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Jobs Crisis March

Are you concerned about the crisis of jobs? If so, join Interfaith Worker Justice at the One Nation Working Together rally in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October 2.

The rally, at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall from noon to 4 p.m., will have terrific speakers, music and informational tables. Four hours is not too long to make a stand for jobs. Please bring your friends and family. The turnout for the rally will demonstrate the extent of concern about the unemployment crisis. The bigger the turnout, the louder message, which will mean more media coverage and greater political impact.

If you want to meet up before the rally and go together, meet at IWJ’s Capitol Hill townhouse at 404 4th Street, NE at 11 a.m. After the rally, plan on stopping by the townhouse around 4:30 p.m. for some snacks and fellowship. Again, the address is 404 4th Street, NE – a short walk up Massachusetts Avenue from Union Station.

Perspective, Political, ,

Government Employees Compensation Lower

State and Local Government Compensation Lower Than Private Sector Pay, Report Says

State and local government employees are compensated by an average of 3.75 percent less than private sector workers when education and other factors are taken into account, with a public employee compensation “penalty” of 7.55 percent for state government employees and 1.84 percent for local government employees, according to a study released Sept. 15 by the Economic Policy Institute.

“Comparisons controlling for education, experience, hours of work, organizational size, gender, race, ethnicity and disability, reveal no significant overpayment but a slight undercompensation of public employees when compared to private employee compensation costs on a per hour basis,” according to the report titled “Debunking the Myth of the Overcompensated Public Employee: the Evidence.” EPI, a Washington-based nonprofit, describes its mission as seeking to “broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers.”

Creating an accurate comparison is important, EPI said, because 37 states are struggling with substantial budget deficits and governors in several of those states—including Indiana, Minnesota, and New Jersey—have identified excessive public employee compensation as a major cause of their state’s fiscal woes.

Differing Education Levels a Factor

Part of the perceived pay gap in favor of state and local employees is due to differing education levels, the report said.
On average, it said, state and local public sector employees are more highly educated than private sector employees, with 54 percent of full-time public employees holding at least a four-year degree, compared to 35 percent of full-time private sector employees. However, state and local governments pay college-educated employees on average 25 percent less than private employers, with the greatest differential for professional employees, lawyers, and doctors, the report said.

At the same time, it said, the public sector also “appears to set a floor on compensation,” compensating state and local government employees with high school educations better on average than their peers in the private sector. “This result is due in part because the earnings floor has collapsed in the private sector,” the report said.

The report focused on education levels rather than job categories in comparing compensation, explaining that it is too difficult to compare job categories due to differences in private and public sector jobs.

“Even private and public teaching is significantly different. Public schools accept all students, while private schools are sometimes highly selective and may exclude or remove any poor performers, special needs, or disruptive students. Consequently, comparing workers of similar ‘human capital’ or personal productive characteristics and labor market skills is considered the best alternative, and well accepted by labor economists,” the report said.

Better Benefits, Less Pay in Public Sector

Compared to private sector employees, state and local government employees receive a higher portion of their compensation in the form of employer-provided benefits, and the mix of benefits is different than in the private sector, the report found.

Among other benefits, state and local employees’ health insurance and retirement benefits are more generous on average than what is found in the private sector. However, public employees on average receive less supplemental pay and vacation time, the report said.

“Some benefits are more generous in the public sector, but it is a serious error to imagine that comparability requires that each and every element of compensation is the same. What is important when considering both the employer-provided benefits and direct pay is whether state and local government workers have a total compensation package that costs what they would receive if employed in the private sector,” the report said.

The report, written for EPI by Jeffrey Keefe, an associate professor of labor and employment relations at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations, relied on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The sample size for earnings estimates was 44,280 total observations and 8,737 public employee observations, according to the report.

Christian Witness, PNCC, , , ,

Immigrants Expand Productivity

From the Federal Reserve Bank, San Francisco: Fed Says Immigrants Expand Productivity; No Evidence of Harm to Native Opportunities

SAN FRANCISCO—Data show that immigrants expand the U.S. economy by stimulating investment and improving worker efficiency and income but not at U.S.-born workers’ expense, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Aug. 30.

Giovanni Peri, an associate professor at the University of California at Davis and a visiting scholar at the San Francisco bank, summarized his recent research to conclude that immigration has positive financial effects for U.S.-born workers.

