1
World
U.S. Investigates Brothers From Ecuador With Ties to Campaigns
The fugitives have been investigated to determine whether any of the millions the men were accused of pilfering in their home country made it to the United States.
2
U.S.
New Mexico Is Reaping a Bounty in Pecans as Other States Struggle
Thanks to sophisticated irrigation systems and an arid climate that helps ward off crop disease, New Mexico farmers are enjoying a bumper crop and high prices.
3
Business Day
Cellphone Bans May Not Prevent Accidents
Bans on using cellphones in vehicles appear to cut usage as people change behavior to avoid fines. But that benefit may be offset by drivers who try to conceal phone use and drive erratically, an economist writes.
4
U.S.
Candidates’ Views on Drilling Begin With Glance Back
As Texas deals with a drilling boom that has brought a windfall to its coffers but has strained services and raised environmental concerns, governor candidates have concentrated on bite-size policy questions.
5
Opinion
Remembering How to Fight Measles
Outbreaks from New York to California chart the return of a vanquished disease.
6
U.S.
Air Force Fires 9 Officers in Scandal Over Cheating on Proficiency Tests
The officers were fired and their base commander resigned as the Air Force continued to deal with accusations that crew members shared answers on missile proficiency tests.
7
Technology
Video: Curved Screens: Worth It?
Molly Wood decides whether curved screens on new smartphones and TVs are worth the hype — and the money.
8
World
Nigerian Army Facing Questions as Death Toll Soars After Prison Attack
During a jailbreak, many of the fleeing detainees were killed when security forces opened fire, officials said, and the toll could rise to 1,000, making it one of the bloodiest days in the fight against Islamist insurgents.
9
World
A Price to Hong Kong’s Progress
An outdoor escalator is taking its toll on a neighborhood's traditional commercial ecosystem.
10
Business Day
F.D.A. Unveils Deal to Limit Antibiotic Use in Animal Feed
The agency said that 25 of the 26 companies that make the drugs for animal feed said they would remove the words “growth-promotion” from their labels.
11
12
Automobiles
James Bond Cars Take Up Residence at London Film Museum
Several Aston Martins, a couple of BMWs and even a jet pack are among the memorabilia on display through the end of 2014.
13
Business Day
With Start-Ups, Greeks Make Recovery Their Own Business
Some Greeks have stopped waiting for those in power to put the country back on its feet.
14
Opinion
In Africa, All Conservation Is Local
Farmers and herders must be enlisted in the fight against the poaching of protected animals.
15
World
Rising Seas
Some areas of the globe are especially vulnerable to rising sea levels and inhabitants are being forced to make stark changes in their lives.
16
U.S.
GTT ★
Our quirky, discerning picks for the most interesting things to do around Texas this week.
17
U.S.
Using Flags to Focus on Veteran Suicides
An event on the National Mall was part of an awareness campaign aimed at lowering the number of suicides among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
18
Opinion
Honoring the Unnamed Dead of AIDS on Hart Island
Melinda Hunt of the Hart Island Project responds to an Op-Ed article.
19
Opinion
Does Porn Hurt Children?
Research suggesting that teenagers and pornography are a hazardous mix is far from definitive.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_Reports
20
Business Day
Euro Zone’s Economy Is Still Ailing, but Improving
Assessing Europe’s economic comeback through car sales, employment and gross domestic product."The Skills Zombie
One of the
most frustrating aspects of economic debate since 2008 has been the
preference of influential people for stories about our troubles that
sound serious as opposed to those that actually are serious. The
reality, all along, has been that our economy is depressed because there
isn’t enough spending, and that what we need is something, almost
anything, that increases total spending. But policymakers and pundits
want to hear about tough decisions and hard choices, and they just
recoil from any suggestion that terrible problems might have easy
answers.
The most destructive example is, of course,
the deficit obsession that almost completely dominated establishment
thinking from late 2009 until very recently, and is still hanging on as a
source of bad analysis. Yes, many of the deficit scolds were simply
using debt panic as an excuse to dismantle social insurance programs.
But many fellow-travelers either sincerely believed that we had a fiscal
crisis or felt that it was important to sound as if they believed it,
because that was the kind of thing people who make tough decisions and
hard choices were expected to say.
As an aside, I think the same kind of policy
machismo was an important reason so many people who really, really
should have known better supported the Iraq war.
The deficit obsession has faded a bit; but we still have others. And this new EPI report
is a useful reminder of the extent to which another doctrine that
sounds serious retains a grip on discourse — namely, the notion that we
have big problems because our work force lacks essential skills.
This is very much a zombie doctrine — that
is, a doctrine that should be dead by now, having been repeatedly
refuted by evidence, but just keeps on shambling along. EPI presents
some very interesting evidence from a survey of manufacturing, but
they’re hardly the first to show that the data don’t at all support the
skills-shortage hypothesis. And it’s not just labor-associated think
tanks or progressives who have rejected the skill shortage story based
on the evidence. The Boston Consulting Group did its own study,and the only hints of a skills shortage it found were in unglamorous skilled blue-collar work:
By BCG’s definition, only five of the nation’s 50 largest manufacturing centers (Baton Rouge, Charlotte, Miami, San Antonio, and Wichita) appear to have significant or severe skills gaps. Occupations in shortest supply are welders, machinists, and industrial-machinery mechanics.
Some readers may recall that when we finally
had a really clear-cut example of a skill so much in demand that wages
were soaring, the skill was … operating a sewing machine.
And Eddie Lazear, very much a Republican, looked at the evidence and reached the same conclusion (pdf).
Yet the skills story just keeps showing up in
supposedly informed discussion. Again, I think that this is because it
sounds like the kind of thing serious people should say.
The sad truth is that while disasters brought
on by inadequate demand have an easy economic answer — just spend more!
— the psychology of policy elites is such that they generally refuse to
believe in this answer, and look for tough choices to make instead.
And the result is that unless something comes along to jolt them out of
that mindset — something like a war — the slump goes on for a very long
time."
No comments:
Post a Comment