby.

Tech support (Friday, 2/7/03)
Justin Pope tells about unemployed tech workers who get together for mutual support.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The University of Wisconsin Center for Women's Health and Women's Health Research (Friday, 2/7/03)
The University of Wisconsin Center for Women's Health and Women's Health Research is one of a dozen such centers across the United States which have been designated by the US Public Health Service.

War clouds cast dark shadow over U.S. economy (Thursday, 2/6/03)
If war comes in Iraq, nearly everybody will need for it to be quick, successful, and with minimal casualties. American consumers, investors, business leaders, and workers aren't exceptions. Martin Crutsinger reports on the gathering economic gloom that is accompanying all the war talk. However, brace yourself for a little GOOD news: The Institute for Supply Management says that the U.S. service sector has been building a bit of momentum.

Good time to hang on to your job if you have one (Thursday, 2/6/03)
New government data show that the American economy is in its worst hiring slump in nearly two decades. In fact, about one million jobless persons have given up and are no longer looking for work, meaning that they are no longer counted among the "unemployed" in the official statistics. Here's more from the New York Times' David Leonhardt. First-time jobless claims declined a bit last week, but experts say it's just a "ripple" and doesn't represent improvement in the overall jobs picture.

Unemployment worsens in Germany (Thursday, 2/6/03)
Melissa Eddy reports from Frankfurt that Germany's unemployment rate has risen to 11 percent, meaning that a record number of Germans are without jobs.

Productivity dipped at the end of 2002 (Thursday, 2/6/03)
Productivity was strong during the third quarter, but weakened considerably during the fourth quarter of 2002, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Incidentally, according to University of Maryland research, while it is true that many workers play on the Internet at work, it's also true that they do work at home, so it may be a wash, meaning that overall worker productivity may not suffer. The Wall Street Journal has the story today, but you'll have to be a subscriber in order to read it.

Circuit City cuts back (Thursday, 2/6/03)
Circuit City, one of the nation's largest consumer electronics retailers, is eliminating 2,000 jobs and putting its sales staff on hourly wages beginning today. It's eliminating its previous commission policy.

Company chooses wrong location for its annual meeting, confederation says (Thursday, 2/6/03)
Leaders of the AFL-CIO are critical of Tyco's plan to hold its annual meeting in Bermuda rather than in the United States.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education (Thursday, 2/6/03)
Here are the proceedings from a 2001 conference organized by the National Academy of Sciences that focused on America's higher education system in the new economy: The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education.

American tries to reduce (Wednesday, 2/5/03)
American Airlines is telling its workers that it needs to cut costs big-time in order to survive. It's asking for union help in saving $1.8 billion each year. Meanwhile, the head of the pilots' union at United says they may be getting ready for a court battle with the company.

The Senate Banking Committee looks over Bush's nominee for Chairman of the SEC (Wednesday, 2/5/03)
The Senators are closing examining William Donaldson, whom the Bush administration wants to be Harvey Pitt's successor as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Here's more about who he is and what he's done.

A dozen unions band together in order to have more political influence (Wednesday, 2/5/03)
Unions representing workers in declining industries are hoping that there will be strength in numbers as they get together to lobby Congress.

Bigger holes in the safety net? (Wednesday, 2/5/03)
According to Robert Pear of the New York Times, who has been examining the President's budget, the White House would like to make it a little more difficult to get government help if you're poor. Beverly Goodman finds something for the kids in the President's tax-cut savings plan, or, at least, kids whose families are well-off. Finally, Peter Coy thinks you'll be particularly enthusiastic about the Administration's proposed dividend tax cut if you like complicated taxes. That's right: instead of simplifying, the changes would make the tax code more complicated, he says.

Stepping down the ladder (Wednesday, 2/5/03)
The corporate ladder leads downward as well as upward, and some managers are finding greater comfort a bit lower in the hierarchy. Others have no choice but to climb back down a rung or two. Here's more from the Washington Post via the Houston Chronicle.

Cybercity in the sea (Wednesday, 2/5/03)
The island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean is attempting to leapfrog most of the rest of the world, so far as hi-tech is concerned. BBC News has more about what may become the world's most impressive state-of-the-art cybercity.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Economics of Tobacco Control (Wednesday, 2/5/03)
The World Bank says that more than 1.1 billion people in the world smoke, and more than 500 million people presently living will die of smoking-related illnesses if governments do not respond to the global tabacco-related health crisis. The Economics of Tobacco Control is a 134-page report from the World Bank.