Data show that, on net, “immigrants expand the U.S. economy’s productive capacity, stimulate investment, and promote specialization that in the long run boosts productivity. Consistent with previous research, there is no evidence that these effects take place at the expense of jobs for workers born in the United States,’’ Peri said.

He added that there “is no evidence that immigrants crowd out U.S.-born workers in either the short or long run. Data on U.S.-born worker employment imply small effects, with estimates never statistically different from zero. The impact on hours per worker is similar.’’

Immigration Associated With Income Rise

Over the long run, Peri wrote in the bank’s Economic Letter, per worker income rises 0.6 percent to 0.9 percent for each inflow of immigrants that equals 1 percent of employment.

“This implies that total immigration to the United States from 1990 to 2007 was associated with a 6.6 percent to 9.9 percent increase in real income per worker. That equals an increase of about $5,100 in the yearly income of the average U.S. worker in constant 2005 dollars,’’ Peri said.

Such a gain equals 20 percent to 25 percent of the total real increase in average yearly income per worker registered in the United States between 1990 and 2007, Peri said.

A third result is that in the short run, physical capital per unit of output is decreased by net immigration, but in the medium to long run, businesses expand their equipment and physical plant proportionally to their increase in production, Peri said.

Peri was traveling out of the country Aug. 30 and was unavailable for comment on his report.

Immigrants Tend to Take Different Occupations

Already well documented is that U.S.-born workers and immigrants tend to take different occupations, Peri said. Among less-educated workers, those born in the United States tend to have jobs in manufacturing or mining, while immigrants tend to have jobs in personal services and agriculture. Among more-educated workers, U.S.-born workers tend to work as managers, teachers, and nurses while immigrants tend to work as engineers, scientists, and doctors, he said.

Because those born in the United States have relatively better English language skills, they tend to specialize in communication tasks, Peri said. “Immigrants tend to specialize in other tasks, such as manual labor,’’ he wrote.

“The share of immigrants among the less educated is strongly correlated with the extent of U.S.-born worker specialization in communication tasks,’’ Peri wrote in the report titled “The Effect of Immigrants on U.S. Employment and Productivity.’’

“In states with a heavy concentration of less-educated immigrants, U.S.-born workers have migrated toward more communication-intensive occupations. Those jobs pay higher wages than manual jobs, so such a mechanism has stimulated the productivity of workers born in the United States and generated new employment opportunities,’’ Peri said.

This “typically pushes U.S.-born workers toward better-paying jobs, enhances the efficiency of production, and creates jobs,’’ Peri said. Task specialization, however, may involve adopting different techniques or managerial procedures and renovating or replacing capital equipment. “Hence, it takes some years to be fully realized,’’ he said.

As we celebrate this Labor Day, let us thank all workers, and do each justice, whatever their background, origin, or line of work. May our Lord bless all our labor.

I pray for the employed, that they may work as unto Thee and not unto men. I pray for the unemployed, that they may find work and be saved from despondency. Be Thou their strength in adversity. — an excerpt from A General Intercession from A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church.

Perspective,

Messing with the economy, and people’s lives

From the National Employment Law Project: More Americans Cut Off as Congress Sacrifices Jobless Aid and Economic Stimulus in Jobs Bill

Since last December, Congress has made a series of ill-advised and deeply flawed choices handling the jobs crisis, the National Employment Law Project said today. On two occasions this week alone, Congress failed to move a jobs bill critical to the economic recovery and the millions of Americans out of work.

—In the last three weeks, Congress has let over 900,000 workers run out of jobless benefits, jeopardized health care for hundreds of thousands relying on the COBRA subsidy, and is now allowing a crucial $25 per week federal supplement to unemployment checks to phase out. The mantra of many is about cutting spending; well they have cut spending —“ the spending of the unemployed,— said Christine Owens, Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project.

—Lawmakers have a choice between investing in job growth or giving into platitudes about deficits that cut stimulus designed to keep the economy moving in the right direction. Sadly, platitudes and election year posturing are winning. Congress is throwing a wrench in the recovery as it chips away at the safety net and yet preserves and attempts to strengthen loopholes for the wealthy. The choices Congress is making are outrageous and unacceptable,— Owens said.

