July 2007

Should family leave be considered a worker right? (Sunday, 7/29/07)
Eyal Press starts with a hair-raising story, then discusses the more general issue of whether workers have a right to care for their families.

But, what happens in a globalized world in which American employers--and workers--must compete with workers in other countries who do not enjoy this sort of benefit? Will it further jeopardize American jobs? What's best for American families--jobs without these sorts of benefits or no jobs at all? The debate will continue, and we will be covering it.

Entrepreneurship IN college (Sunday, 7/29/07)
Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary tells about Randal Pinkett's new book, Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur's Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business. Mr. Pinkett isn't suggesting that people complete college before setting out to establish a business. It can be done while being a student, he says. Incidentally, Randal Pinkett also has been a winner on Donald Trump's television show, so, despite his young age, he's been busy and is highly successful in a variety of ways.

He points out that huge successes such as Facebook, Google, and Yahoo! were all started by students while they were still students. These are all Internet companies, of course.

However, also interesting is the experience of Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Computer Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of personal computers. Dell finally turned 40 in 2005, even though it seems as though he's been a business leader forever. Part of the reason is that he founded his company and started assembling and selling personal computers out of his dormitory room while still an undergraduate at the University of Texas in Austin. "In a large, complex organization, nobody really knows what you're doing," he was quoted as saying.

Stephen Jobs and Bill Gates finally turned 50 in 2005 as well. Jobs co-founded Apple Computer Corporation with Steve Wozniak when they were in their teens. A few years ago, after he was already rich and famous, Wozniak attended the University of California at Berkeley under an assumed name in order to complete his degree. Jobs attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon for a brief period before Apple, then dropped out without completing any college credits.

Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft and has been the richest individual in the world since he was in his 30s. He was a Harvard Student, but dropped out before completing his degree.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: China's Online Population Explosion (Sunday, 7/29/07)
You've probably heard a lot about the fact that China is the world's most populous country and has the world's fastest-growing economy. Maybe you've even heard that it will soon be the largest market for important consumer products, such as computers, television sets, and automobiles.

However, have you been following China's vast migration to the Internet? The lowly old copy machine is given at least part of the credit for the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Given the allergy that autocratic governments usually have to the free flow of information and ideas, the fact that vast numbers of people in China are making use of the Internet in various ways suggests that we can expect domestic political changes in that country and important geopolitical changes as a consequence.

Incidentally, during the past thirty years or so, China has been evolving from a totalitarian society to an autocratic one, but with Beijing's centralized government having an increasingly slippery grip on power across the country.

Totalitarian societies, as the name implies, are total. The vast number of social organizations of all types that energize democracies are ground into a fine particulate, leaving only the state. In a totalitarian society, the state dictates and controls citizen thoughts. The state is everything. In an autocratic society, the state controls citizen actions.

For instance, the Roman Empire was autocratic, but not totalitarian. So long as you paid your taxes and didn't try to overthrow the government, the state largely left you alone. It didn't much care what you thought, if you didn't try to organize. The Roman government attempted to stomp out early Christianity for some of the same reasons that the Chinese government has been trying to eliminate Phalon Gong. Both have seen these movements and their ability to organize individuals as potential threats to the central government.

The Philadelphia-based Pew Foundation has been studying China's relationship to the Internet and presents an important report: China's Online Population Explosion.

More evidence of global economic integration (Saturday, 7/28/07)
Among other things, "globalization" means increasing permeability or even the erosion of national boundaries, when it comes to economic activities such as investment, trade, and more. The long-term geopolitical implications may be profound.

Floyd Norris writes about how stock markets around the world are becoming interdependent as the U. S. market has its worst week in years.

Still, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said yesterday that the U. S. economy is moving toward more sustainable growth, but that investors should be alert to the implications of recent market volatility.

Can you stand more bad news from Iraq? (Saturday, 7/28/07)
William Branigin writes about recent testimony in Congress suggesting that foreigners working on the construction of the U. S. Embassy in Baghdad have been abused. Officials from the U. S. State Department disputed suggestions that conditions amounted to near-slavery.

