For more than a decade, NewWork News has surveyed the world's news having to do with life and work in the revolutionary new world economy. Over all these years, we have not made a significant effort to distinguish between straight reporting and editorial comment.

Written by Gary Johnson, NewWork News each day is more like a newspaper or magazine column than a newspaper's front page. However, nearly every item is linked to at least one original story from somebody else's "front page" so as to enable our readers easily to examine the original story without deliberate interpretation or commentary.

Some NewWork News items are highly analytical. Several of these have been gathered together for presentation below. All have been written by Gary Johnson.

It's clear now: we can't officially declare yet that we're in a recession (Wednesday, 4/30/08)
By definition, a "recession" means that the American economy has had two consecutive quarters of "negative growth." An odd result is that recessions can be identified only after they have occurred. Even if the economy is shrinking this quarter, it will have to shrink during the third quarter as well. It will be October before we can say that we're presently in a recession, even if we're in one. Er, how's that again?

Why the delay? Because it's has now been determined that the economy still grew--although only barely--during the first three months of 2008. Still, as Glenn Somerville reports first-quarter growth was stronger than many had forecast.

Microsoft wants to retain Yahoo! employees, or, at least, some of them (Wednesday, 4/30/08)
If Microsoft really is able to conduct a hostile takeover of Yahoo!, it will be a hollow acquisition if Yahoo!'s most creative people have left the company by the time a merger is finalized. Like most leading hi-tech companies, its most important assets are human.

According to court documents that have come to light, Microsoft isn't planning more layoffs.

Degree vs. "degree equivalent" (Wednesday, 4/30/08)
Many people, when asked to list the three greatest presidents in American history, will list Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt, often in that order. Of the three, only Roosevelt completed elementary school.

Lincoln, who was tremendously sophisticated and one of the best writers in English-language history, completed about a year and a half of formal education--such as it was at the time--so he was almost entirely self-educated. There's no convincing evidence that George Washington ever went to school AT ALL.

Nonetheless, we've reached a point now when you can toss a brick in nearly any direction and hit somebody with multiple postgraduate degrees. How on Earth did this happen, and what does it really mean?

For one thing, since about the end of World War II, many American employers, in the hiring process, have abrogated responsibility for determining who is a qualified worker and who is not, while attempting to leave those decisions to universities. In the process, they've encouraged the public to think of higher education institutions mostly as places where people prepare for work or career, rather than as EDUCATIONAL institutions.

However, Joe Turner says that it is still possible to land the job you want, even if you don't have a "degree."

Americans try to slim down (Tuesday, 4/29/08)
There is an obesity epidemic in the United States, but this story has to do with financial slimming. Individual Americans as well as many financial institutions have been heavily burdened by debt, having to pay out a lot on a continuing basis just to rent somebody else's money.

Americans have never saved much, but maybe the long period of spending borrowed money may be ending. A problem is that consumer spending accounts for more than 2/3 of the American economy.

Some of the kidnappings are "virtual," even though the fear is still real (Tuesday, 4/29/08)
It's not a good time to look prosperous while working or traveling in poor countries where kidnapping for profit has become a major industry. It's not that the poor people in these countries will benefit from the payoffs, but you're more likely to stand out in poverty-stricken regions than in countries where you are surrounded by other affluent persons like yourself.

Poor countries tend to have an underdeveloped middle-class. Instead, there are a few rich and vast multitudes of poor, so it's not a good time to be an affluent local national either.

Marc Lacey reports from Mexico City that widespread fear makes possible "kidnappings" that are not real, but which can be highly profitable anyway for the criminals.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival (Tuesday, 4/29/08)
We've commented a number of times about how, when political candidates pander to some voters in the population by proclaiming that "America is the greatest country in the world," they make themselves sound like boastful drunks.

How does this sort of thing sound to Canadians, or Australians, or the Swiss, or the English, or any number of other people around the world? Why do many Americans feel the need to shout that their country is "the best?"

Maybe this tendency flows from the same places as proclaiming the winners of a fairly local athletic tournament as "world champions." A few months ago, David Letterman, when talking about the new "Miss Universe," said that most winners seem to come from Earth. It all brings to mind Shakespeare's remark about "protesting too much."

One among many things on which the U. S. certainly is NOT "the greatest" is infant mortality. Several of the world's countries lose far fewer of the their children during infancy. Here's the World Health Organization's 2008 report tracking progress in maternal, newborn and child survival.

Buffett expects greater severity (Monday, 4/28/08)
Despite what Jonathan Stempel says in his article, Warren Buffett may or may not be the richest individual in the world. Bill Gates was the world's richest for 15 years or more, but it may be that Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim has passed both Gates and Buffett, even though it's unlikely that either of the latter will ever require public assistance.

At any rate, when the "Oracle of Omaha" speaks, people tend to pay attention, and Warren is saying that the recession he believes the American economy already is in will be more severe than many persons expect.

