Meeting’s Key Decision May Be to Keep Talking

WASHINGTON — Leaders from nearly two dozen countries, large and small, converged here Friday to take part in a financial summit meeting with an agenda as broad and complex as the crisis it is meant to stem.

Times Topics: Credit Crisis — The EssentialsWith the global economy slipping into its most serious downturn in decades, the Group of 20 seemed likely to agree on a few modest measures, according to a senior American official, including a commitment to have banking regulators coordinate their efforts more closely.


By MARK LANDLER and STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: November 14, 2008

The economics of disability and disability policy

The economics of disability and disability policy
Robert H. Haveman and Barbara L. Wolfe
Chapter 18 in Handbook of Health Economics, 2000, vol. 1, pp 995-1051 from Elsevier

Abstract: We discuss and critique the main lines of economic research that address the economic status and behavior of the working-age population of people with disabilities. We define this population as those with physical or mental limitations that impede their daily activities or their productivity on the job. Using this definition, we assess the prevalence, trend, and composition of the population of disabled working-aged people in the United States and other Western societies, and document the extent of market work among this population. Such market work contributes to the economic well-being of the working-age disabled, but for most of them, income from public transfers and from the earnings of other household members are crucial in determining the level of family economic well-being. Relative to the nondisabled, those with disabilities have substantially lower levels of economic well-being in spite of public income support programs. While public income support is important in sustaining the level of well-being of the disabled, these policies also have serious incentive effects, especially labor supply disincentives. We document these incentive effects in US policy, and review the research studies that estimate the response of disabled people to these incentives. In addition to income support policy, we also describe public policy toward disabled people associated with antidiscrimination legislation, rehabilitation and training programs, income support for poor disabled children, and public regulations and financial support for special education in schools. We conclude by comparing US disability policy with that in other Western industrialized countries and identifying research issues that are relevant to all societies with advanced policies toward working-age people with disabilities.

Lying and telling the truth

by Rosemary Haefner
Vice President of Human Resources
CareerBuilder.com
Ever get that sneaking suspicion one of your co-workers isn't being straight with you? Your instincts may be right.

Nineteen percent of workers admitted they tell lies at the office at least once a week, according to CareerBuilder.com's new "Honesty in the Workplace" survey. Fifteen percent of workers reported they were caught in a lie at the office.

When asked why they felt compelled to bend the truth at work, respondents cited the following reasons:


To appease a customer (26 percent)
To cover up a failed project, mistake or missed deadline (13 percent)
To explain an unexcused absence or late arrival (8 percent)
To protect another employee (8 percent)
To get another employee in trouble or look better in front of a supervisor (5 percent)
But be warned: Nearly one-in-four hiring managers -- 24 percent -- say they have fired an employee for being dishonest.

It may seem cliche, but honesty is the best policy. Even if you are motivated by the best of intentions, being deceitful can seriously compromise your credibility with colleagues and negatively impact your career progress. The vast majority of hiring managers -- 85 percent -- say they are less likely to promote an employee who has lied to them or other members of the organization.

The most common lies workers say they have told at the office include:


I don't know how that happened (20 percent)
I have another call to take or I'll call you right back (16 percent)
I've been out of town or out sick (10 percent)
I like your outfit or you look great (8 percent)
I didn't get your e-mail, voicemail or fax (8 percent)
Which ones have you used?

Survey Methodology:
CareerBuilder.com's survey, "Honesty in the Workplace," was conducted from November 15 to December 6, 2005. Methodology used to collect survey responses totaling more than 2,050 workers for this study involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members. These Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within +/- 2.16 percentage points (19 times out of 20). Note: the sample of 2,050+ included 1,000 hiring managers. The results for the hiring managers alone are accurate within +/- 3.09 percentage points (19 timesout of 20).

http://channels.netscape.com/careers/package.jsp?name=careers/pm/lyingworkers






Technorati tags: work,truth,lying

Job growth

U.S. payrolls jumped by 243,000 in February
Job growth was better than economists' forecasts

AP associated press..
Updated: 8:47 a.m. ET March 10, 2006

WASHINGTON - Hiring gained ground in February with employers adding 243,000 jobs, the most in three months. Brighter job prospects sent people streaming into the labor force, however, pushing the unemployment rate up marginally to 4.8 percent.

The employment report issued Friday by the Labor Department showed that job gains were fairly broad based. Construction companies, retailers, financial services all other industries posted payroll increases. That blunted job losses in manufacturing.

The unemployment rate inched up to 4.8 percent from a 4 1/2 year low of 4.7 percent in January. The bump-up in the jobless rate came as people — feeling better about job prospects — applied for work in droves.

story continues...

Economics and People with Disabilities

Economics and People with Disabilities

The American economy is growing, according to the most recent statistics, at the sizzling rate of seven percent, and is in the middle of the largest peacetime expansion in American history. We read in the newspapers that practically everyone who wants a job can get one. Microsoft is running advertisements in the New York Times practically begging Congress to issue more visas for foreign computer and information technology workers.
In this environment, it is shocking that one group of Americans, people with disabilities, have such a high level of unemployment: 30 percent are not employed -- the same percentage as when the Americans With Disabilities Act became law. Recent research has confirmed that the economic expansion of the 1990s has significantly boosted the incomes of most working-age men and women without disabilities. But men and women with disabilities have been left behind, and did not share in the economic growth of the 1990s. Not only did their employment and labor earnings fall during the recession of the early 1990s, but employment and earnings continued to fall during the long economic expansion that followed. Many of these people are skilled professionals who are highly marketable in today's economy.


read more...

