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Article Artículo

Economic Growth

Government

Labor Market Policy Research Reports, November 17 – 30, 2012

Here's a roundup of labor market research reports released over the past two weeks:


Center for American Progress

Workers Deserve Equal Access to Paid Leave and Workplace Flexibility
Sarah Jane Glynn and Jane Farrell

Working Parents’ Lack of Access to Paid Leave and Workplace Flexibility
Sarah Jane Glynn

Latinos Least Likely to Have Paid Leave or Workplace Flexibility
Sarah Jane Glynn and Jane Farrell


Center for Economic Policy and Research

More Good Jobs
Shawn Fremstad

Debt, Deficits, and Demographics: Why We Can Afford the Social Contract
Dean Baker


Demos

State Guaranteed Retirement Accounts
Teresa Ghilarducci, Robert Hiltonsmith, Lauren Schmitz

Retail’s Hidden Potential: How Raising Wages Would Benefit Workers, the Industry and the Overall Economy
Catherine Ruetschlin

CEPR and Mark Azic / December 03, 2012

Article Artículo

Economic Growth

Europe

Young, Educated and Jobless in America?
Today's New York Times has a piece by Steven Erlanger on the "Young, Educated and Jobless in France" that gets most of the facts right, but still might leave its readers with the wrong idea about the real labor-market challenges facing Europe and the Unit

John Schmitt / December 03, 2012

Article Artículo

Robert Samuelson Is Upset that No One Other Than the Washington Serious People Want to Cut Social Security and Medicare

Robert Samuelson is angry that President Obama doesn't agree with him that Social Security and Medicare should be cut. Who does Obama think he is, disagreeing with Samuelson and the Serious People?

Just to be clear on the playing field here (Samuelson seems confused), not only does President Obama oppose cuts to these programs, his opponent Governor Romney also argued against cuts to Medicare. And polls consistently show that the vast majority of Republicans, conservatives and even self-identified Tea Party supporters also oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare. So President Obama is defending a position that has the support of the vast majority of the American people regardless of political or ideological affiliation.

Samuelson gets a lot of other items in his piece wrong as well. When complaining about Social Security and Medicare he tells readers:

"The young will pay more and get less."

Actually, this is not true. Near retirees will have paid in to Social Security at current tax rates through almost their whole working life and will have to wait until age 67 to retire with full benefits. Younger workers will be able to anticipate longer life expectancies which means that they will likely get a slightly better return on average on their Social Security taxes. In terms of return on Medicare, if we care about outcomes, they almost certainly will do better with this program as well. Since Samuelson provides no sources, it is not clear what he thinks he is talking about.

He is also upset that:

"Supporting retirees is now the federal government’s main activity."

To people who not ideologues, this makes sense since the government can provide retirement income and health care benefits far more efficiently than the private sector. Apparently Samuelson wants to waste resources and have slower growth just so he can feel good about having a smaller government.

Dean Baker / December 03, 2012

Article Artículo

Honduras

Latin America and the Caribbean

World

State Department All a Twitter About Human Rights in Honduras

The Obama administration has been outspoken recently about human rights, but some statements are somewhat disconnected from actual policy.

Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough visited Honduras this week, meeting with President Lobo, “members of his cabinet, and civil society representatives.” At the conclusion of his visit, he issued a statement, saying among other things that

I …extended my congratulations to the Honduran people on their strong participation in a peaceful, democratic, primary election process on November 18, recognizing the commendable work of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

“Peaceful” and “democratic” perhaps, aside from the various assassinations of opposition candidates and members belonging to the LIBRE party this year, and other political repression recently submitted to the International Criminal Court as evidence of “crimes against humanity and impunity in Honduras.” These murders represent another serious threat to Honduran democracy in the wake of the 2009 coup, and have led some analysts to conclude that “free and fair” elections next year are all but impossible. But the Obama administration seems to pretend the repression is not happening by describing the process as “peaceful.”

U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske, meanwhile, also has become a vocal champion of human rights - on Twitter - reminding followers of significant dates in U.S. history for labor and civil rights, for example, and decrying attacks on women, and other serious rights abuses in Honduras.

On Wednesday, Kubiske Tweeted:

 

CEPR / November 30, 2012

Article Artículo

Haiti, D.R. to Present $2 Billion Plan to Improve Health and Sanitation Infrastructure to Fight Cholera

In the coming weeks, Haiti, together with international partners, will call on donors to fund a $2.2 billion 10-year plan to upgrade the water, sanitation and health infrastructure in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As Jonathan Watts of The Guardian reports, the plan “will be unveiled with the backing of foreign aid groups and the UN, which is accused of one of the greatest failures in the history of international intervention.” That failure, of course, is the introduction of cholera to Haiti, which a number of scientific studies have linked to the sanitation facilities at a MINUSTAH base located on a tributary of the country’s main water supply. The epidemic has thus far killed over 7,730 people in Haiti and sickened some 620,000 more, 6 percent of the entire population. While fatality levels are down from their peaks, over 125 people have died in just the last month.

As the AP’s Martha Mendoza and Trenton Daniel report, the plan – which is set to be released under the auspices of the Haitian and Dominican governments, the Pan American Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF -- includes “building water supply systems, sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants, as well as improving access to latrines, especially in schools.” It also aims to provide significant capacity building support to the Haitian government, to ensure proper oversight and maintenance of the new facilities. The plan aims to provide 85 percent of Haitians with improved drinking water and 90 percent with improved sanitation facilities by 2022. In 2008, just 17 percent of Haitians had access to adequate sanitation facilities and 63 percent to adequate drinking water. The goal, as Dr. Jordan Tappero of the CDC tells the AP, is “to eliminate transmission of cholera.”

Yet the $2.2 billion plan is almost completely un-funded, with just $5 million promised by the World Bank so far. Watts reports that, “The government will ask for more than $500m (£315m) for the next two years in a short-term emergency response to the epidemic. Another $1.5bn or so will be requested for the following eight years to eliminate the disease.”

Jake Johnston / November 29, 2012