Incidentally, Warren Buffett is in the news a lot today because he has made a deal to help Mars buy Wrigley for enough to attract the attention even of people for whom a billion dollars is pocket change.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Center for Academic Integrity (Monday, 4/28/08)
Those periodic surveys of high school students showing that most of those sampled can't locate the U. S. on a world map or believe that the Civil War occurred within the lives of their parents are amusing, because they imply that this sort of ignorance applies only to current high school students.

However, other surveys show a similar level of misinformation among older Americans, and we have no good reason to believe that things have gotten worse over the past century or two. Are present-day Americans really more ignorant of their world or country or, for that matter, of themselves, than Americans during the 18th or 19th centuries when only a fairly small percentage of the population could read?

Similarly, in recent years, there has been a lot of concern on the part of academics with business ethics, implying that ethical issues are more germane among corporate people than in the general population, or, for that matter, among academics themselves.

The Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University attempts to shine a bright light on education itself at all levels.

The Beijing government attempts to lift its stock markets off life-support (Saturday, 4/26/08)
For a time, people who have invested in China's equities markets felt as though they had made a lot of money. However, recently, the Chinese stock markets have given new meaning to the old thing about "easy come, easy go." Jodi Xu writes for Time magazine from Beijing about Chinese government efforts to draw investors back into their markets.

Meanwhile, U. S. markets may be dominated by somewhat more savvy or, at least, experienced investors. Joe Bel Bruno reports from New York that American investors have been trying to make intelligence guesses about consumer spending from looking at corporate earnings.

Speaking of consumers, the University of Michigan's widely-watched index of consumer confidence has reached its lowest level in more than a quarter century. Burton Frierson tells how both consumers and American companies are sending out recession warnings.

What? You mean I'm actually going to have to be able to DO something? (Saturday, 4/26/08)
Youthful enthusiasm, compassion, a willingness to be comforting--none of these will be enough if Peace Corps volunteers really want to be helpful. Nicholas Benequista reports from Ethiopia that local authorities have been communicating what it will take to make a difference for their HIV/AIDS infected citizens, but they've been doing in delicately. It's because of all that old stuff about looking a gift horse in the mouth, and so on.

Nonetheless, highly-skilled Americans are going to be needed overseas as much as they will be needed in the domestic U. S. economy. Unfortunately, like many other regions of the world, the United States is likely to have an abundance of poorly skilled people in the new global economy.

What ex-cons with lots of biz experience may be able to teach business students (Saturday, 4/26/08)
The human species is odd in a number of ways. For instance, while some members of it are trying to live opulent lives or accumulate as much wealth as possible, even to the point of engaging in illegal activities to do it, other members are working to use whatever they have to assist those in need.

More of the first group may be attracted to business school than of the latter. At least, that's what some business schools with new ethics programs seem to think. BusinessWeek's Jane Porter tells how ex-cons are being paid a lot of money to tell their stories to MBA students.

Big producer, big market, BIG country (Sunday, 4/20/08)
If your image of China still is one of people riding bicycles as far as your eyes can see, you're several years out of date--at least in the country's major cities and in other prosperous regions. The multitudes of affluent Chinese with automobiles now are causing huge traffic jams and world-class air pollution problems.

China now has the fourth largest economy in the world, and it's possible that they've already displaced Germany, which has had the third largest for years, behind the U. S. and Japan, respectively. China has several times as many people as either the United States or all of Western Europe's countries put together. About 300 million of 1.4 billion Chinese have been participating in or benefitting from China's economic boom, but it's useful to keep in mind that the American population is about 300 million altogether.

Before long, you can expect China to be one of the world's leading producers of automobiles for drivers all over the globe, but also for their own domestic market, which is growing larger and more influential by the day. Joe McDonaldhas more from Beijing. Fang Yan and Chang-Ran Kim also write from Beijing about China's booming appetite for cars as well as the West's problems.

General Motors' CEO is in Beijing too, where he has had some remarks about the strike at GM's critical plant near Lansing, Michigan.

What's going on in Beijing? It's the big auto show, and the presence of Rick Wagoner itself offers testimony to how important China has become to the world's auto industry as a whole.

Incidentally, anti-Western protests have been going on in several of China's cities in response to pro-Tibetan demonstrations at several locations along the way, as the Olympic torch relay has continued. It appears that China's state-run media have been trying to dampen the protests, but things often aren't as they might first appear in China. Despite growing decentralization in the country because of its historic economic boom, not too much happens politically in China that the government in Beijing doesn't influence.

We don't know either, but it's not beyond possibility that the Beijing government has had a hand in the protests all along. Moreover, China has gotten increasingly bold in relation to the West, including the United States, which owes this huge autocratic government a LOT of money. How do you say "go to hell" in Mandarin?

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: World Press Freedom Committee (Saturday, 4/19/08)
Not all governments in the world recognize the press as a quasi-independent institution whose job it is to describe events accurately and publicly, whatever the political fallout might be. For instance, American reporters don't take the First Amendment with them when they work overseas, and the job of journalist has gotten to be very dangerous. The World Press Freedom Committee examines safety issues as well as press freedom around the world.