A summary of recent delays and cuts in H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, includes:

  1. Benefits Expiration. The window to renew jobless benefits expired at the end of May —“ the fourth time this year Congress has failed to meet an extension deadline and left jobless workers and state agencies dangling. As a result, since the beginning of June, over 900,000 workers have run out of jobless benefits, and by next week that number will hit 1.2 million. Additionally, as a result of the lapsed extension deadline, thousands of workers collecting unemployment checks under the 13-20 week Extended Benefits program are being cut off in the middle of their claims, unable to finish out their current tier of benefits.
  2. COBRA Elimination. More than 2 million workers have benefited from the 65% subsidy to continue health care through COBRA —“ but the House has chosen to eliminate it and many in the Senate are threatening to follow suit. NELP estimates that 144,000 individuals per month will lose out on the subsidy due to the discontinuation. For these workers, health coverage will be nearly impossible to afford and as each month passes, more unemployed people will become uninsured.
  3. $25/Week Cut in Unemployment Checks. The Senate’s proposal to phase out the Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) passed under last year’s stimulus package will reduce unemployment benefits by roughly $100 per month and effectively remove $6 billion in crucial stimulus to communities throughout the country. Ending this stimulus could result in thousands of job losses before the year’s end, and in many Southern states in particular, where jobless benefits are extremely low, it means over a 10% cut in benefit checks for the unemployed. This week NELP issued a state-by-state summary of what the $25 per week means for the unemployed, and the Economic Policy Institute estimates that failure to continue FAC could result in job loss of up to 60,000.

Meanwhile, at the same time it is slashing vitally needed aid for jobless workers and their communities, Congress is choosing to preserve part of a major loophole that favors wealthy investment fund managers. Under the latest bill, one-quarter of the income of investment fund managers will still be taxed at the low 15% capital gains rate —“ lower than most working Americans pay —“ rather than the 35% income tax rate for the highest earners.

—Congress has become so concerned about reining in future deficits that it’s cutting spending by the unemployed and threatening to cut the heart out of the recovery. Many may shrug at the dollar amount, but eliminating the $25 weekly supplement will take away the basics from needy families —“ medicine, shelter, food —“ and sap consumer spending. That Congress would make these cuts while unemployment is still sky-high is a real betrayal of hard-working Americans,— said Owens. —The American people don’t support these choices,— she added.

In the face of deficit concerns, a recent poll found that Americans overwhelmingly support the continuation of health and jobless benefits for unemployed workers. When asked which statement they agree with more, 74% agreed that —With unemployment close to ten percent and millions still out of work, it is too early to start cutting back benefits and health coverage for workers who lost their jobs,— while only 21% agreed that —With the federal deficit over one trillion dollars, it is time for the government to start reducing spending on health care subsidies and unemployment benefits for the unemployed.—

Workers may contact the NELP Benefit Questions page or call 212-285-3025 x 309.

Of course, what they fail to realize in their bickering over deficits is the longer lasting impact that structurally unemployed and uninsured persons will have on the economy and the deficit. As one’s life deteriorates, and one becomes homeless, there is less and less chance of finding a job, or even the retraining needed to move most workers back into the workforce. Further, both federal and state budgets will be hard hit by the new destitute, who will move to welfare, food stamps, and medicaid to fill the gaps that temporary unemployment once filled. Yes, we need to get working again, but until the jobs recovery begins, we need to support those who are ready, willing, and able to work. Oh, and if you think it doesn’t affect you, you will be hit too because every dollar in UI benefits contributes $3 to the local economy, that jobs in stores and the other places where UI benefits get spent. No one is sitting on UI and living the high life (yes, I’m sure there are a few scammers out there, but they are more easily detected and prosecuted these days).

Perspective, Political,

A fall, big and fast

From the Los Angeles Times by Niall Ferguson: America, the fragile empire: Here today, gone tomorrow — could the United States fall that fast?

For centuries, historians, political theorists, anthropologists and the public have tended to think about the political process in seasonal, cyclical terms. From Polybius to Paul Kennedy, from ancient Rome to imperial Britain, we discern a rhythm to history. Great powers, like great men, are born, rise, reign and then gradually wane. No matter whether civilizations decline culturally, economically or ecologically, their downfalls are protracted.

In the same way, the challenges that face the United States are often represented as slow-burning. It is the steady march of demographics — which is driving up the ratio of retirees to workers — not bad policy that condemns the public finances of the United States to sink deeper into the red. It is the inexorable growth of China’s economy, not American stagnation, that will make the gross domestic product of the People’s Republic larger than that of the United States by 2027.

As for climate change, the day of reckoning could be as much as a century away. These threats seem very remote compared with the time frame for the deployment of U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan, in which the unit of account is months, not years, much less decades.