GLOBAL STATISTICS

If you would like this post translated,
please contact the blog developer at edfern34[at]hotmail[dot]com


GLOBAL TEST MARKET
Nuevo Indice de Libertad Económica de la Heritage Foundation
Hong Kong y Singapur, las economías más libres del mundo
- España ocupa el puesto 33 en el ranking mundial de libertad económica
- Fuerte empeoramiento en los últimos años de Argentina y Venezuela
- Chile: la economía más libre en Latinoamérica
The Heritage Foundation ha hecho público recientemente el Indice de Libertad Económica 2006. Este estudio, que la fundación viene realizando desde hace años, valora y clasifica a los países en cuanto a su grado de libertad económica, considerando una serie de aspectos como la carga fiscal, la intervención del gobierno en la economía, las restricciones a las inversiones extranjeras, el peso de las regulaciones, la protección de los derechos de propiedad, el grado de corrupción, etc..
Hong Kong es la economía que obtiene el título de la más libre del mundo, seguida de otra economía asiática, Singapur.
En el cuadro adjunto se ha recogido la clasificación, y puntuación, de una serie de países significativos.
España ocupa el puesto 33, con una puntuación de 2,33 (1 es la mejor puntuación; 5, la peor).
La economía española mejora su puntuación en los dos años de gobierno del PSOE, pasando de 2,36 en 2004 a 2,33 en 2006.
Hong Kong, la economía más libre del mundo
El estudio alaba la política económica del gobierno del Partido Popular: "muchos años de crecimiento rápido, caracterizados por la creación de empleo, reformas estructurales y una política fiscal sólida constituyen buena parte del legado del ex Primer Ministro español, José María Aznar. Durante el Gobierno de Aznar, la economía de España creció a una tasa anual promedio del 3,6 por ciento entre 1996 y 2003, mientras que el desempleo se redujo a la mitad, del 22 por ciento hasta cerca del 11 por ciento."
Sin embargo, "el nuevo Gobierno socialista no ha deshecho los logros de Aznar. En cambio, se centró en tratar con la región vasca, en la reforma social y en reorientar la política exterior de España en una dirección más pro-francesa y pro-germana".
El aspecto peor valorado en España es el de carga fiscal, que recibe una puntuación de 4,3. La mayoría de los aspectos considerados reciben puntuación de 2,0.
Finalmente, y como en tantos otros estudios sobre la economía española, se destacan las rigideces del mercado laboral: "Un área clave que necesita reforma es el mercado laboral, que de acuerdo con la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE) es conocido por diferenciar marcadamente los trabajadores permanentes, que disfrutan de enormes beneficios, de los trabajadores temporales, que tienen poca estabilidad en el empleo".
Latinoamérica: Chile, una vez más, el líder destacado
En Latinoamérica no hay sorpresas: el primer puesto en cuanto a libertad económica lo ocupa Chile, el país que invariablemente ocupa la posición más favorable en la zona en todos los estudios económicos (sobre competitividad, corrupción, etc.) que se realizan.
El segundo puesto en Latinoamérica lo ocupa El Salvador, seguido de Costa Rica.
México figura en el puesto 60, con una tendencia a mejorar en los últimos años. Brasil figura en el puesto 81, registrando una sensible mejora en esta última edición (su puntuación global es de 3,08, frente a 3,20 en la edición de 2005). Según la fundación Heritage, por tanto, el gobierno de Lula no se ha traducido en un empeoramiento del grado de libertad económica, sino al contrario.
Argentina y Venezuela, sin embargo, ocupan puestos muy atrasados, y con una clara tendencia regresiva. Argentina figura en el puesto 107. Su puntuación cae de 2,28 en el año 2000 a 3,30 en 2006.
Venezuela, por su parte, ocupa uno de los últimos puestos de la tabla, el 152. Su puntuación ha pasado de 3,38 en el año 2000 a 4,16 en 2006.
Cuba ocupa también uno de los últimos puestos, el 150, pero su puntuación mejora en los últimos años.

Curso online sobre Negocios con China
Cerca de 20 alumnos ya siguen el curso online sobre Negocios con China, que Iberglobal ha lanzado en colaboración con China Consultants.
Planteado con una orientación práctica, y con un calendario abierto (se puede comenzar en cualquier momento, y el alumno lo realiza al ritmo que estima más oportuno), el curso ofrece las claves para trabajar en el mercado chino. Además, el curso ofrece una extensa documentación de gran utilidad, y la posibilidad de consultas con especialistas en este mercado. Más...


GLOBAL TEST MARKET

Another good PBS documentary...

This is a good summary of what was, became and is right now... PBS seems to be an unbiased source of information, so I give them credit for the story...

Episode 1
A global economy, energized by technological change and unprecedented flows of people and money, collapses in the wake of a terrorist attack .... The year is 1914.

Episode 2
As the 1980s begin and the Cold War grinds on, the existing world order appears firmly in place. Yet beneath the surface powerful currents are carving away at the economic foundations.

Episode 3
With communism discredited, more and more nations harness their fortunes to the global free-market. China, Southeast Asia, India, Eastern Europe, and Latin America all compete to attract the developed world's investment capital, and tariff barriers fall. In the United States Republican and Democratic administrations both embrace unfettered globalization over the objections of organized labor.

read the rest of the Episodes here


Technorati tags: economics,history,trends,PBS