| April 2006
Global Economic Growth |
Industries: Automobiles |
Banking | Pharmaceutical
Industry | Textile Industry |
Innovation: Biotechnology |
Space Research |
B2 - Saving for the 21st Century: Is America Saving Enough
to be Competitive in the Global Marketplace?
Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Long-Term Growth and Debt Reduction, April 6, 2006. Testimony by various experts. Various pagings.
The Senate Committee on Finance asked experts to testify on low
saving rates in the U.S. and discuss the implications for long-term
economic growth. National saving — the portion of a nation’s current
income not consumed — is the sum of saving by households, businesses,
and all levels of government. National saving represents resources
available for investment to replace old factories and equipment
and to buy more and better capital goods. Higher saving and investment
in a nation’s capital stock contribute to increased productivity
and stronger economic growth over the long term. Fulltext
B3 - Off-Shoring: An Elusive Phenomenon
National Academy of Public Administration, Report by the NAPA Panel for the U.S. Congress and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, January 2006, 164p.
”Off-shoring business operations is a difficult, elusive and exceedingly
complex phenomenon. It produces myriad and widespread economic
impacts, with U.S. employment and workers’ earnings being among
the most sensitive. Concerns about off-shoring are not new. For
decades they have been central to the debate over the benefits
and costs of economic growth and trade expansion. What distinguishes
off-shoring concerns today is the focus on the services sector,
particularly white collar, high-technology jobs previously considered
less vulnerable to migration overseas. Responding to recent studies
citing the need for better data on off-shoring, the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Science, State, Commerce and Justice asked the
Academy to conduct a comprehensive study of the extent and economic
effects of off-shoring. This is the first of several reports by
an Academy Panel formed to assess off-shoring, including the adequacy
of current data and their usefulness in ascertaining its extent
and economic effects.” Fulltext
B4 - A Cross-Country Study of Union Membership
Blanchflower, David G.
IZA (Institut zur Zukunft der Arbeit), Discussion Paper No. 2016, March 2006, 61p
"This paper examines changes in unionization that have occurred
over the last decade or so using individual level micro data on
twenty seven of the thirty OECD countries, with particular emphasis
on Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Micro-data
is also used to model union membership in a further eleven non-OECD
countries. Union density is found to be negatively correlated
with level of education in the private sector and positively correlated
in the public sector. The probability of being a union member
is found to follow an inverted U-shaped pattern in age, maximizing
in Canada, the USA and the UK in the mid to late 40s. This inverted
U-shaped pattern is repeated in a further thirty countries."
David G. Blanchflower is a Professor in the Department of Economics
at Dartmouth College and a Research Fellow, at IZA at the University
of Bonn. Fulltext
B5 - Unemployment Insurance: Factors Associated with
Benefit Receipt
General Accounting Office Report, GAO-06-341, March 7, 2006, 93p.
Unemployment Insurance (UI), established in 1935, is a complex
system of 53 state programs that in fiscal year 2004 provided
$41.3 billion in temporary cash benefits to 8.8 million eligible
workers who had become unemployed through no fault of their own.
Using data from a nationally representative sample of workers
born between 1957 and 1964 and spanning the years 1979 through
2002, and information on state UI eligibility rules, GAO used
multivariate statistical techniques to identify the key factors
associated with UI benefit receipt and unemployment duration."
Fulltext
B6 - The Economic Impact of Local Living Wages
Thompson, Jeff & Chapman, Jeff
Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper #170, February 16, 2006, 25p.
"The modern living wage movement was born in Baltimore in
1994, when the city passed an ordinance requiring firms to pay
employees a rate above the minimum wage while working on city
contracts. Since then, over 120 communities have followed suit,
some setting wage floors more than twice the federal minimum wage,
and some requiring various benefits. The astounding growth of
the living wage movement has been a response to the predicament
of Americans who work but are unable to make ends meet, as well
as to the public policies contributing to the problem. Thus far,
the most reliable research on living wages suggests that the impact
is modest. Given these results, prospective studies would do best
to acknowledge that offsetting factors and modest costs for employers
result in only limited job losses from a living wage policy. Ignoring
the importance of offsetting factors will result in extreme overestimates
of costs and job losses under a living wage policy. Jeff Chapman
is an economist and policy analyst with the Economic Policy Institute.
Fulltext
B7 - Trade Deficits and Manufacturing Job Loss – Correlation
and Causality
Bivens, L. Josh
Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper #171, March 14, 2006, 9p.