Good news and bad news in manufacturing (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
The U.S. manufacturing sector grew for the third consecutive month in January, but at a lower rate. Here's more from Rebecca Gomez in New York.

Strike updates (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
Thousands of doctors throughout New Jersey stayed away from their clinics yesterday to protest malpractice insurance rates. Meanwhile, truckers have authorized a strike if contract negotiations aren't successful, according to the Teamsters union. Finally, the strike against Venezuela's President Chavez has lost a little of its momentum, but oil exports are far from returning to normal. The government has proposed a national referendum on Chavez as a way out of a mess that has paralyzed much of the country for weeks and largely shut down the state-owned oil industry.

Job cuts at WorldCom (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
WorldCom is bankrupt, and it's also getting smaller. The company's new head hopes to lead WorldCom out of bankruptcy this year, and hopes that cutting 5,000 jobs will help do the trick.

Record bankruptcies in Japan (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
Two-hundred-fourteen-thousand individuals declared bankruptcy last year.

Gender gap as Wal-Mart (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
According to a study conducted in relation to a discrimination suit, men and women with similar jobs have been paid differently during the past few years. Here's more from the Los Angeles Times.

Not to worry (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
As we've pointed out repeatedly, one can easily find economists with splendid credentials who either agree or disagree with the President's budget plans, so you can choose. In fact, you might be able to save some time by asking your neighbors or by flipping a coin. David Rosenbaum says the President doesn't appear to be concerned about increasing deficits, including a budget that will shrink federal revenues because of proposed tax cuts, among which are fast-track plans for encouraging savings. Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Tompor tells how you would be able to take advantage of the tax-saving benefits, even if retirement savings aren't foremost on your mind.

Incidentally, while some recent Republican presidents have talked about the importance of reducing government and getting it out of people's lives, it isn't what THIS Republican president has been saying. Moreover, Mr. Bush is not the president who said that the "era of big government is over" either. That was a very recent Democratic president named Clinton. Confused yet?

In addition to creating a huge new Cabinet-level department, the current President also listed a variety of new spending plans in his State of the Union message. Now, as Marcy Gordon reports from Washington, he wants $841 million for the Security and Exchange Commission, which would be a budget record for that agency.

Welcome to Russia. Now, get lost (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
Business Week's Paul Starobin feels that Russia may be arranging a disastrous situation for itself by encouraging and discouraging foreigners at the same time.

Therapeutic economics? (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
Economist Christopher Ruhm says his research indicates that an increased unemployment rate is associated with a decreased death rate, and he thinks he knows some of the reasons. Justin Pope has more from Boston about Ruhm's ideas and the associated controversy.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Children of a Lesser State (Tuesday, 2/4/03)
Children of a Lesser State is a 52-page paper written by University of Toronto law professor Ayelet Schachar on how differing conceptions of citizenship may help perpetuate inequality across nations, and is presented by the Jean Monnet Project at New York University's Law School.

Occupational hazards of space work (Monday, 2/3/03)
How dangerous is the work of an astronaut? Abraham McLaughlin and Mark Sappenfield of the Christian Science Monitor report that about four percent of the astronauts who have flown U.S. missions have been lost over the history of space flight, compared to a loss of one percent of timber cutters EACH YEAR. However, of the five space shuttles built for actual flights, as opposed to those built for training purposes, forty percent have been lost.

Nonetheless, in more than 100 manned flights, 14 astronauts have been lost so far, plus a fire on the ground claimed the lives of Apollo 1 astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee in January 1967. As painful as each loss is, given that space travel is so tremendously complicated and inherently hazardous, it's remarkable that there have not been far more casualties over its brief history. The astronauts, scientists, engineers, and technicians who have created the historic achievements of the past forty years or so have to be seen as some of the most amazingly competent and dedicated workers in the entire history of human endeavor.

Shuttle disaster not expected to impact heavily on the American economy (Monday, 2/3/03)
Jonathan Fuerbringer lists the many circumstances that have been weighing heavily on the U.S. economy and says that the destruction of space shuttle Columbia with the loss of its crew is the latest in a lot of bad news. However, consumer confidence or the financial markets should not be influenced greatly by the tragedy, he says. Linda Johnson reports from Trenton that some New Jersey physicians have decided to hold off on planned rallies to protest malpractice insurance costs because of the disaster.