But what if history is not cyclical and slow-moving but arrhythmic — at times almost stationary but also capable of accelerating suddenly, like a sports car? What if collapse does not arrive over a number of centuries but comes suddenly, like a thief in the night?

Great powers are complex systems, made up of a very large number of interacting components that are asymmetrically organized, which means their construction more resembles a termite hill than an Egyptian pyramid. They operate somewhere between order and disorder. Such systems can appear to operate quite stably for some time; they seem to be in equilibrium but are, in fact, constantly adapting. But there comes a moment when complex systems “go critical.” A very small trigger can set off a “phase transition” from a benign equilibrium to a crisis — a single grain of sand causes a whole pile to collapse.

Not long after such crises happen, historians arrive on the scene. They are the scholars who specialize in the study of “fat tail” events — the low-frequency, high-impact historical moments, the ones that are by definition outside the norm and that therefore inhabit the “tails” of probability distributions — such as wars, revolutions, financial crashes and imperial collapses. But historians often misunderstand complexity in decoding these events. They are trained to explain calamity in terms of long-term causes, often dating back decades. This is what Nassim Taleb rightly condemned in “The Black Swan” as “the narrative fallacy.”

In reality, most of the fat-tail phenomena that historians study are not the climaxes of prolonged and deterministic story lines; instead, they represent perturbations, and sometimes the complete breakdowns, of complex systems…

…

If empires are complex systems that sooner or later succumb to sudden and catastrophic malfunctions, what are the implications for the United States today? First, debating the stages of decline may be a waste of time — it is a precipitous and unexpected fall that should most concern policymakers and citizens. Second, most imperial falls are associated with fiscal crises. Alarm bells should therefore be ringing very loudly indeed as the United States contemplates a deficit for 2010 of more than $1.5 trillion — about 11% of GDP, the biggest since World War II.

These numbers are bad, but in the realm of political entities, the role of perception is just as crucial. In imperial crises, it is not the material underpinnings of power that really matter but expectations about future power. The fiscal numbers cited above cannot erode U.S. strength on their own, but they can work to weaken a long-assumed faith in the United States’ ability to weather any crisis.

One day, a seemingly random piece of bad news — perhaps a negative report by a rating agency — will make the headlines during an otherwise quiet news cycle. Suddenly, it will be not just a few policy wonks who worry about the sustainability of U.S. fiscal policy but the public at large, not to mention investors abroad. It is this shift that is crucial: A complex adaptive system is in big trouble when its component parts lose faith in its viability.

Over the last three years, the complex system of the global economy flipped from boom to bust — all because a bunch of Americans started to default on their subprime mortgages, thereby blowing huge holes in the business models of thousands of highly leveraged financial institutions. The next phase of the current crisis may begin when the public begins to reassess the credibility of the radical monetary and fiscal steps that were taken in response….

Current Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia,

Yo! Polish dog

From the BBC: English lessons for ‘Polish’ dog

A dog caused confusion in an animal home when he failed to respond to basic commands – until staff realised he could only understand Polish.

Staff at the RSPCA centre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, originally thought Cent the collie was deaf.

But when they looked into his history they realised he came from a Polish family and so did not “speak” English.

So staff brushed up on Polish commands and, four months on, they say Cent is now bilingual and ready for a new home.

“When he came in he wasn’t responding to the basic commands,” said care assistant Karen Heath.

“We couldn’t understand why at first but when we’ve looked at his records and his history he has come from a Polish family.

“So obviously we’ve gathered from that he doesn’t understand the English language, so therefore he won’t understand our basic commands.”

Staff turned to the internet for phrases Cent could recognise – although they are unsure of the pronunciation…

A consequence of the massive Polish emigration to England which is now returning to Poland due to better economic conditions back home.

Current Events, , ,

Time to emigrate

Our ancestors came here, the golden shores of America, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are heading out. From USA Today: More U.S. job hunters look for work in other countries

Here’s one way to deal with the brutal U.S. job market: Leave the country.

With the nation’s unemployment rate at a 26-year-high of 10.2%, more Americans are hunting for, and landing, work overseas, according to staffing companies and executive search firms.

Jeff Joerres, CEO of Manpower, the No. 1 U.S. staffing company, says about 500 clients are seeking jobs abroad, up from a few dozen six months ago.

“It suddenly looks like there may be better opportunities outside the U.S.,” Joerres says. “It is a phenomenon we haven’t had before.”