Incidentally, maybe somebody can explain to us why the largest U. S. diplomatic mission in the world will be located in Baghdad. In BAGHDAD?

Why it's not easy to sue somebody in China (Saturday, 7/28/07)
One of the things that China and its economy desperately need is a modern legal system. The fact that the world's most populous country has the world's fastest-growing economy is a concern to many people in China as well as in the rest of the world.

For one thing, it's still mostly an anything-goes, wild-west kind of place, with an autocratic government that would be more autocratic if it could be, but centralized political authority has been slipping. Very local politics can be somewhat democratic now, much to the chagrin of many governmental authorities in Beijing who are worrying about whether the tens of thousands of protests each year will result in the dismemberment of a country finally unified by Mao nearly 60 years ago. Will China come apart before its economic boom benefits the vast multitudes in the Chinese countryside?

Xiyun Yang writes in the Washington Post about problems faced by liability lawyers when they set out to sue somebody in China who may be responsible for doing harm to people in their American markets.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: National Indian Gaming Commission (Friday, 7/27/07)
Are American Indian tribes really "sovereign nations?" Well, yes and no. Clearly, there are limitations, so the word "sovereign" isn't used in the same way in relation to Native Americans as it is internationally. An example of this difference is the National Indian Gaming Commission, a federal regulatory agency.

The basic problem: there are just too damned many people in the world and most of them want to live like the ones in the prosperous West (Thursday, 7/26/07)
Until very recently, throughout nearly all of modern humanity's experience on this planet, there has been nothing like the huge population presently living on Earth, and nothing like the standard of living enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people in privileged countries. No wonder there is an energy problem; no wonder there is a food problem; and no wonder there is a growing water problem.

In the United States, there has been increasing emphasis on the production of corn-based ethanol. This won't diminish America's contribution to the changing of Earth's climate, but it could reduce dependence on foreign energy sources. However, whatever the potential benefits of ethanol, they may come at a very high price.

Already, the increased production of corn for this purpose has increased the cost of corn-based food products and animal feed. If you have been concerned about having to pay more for a gallon of gasoline than for a gallon of milk, stay tuned--the market could permanently take care of that without decreasing the cost of gasoline.

At any rate, the shifting to corn production in order to produce energy has greatly increased food prices overall. Now there is concern that the vast corn fields are contributing to humidity levels, as well, and increased humidity makes high temperature levels even less bearable.

Of course, unlike fossil fuels, corn is a renewable resource; but ethanol, wind farms, and other sources of renewable energy, taken together, may be incapable of providing a viable solution. Sara Goudarzi explains in her story about research conducted by Jesse Ausubel, at New York's Rockefeller University.

As of yesterday, nearly two million Americans will have an extra $5.60 following an eight-hour shift--before taxes, that is (Wednesday, 7/25/07)
The federal minimum wage went up 70 cents per hour yesterday. Here's more from Jesse Holland in Washington.

What Turkey's latest election results mean (Tuesday, 7/24/07)
Scott Peterson says that the Islamic-based party's landslide victory means that the Turkish people are more concerned about their economy than about threats to their secular government. On the other hand, there was not a whole lot in the election results to make people in the West feel more secure, given the growing influence of Islam in the world's politics.

Shouldn't biz leaders be educated persons? (Monday, 7/23/07)
It seems widely assumed in the United States that universities are essentially higher-level trade schools. That is, why on Earth would anyone want to go to college except to advance their careers and make more money?

In general, so many people seem to forget that universities are EDUCATIONAL institutions; their primary purpose is to produce EDUCATED adults. Strangely, though, many people seem to think higher education is "practical" if it prepares people for the first job after graduation, but isn't if it prepares people for their entire adult lives.

The business school at Carnegie Mellon University is trying to present an educational service to undergraduates in its business program that will result in people who are not only effective in their work, but also educated.