Things may not be as grim as you expect during your late years (Monday, 2/3/03)
If you've been depending on your investments to help finance your retirement, you probably had difficulty even opening the envelopes that contained the year-end reports. Still, if you use the analytical tools available and engage in careful planning, your money may stretch further than you think, according to Jeff Brown. However, if you have a traditional pension, Kathy Kristof says there may be reason for alarm this year. Reason: the government may end the moratorium that has prevented corporations from converting "defined benefit" to "cash-balance" pensions. Also, you may or may not be concerned about the Bush administration's plans for changing retirement savings. The White House says that the changes would be empowering, but others say that they would hurt low and moderate-income people.

IRS upgrades put poor at a disadvantage, according to advocate (Monday, 2/3/03)
Janet Spragens says that people who cannot afford to have computers at home often end up paying more tax than legally required because it's easier to give up than to challenge incorrect audits.

Yes, there are postnuptial agreements (Monday, 2/3/03)
They aren't as common as the prenuptial agreements that have gotten so much publicity, but they do exist, and we're not talking about a negotiated divorce. Postnups are drawn up after the wedding when people still want to be married to each other. Here's more from Pamela Yip in the Indianapolis Star.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Berkeley Law & Economics Working Papers (Monday, 2/3/03)
Here's the Fall 2001 edition of the law and economics working papers from the John M. Olin Foundation Program in Law, Economics, and Institutions at the University of California Berkeley Law School.

Farmers in search of help (Sunday, 2/2/03)
Mexican farmers demonstrate in Mexico City, demanding that their government renegotiate NAFTA, while Iowa's politicians are scrambling to protect their state's farmers after a federal judge strikes down a state law that prevented meatpacking companies from owning livestock.

The economic impact of disaster (Sunday, 2/2/03)
While the entire nation mourns the loss of seven astronauts as a result of the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia yesterday, it may be a bad time to think about the economic impact of such events. Nonetheless, Florida's economy is much influenced by what happens to the space program, as Mike Branom reports from Titusville. Will yesterday's catastrophe result in the end of the U.S. space program or, at least, the end of manned flights? If yesterday was an average day, about 115 Americans lost their lives on U.S. highways. Does that mean that America should abolish the automobile?

More for the Internal Revenue Service (Sunday, 2/2/03)
The new Bush budget would give increased funding to the IRS. Here's more from Alan Fram in Washington.

Life on the wild supply side (Sunday, 2/2/03)
The President doesn't appear to be greatly worried about soaring deficits, but many people are. Martin Crutsinger writes from Washington about some of the anxieties of the experts.

Economics Nobel Laureate Paul Samuelson used to warn against the "fallacy of composition," meaning the assumption that what is true of the part is also true of the whole. Therefore, while deficit spending can be disastrous for a family's economy, it isn't necessarily a bad thing for the country as a whole.

But, wait a minute--wasn't it the Democrats who used to argue in favor of Keynesian fiscal policies and the Republicans who worried about unbalanced budgets, rather than the other way around? Rip Van Winkle wouldn't recognize the world if he were to wake up today. Or are we thinking about Alice in Wonderland? We sometimes confuse our children's stories.

How old is too old? (Sunday, 2/2/03)
American society adopted age 65 as a desired or "standard" retirement age during a time when many jobs involved physical activities that clearly favor younger people. However, knowledge workers don't have to do much heavy lifting. As a consequence, more people are hanging on into their seventies, eighties, or even nineties, or, at least, they're trying to. Patrick McGeehan examines the problems faced by older workers and employers alike in determining when it's really time to move on and make way.

Needed: more education, not more choices (Sunday, 2/2/03)
Donna Rosato reports that employers are offering more retirement investment choices, but may simply be confusing more workers. People have to go to school for a long time in order to become investment experts. Most individuals wouldn't want to have to make their own medical decisions either. Incidentally, along these lines, how do you feel about doing your own taxes? If you find your blood pressure rising as April 15 approaches each year, it might be a good idea to call in a professional tax doctor for help.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Long-Term Care Insurance (Sunday, 2/2/03)
Here's AARP's policy paper on Long-Term Care Insurance: An Assessment of States' Capacity to Review and Regulate Rates.

The President's radical savings plan (Saturday, 2/1/03)
The Bush administration is proposing legislation that would make major changes to retirement savings accounts and encourage savings generally. Here's more from Mary Williams Walsh of the New York Times. As additional evidence that not everyone in the Administration are exclusively preoccupied with the Iraq question, Robert Pear reports that the White House is proposing to change Medicaid in a way that would give the states a greater