The winners and the losers and the losers (Friday, 4/18/08)
Citigroup is cutting 9,000 jobs as big losses may be making many of the company's stockholders wish they owned stock in Google instead. Citigroup's problems seem to relate most to current crises, while politics in Pennsylvania may be determined most by economic changes relating to the long-term loss of manufacturing jobs.

Incidentally, one of the new dirty words appears to be "elitism." It could be that campaign advisors for all three major presidential candidates are missing the boat on this one. Despite what highly educated, affluent people from other regions might believe to be true about economically stressed people in the "old industrial Midwest," many might not be all that opposed to so-called "elitism" after all. For instance, rather than resenting the privileged, many of the voters in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio probably wouldn't mind if their children could attend Harvard, make a lot of money, or otherwise become a member of one of the "elites."

Nobody likes to be "looked down on," of course, and anyone who feels that these people are somehow second-class have it all wrong. Moreover, most probably realize that if anyone is feeling condescending toward Americans in rural regions or America's small towns, it is the "condescender's" problem, not that of the "condescendee." America's privileged, including most of the people who advise major political candidates, can be isolated and provincial in their own very special ways. Privilege can and often does distort perceptions of many things, including other people.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Taking Back Our Fiscal Future (Friday, 4/18/08)
We've suggested for a long time that words like "liberal" and "conservative" really are like Rorschach Ink Blots. Ideologies and the political polarization of recent years have relied on stereotypes and caricatures, which, by definition, are distortions of reality. Moreover, both major political parties in the United States have undergone almost continuous evolution over the past 150 years or so, and we have no reason to assume that the Republican and Democratic parties will remain as some perceive them to be at this point.

Instead of bogus terms such as "liberal" and "conservative," it's probably better to distinguish people as either "smart and well-informed" vs. not so much. There are numerous examples of smart, well-informed political leaders from both major parties working closely together, but conflict is more likely to get into the news. As P. T. Barnum said, "If you want to draw a crowd, start a fight."

Taking Back Our Fiscal Future is a product of cooperation between The Brookings Institution and The Heritage Foundation. Light at the end of the tunnel? (Wednesday, 4/16/08)
We can only hope that it isn't a locomotive coming toward us. Joe Bel Bruno writes from New York that new results have some experts hoping that the beginning of the end of the credit crisis is within sight.

Peter Drucker's long, long shadow (Monday, 4/14/08)
The great Peter Drucker, who died nearly 2 1/2 years ago a few days short of 96, invented modern management, as well as management consulting. He also seemed to have a about a 40-year-old mind most of his adult life, and continued his creative work until shortly before his death. Among other things, he helped a major league baseball team move from being a punch line to a World Series contender. Here's more from Rick Wartzman of BusinessWeek.

Finance officials lock the barn door (Friday, 4/11/08)
"Now that the horse is gone, we're going to keep that barn door locked from now on."

Jeannine Aversa reports that finance ministers from the richest countries have been working on a plan to prevent another crisis such as the one presently affecting the U. S. and several other major economies.

Meanwhile, Leigh Phillips reports that the European Central Bank, while leaving interest rates alone, regards the economic fundamentals of the eurozone to be sound.

The latest from Greenspan (Tuesday, 4/8/08)
Many people were able to move from birth to near-adulthood while Alan Greenspan was Chairman of the Federal Reserve. For many years, he seemed to be a favorite of both Republicans and Democrats, but the current credit crunch has brought a lot of critics out into the open. However, Dr. Greenspan feels that he's been blamed unfairly and has no regrets about his previous decisions.

Meanwhile, Scott Lanman and Lily Nonomiya of Bloomberg News write that the former Fed Chairman believes that price stability may return to the U. S. housing market sometime later this year.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Life-Expectancy: Countries Compared (Saturday, 4/5/08)
It appears that men live longest, on average, if they are born in Iceland, and, we presume, continue to spend their lives there. Okay, no jokes now about how their lives only SEEM longer if they live in Iceland.

It is true: Iceland tops the list of countries on life-expectancy, at least for men. The United States is dismally low on the list along with countries such as Slovenia, even though the U. S. spends far more per capita on health coverage than other industrial countries.

Another study finds that the United States ranks lowest among a group of industrialized countries in preventable deaths.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: National Register of Historic Places (Thursday, 4/3/08)
As we've pointed out numerous times, there may be few things more devastating than major memory loss, as anyone with an Alzheimer's patient in the family knows. Moreover, a society also can lose touch with its past, and that can be devastating too, even though, societies tend to make up a past if they have fewer things to help them remember the real one. Myths can abound, and each new generation can be taught the strangest things which aren't true.

Maintaining physical artifacts can help people stay in touch with their past and maintain an accurate historical context. Tangible things and places that people can touch or experience directly provide solid "anchors" for belief, and can moderate the creation of myth.

Along these lines, there is nothing else quite like National Register of Historic Places, which is maintained by the National Park Service.