"The relationship between trade deficits in manufactured
goods and manufacturing employment seems obvious: imports decrease
labor demand in manufacturing while exports spur this demand.
A rising trade deficit means, all else equal, that labor demand
in U.S. manufacturing is reduced. The importance of the simple
relationship between trade deficits and employment in manufacturing
is occasionally challenged. Two such challenges have recently
garnered some press attention. This EPI analysis aims to once
again clarify the relationship between trade deficits and employment
in manufacturing, and reliably assess the importance of this relationship
in explaining the U.S. manufacturing employment crisis."
L. Josh Bivens holds a PhD in Economics and works at the Economic
Policy Institute in the areas of macroeconomics and globalization.
Fulltext
B8 - Best Performing Cities 2005: Where America's Jobs Are Created
and Sustained
Ross DeVol, Lorna Wallace and Armen Bedroussian
Milken Institute Research Report, February 2006, 37p.
The report "ranks 379 U.S. metropolitan areas based on their
economic performance and their ability to create, as well as keep,
the greatest number of jobs in the nation." It includes large
metropolitan area and small cities rankings back to 2003 and the
full text of the 2005 report.The Milken Institute is an independent
economic think tank. Ross DeVol is Director of Regional Economics.
Lorna H. Wallace is a Research Fellow in Regional Economics. Armen
Bedroussian is a senior Research Analyst with the Milken Institute.
Fulltext
Industries
Automobiles
B9 - The Good News About America’s Auto Industry
Welch, David; Foust, Dean
Business Week, February 13, 2006, #3971, pp32-35
The automobile industry is experiencing a slow-down in Detroit
but it is humming especially in the sunbelt. “Even as Ford and
GM cut production last year, North American plants built 15.8
million cars and trucks, the same as in 2004. That happened thanks
to foreign carmakers producing 4.9 million vehicles, an increase
of 500,000 from 2004. Overall production is expected to rise to
16.8 million by 2009, when an estimated 5.8 million vehicles will
roll off foreign-owned assembly lines. Looking back, car and truck
production in the U.S. has nearly doubled since Detroit's heyday
in the early 1960s.” This article provides more details about
the geographic move of the automobile industry. David Welch
is Business Week correspondent in Detroit. Dean Foust holds the
same post in Atlanta. Fulltext
B10 - The Struggle for Clean Transportation
Heckeroth, Steve
Automobile Industries, February 2006, online edition
This article explores some of the history of zero emission vehicles
(ZEVs) and the barriers to their widespread use. The author points
to existing technologies to clean the air, stabilize the climate
and maintain the standard of living all at the same time naming
the “overwhelming advantages of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery
electric vehicles (EV). EVs are zero emission and can be charged
from zero emission renewable energy sources like the sun and wind.
By adding more batteries to hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) plug-in
hybrids (PHEV) can be built which offer the range of gas vehicles
(400 Mi.) with the environmental benefits of electric vehicles
for short trips.” Steve Heckeroth has worked as a Solar Designer
for 30 years and is trying to find alternatives to fossil fuel
use. Fulltext
BANKING
B11 - Banking on the Web: Risky Business?
Kandra, Anne
PC World, March 2006, v24, #3, pp33-35
"Kandra discusses the risks of online banking and how to
make one's transactions safe and secure. While online banking
is clearly gaining in popularity--eMarketer estimates 40 million
US households will bank online in 2006, with 5 million more coming
on board each year thereafter--it's easy to see why folks might
think twice. Every day brings reports about hacker attacks, customer-information
thefts, and other security breaches." Fulltext
B12 - Raising Red Flags
Hochgraf, Lisa
Credit Union Management, April 2006, v29, #4, pp14-18
"Abstract: The article discusses concerns related to the trend toward the conversion of credit unions into bank charters. Changing to a mutual bank involves change in ownership structure and there is the question of whether members or boards really know if the conversion will provide the best possible return on members' investment. There is also the tendency to think that capital is being exploited when conversion can be approved by 50 percent of voting members and when board members can be paid after the conversion." Lisa Hochgraf works on the Marketing and Operations sections of Credit Union Management. She focuses on lending, customer relationship management, delivery system and electronic marketing. Order Article
PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
B13 - The Drug Pushers
Elliott, Carl
The Atlantic Monthly, April 2006, v297, #3, pp82-93
As America turns its health-care system over to the market, pharmaceutical
reps are wielding more and more influence – and the line between
them and doctors is beginning to blur. "Drug reps have been
calling on doctors since the mid-nineteenth century, but during
the past decade or so their numbers have increased dramatically.