While the number of globe-trotting job candidates is still relatively small, the trend reverses a longtime pattern of far more foreign workers seeking jobs in the U.S., Joerres says.

Fifty-four percent of executives said they’d be likely or highly likely to accept a foreign post, according to a survey of 114 executives Friday by talent management company Korn/Ferry. Just 37% of those surveyed in 2005 said they’d go abroad.

The hottest international job markets include India, China, Brazil, Dubai and Singapore, recruiters say. International companies are largely seeking candidates in engineering, computer technology, manufacturing, investment banking and consulting.

…

Steve Watson, chairman of executive search firm Stanton Chase International, says he recently sought a CEO for a Dubai manufacturer, and “three or four people quickly raised their hands. I do not think we would have had that two years ago.”

After completing his junior year at Georgia Institute of Technology, Charles Wang, an industrial engineering major, worked as a project manager for United Parcel Service in Dubai from July 2008 until last May. His task: develop a delivery system for the Arab state’s first-ever network of streets and addresses. After graduating next month, he plans to return to Dubai for a permanent job.

It’s “because of … my inability to find good jobs in the U.S.,” says Wang, 22, adding he’ll stay in Dubai until the U.S. job market is “back to normal.”

At MIT’s Sloan School of Management, 24% of 2009 graduates got jobs overseas, up from 19% last year. It’s “tied to the (U.S.) economy,” says career development head Jackie Wilbur.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Political, , , , ,

Being poor, being hopeless

From the Spokesman-Review: Effects of growing up in poor households can be lifelong

When Lori Pfingst considers the statistics that will tell the tale of this recession, she isn’t thinking about GDP or unemployment.

She’s thinking about teen pregnancy. Low birthweight babies. WASL scores and college enrollments.

As the recession swells the ranks of the impoverished, it takes a particular, long-term toll on children, experts say. In Washington state alone, nearly 40,000 children are expected to slip into poverty by 2010; nationwide, an additional 800,000 kids entered poverty between 2007 and 2008, before the recession really hit.

And however quickly the economy begins its official recovery, the consequences for kids living in poverty are wide-ranging. Children who grow up in poor households tend to do worse in school and end up in trouble with the law. They’re less likely to go to college and more likely to get pregnant at a young age. They’re more likely to commit crimes or become victims of crimes, and more likely to grow up and live in poverty themselves.

—The impact of this really can’t be overstated,— said Pfingst, assistant director of Washington KidsCount, an annual statistical survey of children’s well-being. —When children are born into poverty, it affects every single outcome of their lives.—

A new report from Duke University asserts that the recession will undo decades of progress for children and families. Duke’s Child and Youth Well-Being Index measures a range of categories; it estimates that all progress made in —family economic well-being— since 1975 will be wiped out by this recession.

The Duke index predicts that families will suffer from the expected kinds of effects, such as joblessness, lower incomes or homelessness. But it also suggests that children will pay other prices, in greater obesity and health problems, because families will be more likely to rely on low-cost fast food; on social relationships and stability, as families are forced to move; and on increased behavioral problems and crime, with young people as both victims and perpetrators.

—The impact of the current recession on children will be dramatic,— the Duke report concludes…

Two things. First, simply said, a tragedy that none of the Wall Street moguls will ever consider or reflect on. Second, in spite of negative pressures caused by the recession we have an underlying current of hopelessness far greater than that ever experienced by the poor and nearly poor of generations past. Their grounding in faith, neighborhood, and family stood as a bulwark against just these sorts of pressures.

When I look at our great Fraternal, the PNU, and the history of the PNCC, in fact most of the faith communities inhabited by immigrants, I see people who counted what was important. They knew that with God in front, family and co-workers in union, they could withstand whatever the world could throw at them; not only withstand, but struggle and succeed. I may be a hopeless romantic, or too nostalgic, but I believe that we are capable of the same today. Being poor does not equate with hopelessness and lifelong despair, it is the crucible in which we are tested. We are challenged, not to re-create the past, but to build a new and re-grounded future.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Political, ,

Justice, a helping hand, and human potential

From Newsday: LI immigrants fight to win wages they say they are owed

The immigrants came in one after another. One said he was owed $6,000. Another said he was docked $3,000. Three others said they were owed $1,900, $648 and $270.

In the North Fork Hispanic Apostolate headquarters in Riverhead, Sister Margaret Smyth and attorney Dan Rodgers counseled the men for upcoming court appearances.