Another kind of "great leap forward" in China (Saturday, 7/21/07)
Top Chinese government officials probably would claim that there would be no unified modern China without Mao, but that there could hardly be a greater difference between the "Cultural Revolution," say, and the economic policies that started about thirty years ago with Deng Xiaoping. Now, China intends to become one of the world's principal leaders in science and technology as well, according to Tetsu Kobayashi in Beijing.

Whoops--the Dow closes over 14,000 after all, but... (Friday, 7/20/07)
Like many other observers, we interpreted investor concern about Chairman Bernanke's remarks and the persistent problems of the American real estate sector as meaning that it would be sometime before the Dow Jones Average would close over 14,000, even though it passed that "magical" mark during trading Tuesday.

However, the Dow closed just barely above 14,000 Thursday, although it and other major indices have fallen back a good deal today, resulting in a net loss for the week.

Incidentally, if you correct for inflation--and what possible reason would anyone have for NOT correcting for inflation?--even 14,000 is nowhere near an all-time high for the Dow index, despite the big number. The historic high came seven yeares ago because of the dot.com bubble.

If you're among our older readers, you may remember when a full-course meal cost about 90 cents too, but that doesn't mean everything was less expensive during "the good old days." Inflation puffs up the numbers without increasing values, restaurant meals and stocks included.

What in hell is "neuroleadership?" (Friday, 7/20/07)
Well, it's an effort to determine if the brains of good leaders differ from those of other people. One of the most rapidly developing areas of research on human beings is neuroscience, and some business consultants and researchers are trying to examine leadership at the level of neurons and synapses between the ears.

Years ago, many people expressed surprise that Einstein's brain looked pretty much like everybody else's, on post-mortem examination. Apparently, they expected that it would appear different to the naked eye.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: World Monuments Watch (Saturday, 7/14/07)
People who have had Alzheimer's patients in their families knows how devastating memory loss can be. With respect to societies and cultures, it is not much different, particularly given that most people's beliefs about most things that they regard as important simply aren't justified by the facts as we can best know them.

The physical remains of the past are particularly important because they help us "test reality" and anchor our beliefs in something tangible, rather than surrendering entirely to "social construction." History is filled with examples of once very popular ideas that have had highly descructive consequences. WHAT we know depends entiely on HOW we know it.

So, should you care about these remains? Of course, and World Monuments Watch can tell you much more about why it all makes such a difference. In addition, their site lists the 100 most endangered sites around the world.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: JAMA Patient Page (Thursday, 7/12/07)
Most TV news reports on health issues seem to be based on articles published either in the New England Journal of Medicine or JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

TV journalists often remark on what appears to be uncertainty inherent in medical research: "If you don't like a study's results, just wait awhile and another one will come out with different conclusions." If they are confused and pass their confusion on to their TV audience, it might be helpful to know that medical researchers aren't so confused, because they know more about how science works and how medical research is conducted. It's one of the reasons that both print and broadcast journalists could benefit from a fuller understanding of what science IS, as well as how it works in medicine, as well as in other fields.

There are medical journals in addition to the two mentioned above, of course, and TV news reports don't necessarily provide a representative view even of research reported in these two. Moreover, you're always looking at medical developments through the eyes of a reporter or editor, misinterpretations and all. At the very least, the JAMA Patient Page allows you to obtain your information from this journal directly.

How to make it money-well-spent (Wednesday, 7/11/07)
In many corporations, CEO pay has hit astronomical levels during recent years. However, Hollywood's A-list stars have been getting guarantees as high as $20 million per picture for years, and Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees reportedly is paid $25 million each year for playing baseball. There hasn't been as much outcry about ball players or movie stars as about corporate CEOs, even though research shows that one of the most critical factors in the success or failure of a company is the person on top and in charge.