From 1996 to 2001 the pharmaceutical sales force in America doubled,
to a total of 90,000 reps. One reason is simple: good reps move
product." This anecdotic article examines the changing relationship
between doctors and pharmaceutical reps as increasingly more doctors
work as speakers and salespeople for the pharmaceutical industry.
Carl Elliott teaches at the Center for Bioethics at the University
of Minnesota. Fulltext
TEXTILE INDUSTRY
B14 - The World Bids Farewell to the Multifiber Arrangement
MacDonald, Stephen
Amber Waves, February 2006, v4, #1, pp20-25
The author notes that clothing is one of life's necessities --
and as such, a new trade policy that lowers clothing prices affects
everyone. Such a change took place in early 2005, as the U.S.,
Canada, and the European Union discontinued most of their limits
on the imports of yarn, fabric, and clothing from developing countries.
Under the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA), signed in 1974, trade
in textiles, primarily yarn and fabric, and clothing was managed
through quotas. But, January 1, 2005, marked the end of a ten-year
phase-out of the MFA quotas under the direction of the World Trade
Organization. Most economists analyzing the MFA agree that free
trade in textiles and clothing will mean significantly larger
exports by China, India and Pakistan, while higher income exporters
like Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong will export less. The same is
true of countries with preferential access to the U.S. and EU
markets. Stephen MacDonald is with the Economic Research Service
at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Fulltext
BIOTECHNOLOGY
B15 - Agricultural Biotechnology: The U.S.- EU Dispute
Hanrahan, Charles E.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report for Congress, March 10, 2006, 6p.
"In May 2003, the United States, Canada, and Argentina challenged
in World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement the European
Union’s (EU’s) de factomoratorium on biotechnology product approvals
in place since 1998. Although the EU effectively lifted the moratorium
in May 2004 by approving a genetically engineered (GE) corn variety,
the three complainants pursued the case, in part because a number
of EU member states continue to block approved biotech products.
The moratorium reportedly cost U.S. corn growers some $300 million
in exports to the EU annually. The EU moratorium, U.S. officials
also contend, threatened other agricultural exports not only to
the EU, but also to other parts of the world where the EU approach
to regulating agricultural biotechnology is taking hold. … On
February 7, 2006, the WTO dispute panel, in its interim confidential
report, ruled that a moratorium had existed, that bans on EU-approved
GE crops in six EU member countries violated WTO rules, and that
the EU failed to ensure that its approval procedures were conducted
without ‘undue delay.’ Other claims by the United States were
rejected.” Charles Hanrahan is Senior Specialist in Agricultural
Policy. Resources, Science, and Industry Division, Congressional
Research Service. Fulltext
B16 - Why GM is Good For Us; Genetically Modified Foods
May Be Greener Than Organic Ones
Silver, Lee
Newsweek, International Edition, March 20, 2006
"Organic farmers have always boasted that their approach
is naturally better for the environment than so-called conventional
farming, writes Silver. This is false, he says. Genetic modification
(GM), he explains, could help solve many environmental and health
problems. Examples: GM pigs would reduce the phosphorous pollution
problem currently plaguing countries with widespread dependence
on pig farming. More efficient crops produced with GM seeds would
free up more land to return to the native ecosystem. Organic farmers
use "natural" pesticides that are actually more dangerous
to human health than modern "conventional" pesticides
-- which have been carefully designed to dissipate so quickly
they pose miniscule health risk to consumers. Despite these examples
and many more potential benefits, he notes, it is unlikely many
GM improvements will come to pass because of ingrained false beliefs
about GM foods -- unless significant demands for alternatives
are made. Lee Silver is Professor of Molecular Biology and
Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
Fulltext
SPACE RESEARCH
B17 - Who Knows What Dangers Lurk In Space?
Garget, Jacqueline
Astronomy, March 2006, v34, #3, pp64-69
"The article focuses on the dangers of radiation exposure
that manned space exploration poses. Solar wind and galactic cosmic
rays bombard the solar system with radiation that can harm equipment
and be lethal to astronauts. The prevention measures that can
be taken to reduce the dose of radiation withstood by astronauts
to acceptable levels are explored." Jacqueline Garget
is Editor for astronomy and space sciences at Cambridge University
Press. Fulltext
|