“If they ask you about your immigration status, you have no obligation to answer,” Rodgers said. “The only reason we’re in court is to obtain wages for work you performed.”

Advocates say many more immigrants are filing claims for unpaid wages on the East End than last year – nearly 140 so far, already exceeding the total for all of last year.

Five immigrants came to Smyth’s office Thursday, saying a painting company owes them $5,000 each. “Every month, we have 30 or more cases,” Smyth said. “Some of it’s the economy. Some of it’s just people being bad people.”

Federal and state law says workers – regardless of immigration status – are entitled to be paid for work performed.

“The fact is that the worst thing you can do is steal a man’s labor and that’s what’s going on more and more,” said Rodgers, who does the cases pro bono.

Roberto Rodriguez, 46, said he was owed $648. He was so desperate, he pawned a gold chain for $200, he said. “I just want to be paid my just wage.”

Nationally, some groups say they’ve seen a similar increase, though the Workplace Project in Hempstead said it has not noticed a rise in complaints.

“This is a big problem that existed but is being exacerbated by the bad economy,” said Raj Nayak, a staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project in Manhattan.

Advocates say while most cases filed in local courts are won on paper – usually by default, when the defendant doesn’t show up – the judgments are difficult to enforce.

When defendants do show, Rodgers tries to negotiate a settlement. But in many cases, only one or two payments will be made. “It’s never-ending,” Smyth said. “I have a whole pile of cases where they didn’t pay.”…

Wage theft, especially from those with the fewest avenues available for seeking justice is rampant in the United States as is the intentional misclassification of workers.

More on this in What Workers Face This Labor Day (see also Low-Wage Workers Are Often Cheated, Study Says from the NY Times)

On Monday, President Obama will celebrate America’s 127th Labor Day by giving a speech on “jobs, the economy and maybe a little health care” at the annual AFL-CIO picnic in Cincinnati, OH. Despite positive indications that the U.S. economy is beginning to “climb out of the worst recession in decades,” Obama’s speech will come at a difficult time for America’s workers as job losses continue. In the current recession, 6.7 million jobs have been lost through July, with another 216,000 jobs lost in August. Even those who are still working are facing significant challenges. Earlier this week, a new report financed by the Ford, Joyce, Haynes, and Russell Sage Foundations found that labor protections in America “are failing significant numbers of workers.” According to the survey, which was “the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade,” 68 percent of the low wage workers who were interviewed said they were subjected to pay violations in their previous work week alone. This included 26 percent who were paid less than the minimum wage and 76 percent who didn’t receive legally required overtime pay. In all, the researchers discovered that “the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339,” adding up to a 15 percent loss in pay. The report “clearly shows we still have a major task before us,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in a statement, promising that the Department of Labor in the Obama administration “will be marked by an emphasis on the protection” of the rights of America’s workers…

I was at a conference on unemployment and workforce issues last week. During the conference nineteen state workforce agencies joined in a call to extend unemployment insurance benefits.

The news at the conference was sobering. Panelists like William D. Rodgers, III, Ph.D., Professor and Chief Economist and Carl E. Van Horn, Director and Professor of Public Policy both of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University and Lawrence Chimerine, Ph.D., Managing Director and Chief Economist at the Economic Strategy Institute all point to a recovery that is underway; with economic indicators pointing to a sustained recovery. Unfortunately it will be a jobless recovery (see U.S. Job Seekers Exceed Openings by Record Ratio from the NY Times for instance). We may not see job gains or low unemployment again until 2018. People will be desperate and there will have to be significant changes in the way we assist and work with these folks. These workers will need training to prepare themselves for this new environment and for the jobs that are available — an investment in their potential.

The assessment that struck home for me was a review of our investment in human potential. The value of our investment in the people of this nation has declined for decades (see here for instance). What we pour into education, health, wellness, culture, family, and leisure points to a wholly wrong set of priorities and an ethic where human life is considered cheap — life as just another cog in the machine. Funny how people of faith, calling government, industry, and society on the carpet over this, have spoken the truth here. Too bad — the message has fallen on deaf ears and over relatively the same period of time.

Oh, and speaking of people who do not invest in or respect human potential, Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming is near the top of the list. He believes that people shouldn’t be empowered to take care of themselves because they just might form unions. As with many Washington insiders he thinks that people should seek the approval of business and/or government before they do anything. I can’t believe he’s from the west.

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