Are effective managers born or made? Surely, some people are inherently better at it than others, but executive development efforts can make a big difference, and Drs. Laurie Moret and Dee Gaeddert tell how you can get the most out of money invested toward those ends.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Avian Flu (Wednesday, 7/11/07)
Whatever happened to bird flu? Is it still a threat, even if you're not a bird? The World Health Organization thinks so, and is still worried about a possible pandemic across the world's human populations. The H5N1 virus is of principal concern, and is being tracked carefully. Here's the WHO Avian Influenza site.

What Atlanta's experience may portend for the rest of the country (Monday, 7/9/07)
Atlanta seems to be an anomaly in some ways. There is no doubt about its quality of life or the fact that many people want to live there. Nor, is there any doubt about its important role in national and international life. In fact, it now has America's busiest airport.

Howevver, despite the fact that it is located in the "deep South," it has one of the nation's largest populations of educated, affluent upper-middle-class African Americans. In fact, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice grew up in one of Atlanta's suburbs in one of its highly educated families.

Her first name is derived from the name of an Italian musical instrument, reflecting the family's long identification with classical music. In fact, Condoleezza aspired to becoming a concert pianist, and is still quite good at the piano. She may be the best pianist of any high government official in American history; but, then, that may be a little like be being the best potential Secretary of State among concert pianists. "I changed my mind when I met 16-year-olds who could sight-read and play pieces that I had been working on for a year," she has said.

Then, she took a course from Colorado Professor Josef Korbel who convinced her to make international relations her career. She's still only in her early 50s, but Dr. Rice was National Security Advisor before becoming Secretary of State, and she was Provost at Stanford University before that.

Incidentally, if you still like to think about a huge complex society's political dynamics in terms of partisan stereotypes and caricatures, it may be unsettling for you to learn that Josef Korbel--whom Dr. Rice has said has been one of the central figures in her life--was the father of a former Democratic Secretary of State, and the first woman to hold the role: Dr. Madeleine Albright.

However, more about Atlanta. Despite everything, this great Southern city also has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the United States. Here's more from Vikas Bajaj in the New York Times.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Carter Center (Monday, 7/9/07)
What do former presidents Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter have in common? Well, yes, both were trained as engineers, and, yes, both were defeated in their effort to be elected to a second term, but what else? Despite the fact that the former was a Republican and the latter is a Democrat, their presidencies have not been highly regarded by historians. Nonetheless, they may be the most successful FORMER presidents in American history.

Herbert Hoover had a major dam as well as a think tank on the campus of Stanford University named after him, as well as many schools. The best-known institution carrying Jimmy Carter's name is The Carter Center in Atlanta with its strong international orientation.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (Sunday, 7/8/07)
Physicist Max Planck was one of the originators of quantum theory, and is celebrated as an historically important thinker who helped change the world. In fact, there are dozens of Max Planck Institutes throughout Germany and some other countries. For instance, Nobel Prize recipient Werner Heisenberg worked at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin.

Incidentally, there is no doubt about Heisenberg's significance in the history of physics, but, even though he died in Munich in 1976, controversy about him continues to the present day. We do know that, unlike Einstein and others, he chose to remain in Germany during the Nazi period, but journalist Thomas Powers claims that he did so in order to prevent the Nazis from developing the atomic bomb. Others still regard Heisenberg as a Nazi enthusiast and collaborator.

Presently, though, Max Planck Institutes are not simply about research in the physical sciences. For instance, here is their Institute for the Study of Societies.

More manufacturing expected in the U. S. (Monday, 7/2/07)
It isn't that manufacturing has disappeared from the United States. Quite a lot is still produced in American factories. The problem has to do with manufacturing JOBS.

Tasks that really require labor, or that can be done with labor if it's inexpensive enough, have been sent to parts of the world where people are willing to work for a tiny fraction of what American workers feel they have to have in order to support life in the United States. On the other hand, many tasks that can be turned over the "steel collar workers"--i.e., robots--have stayed in the United States. It's highly-paid manufacturing jobs in the U. S. that are becoming harder to find.

At any rate, Candice Choi says that the manufacturing index from the Institute for Supply Management rose for the fifth month in a row.