2. Chapter Outline
• Comparing the Sociology of Economic Life
with Economics
• Economic Systems in Global Perspective
• Contemporary World Economic Systems
• Perspectives on Economy and Work in the U.S.
• The Social Organization of Work
3. Chapter Outline
• Unemployment
• Worker Resistance and Activism
• Employment Opportunities for Persons with a
Disability
• The Global Economy in the Future
4. Sharpening Your Focus
• What are the key assumptions of capitalism and
socialism?
• What contributes to job satisfaction and to worker
alienation?
• What is the individual’s role in the work force?
• Why does unemployment occur?
• How do workers attempt to gain control over their
work situation?
5. The Economy
• The social institution that ensures the
maintenance of society through the
production, distribution, and consumption of
goods and services.
• Goods are tangible objects that are necessary
or desired.
• Services are intangible activities for which
people are willing to pay.
6. The Economy
• Labor - the group of people who contribute
their physical and intellectual services to the
production process in return for wages.
• Capital - wealth owned or used in business by
a person or corporation.
7.
8.
9.
10. Functionalist Perspective of Economy
and Work in the U.S.
• Functionalists view the economy as a vital
social institution.
• When the economy runs smoothly, society
functions more effectively.
• If the system becomes unbalanced, such as
when demand does not keep up with
production, a maladjustment occurs.
11. Characteristics of the Postindustrial
Economy
1. Information displaces property as the central
preoccupation in the economy.
2. Workplace culture shifts away from factories and
toward diverse work settings, the employee, and
the manager.
3. The conventional boundaries between work and
home are breached.
12.
13. How Much Do You Know About the
Economy and the World of Work?
True or False?
• Many of the new jobs being created in the
service sector pay poorly and offer little job
security.
14. True
• Many of the new jobs being created in the
service sector, such as nurse’s aide, childcare
worker, hotel maid, and fast-food server, offer
little job security and low pay.
15. Fastest Growing Occupations, 2002–
2012
Medical records and information
47% A.A.
technicians
Short on-the-job
Physical therapist aides 46%
training
Computer software engineers,
46% B.A.
applications
Computer software engineers,
45% B.A.
systems
Physical therapist assistants 45% A.A.
16. Fastest Growing Occupations, 2002–
2012
Moderate on-the-job
Medical assistants 59%
training
57%
Network and data analysts B.A.
Physician assistants 49% B.A
Social and human service 49% Moderate-on-the-job
assistants training
Home health aides 48% Short-on-the-job training
17. Job Security
• Many people who
thought their jobs were
secure have found
themselves looking for a
new position.
• What changes in the
U.S. and global
economies caused this
shift in many people’s
careers?
18. How Much Do You Know About the
Economy and the World of Work?
True or False?
• Labor unions will probably cease to exist
sometime during this century.
19. False
• Sociologists who have examined organized
labor generally predict that unions will
continue to exist; however, their strength may
wane in the global economy.
20. •MARCH 15, 2009, 10:19 P.M. ET
Labor-Backed Contract Rules Advance
By CHRISTOPHER CONKEY
Congressional Democrats are advancing labor-friendly rules on
federal
contracts just as the government spends billions in an effort to
jump-start the economy.
In the $787 billion economic recovery package and in a separate
infrastructure bill passed by the House last week, Congress
expanded the application of the so-called Davis-Bacon and
Buy American rules. The former, opposed by many Republicans
and some leading business groups, dictate that contractors
on federally funded projects can't pay their employees anything
less than the locally "prevailing wage" for their services.
21. Free-trade advocates said the Buy American clauses are
part of a growing protectionist tilt in the U.S., ranging from
restrictions on H1B visa holders in the stimulus bill to talk
that auto makers getting federal aid will have to shun
foreign parts
suppliers, and that banks getting rescue funds will have to
focus their lending efforts more on American borrowers.
With just weeks before the G-20 meeting, "other countries
are going to recriminate," said Gary Hufbauer, senior
fellow at the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International
Economics. He added that 17 of the 20 countries
participating in the April summit have followed the U.S.
and adopted measures designed to protect domestic
workers and industries at the expense o
f foreign competitors.
22. Unemployment
• Long lines at
unemployment offices
are a recurring sight
throughout the U.S.
when workers are laid off
from their jobs.
• When one person is
unemployed, it may be a
personal problem, but
when large numbers are
laid off, it becomes a
social issue.
23. Unemployment Rate
• The percentage of unemployed persons in the
labor force actively seeking jobs.
• In 2000 the U.S. unemployment rate was 4%
and workers who had historically suffered
from high unemployment rates made some
gains.
24.
25. APRIL 2, 2010 Wall Street Journal
Job Market Picks Up, but Slowly
By SUDEEP REDDY And JOE LIGHT
The job market is showing signs of life, though its slow recovery suggests
unemployment will remain high for years to come.
26. Employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest
monthly gain in three years, with one-third of the growth
coming from the government's hiring of 48,000 temporary
workers for the 2010 Census. Despite those gains, the
jobless rate held steady at 9.7% as new workers entered
the job market and people who had previously quit the
labor force returned.
The average length of unemployment rose last month to
the highest point since record keeping began in 1948:
more than 31 weeks. The number of workers out of work
for six months or more rose sharply.
The latest report, which marks the third month since
November in which payrolls increased, indicates the labor
market is pulling out of a deep downturn that slashed
more than eight million jobs since the recession hit in late
2007.
27. It confirms that the economy has turned an important corner,"
says J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. chief economist Bruce Kasman.
"It's been growing for a while, but I think what we're seeing is that
this growth is now broadening out to include jobs.“
The stock market was closed Friday for a holiday, but the jobs
report sent stock futures climbing during a morning session. As
investors anticipate a stronger economy—and look ahead to an
eventual Federal Reserve rate hike—they pushed down Treasury
debt prices, sending the yield on 10-year Treasury notes, the
benchmark for corporate and consumer borrowing, to 3.94%, the
highest since June.
Among those who have landed jobs lately is New York Web
developer Philip John Basile, although, as with many other new
hires, it is a temporary six-month assignment with the Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society. He had been searching in earnest for three
months, he says. "I'm still looking for a permanent job, but this is a
good middle ground," he says
28. Many employers are reluctant to hire until they see stronger
evidence of an economic recovery. Private-sector payrolls
increased by 123,000 in March, but much of that boost was a
bounce back from employment depressed in February by
snowstorms.
The government said overall payrolls increased by an average of
54,000 a month over the last three months.
The economic recovery so far remains heavily reliant on
government support, which is visible in the jobs numbers. Hiring
for the decennial census is expected to add hundreds of
thousands of temporary jobs in the coming months. Other forms of
government intervention also remain crucial. The housing sector's
boost is being driven in part by tax breaks and extensive
government support for the mortgage market. And last year's $787
billion stimulus is temporarily preventing even deeper job losses in
fields from construction to education.
30. "We don't expect it to get worse, but we're not seeing a
rebound yet," says Donald Stone Jr., chief executive of
Dewberry & Davis, a Fairfax, Va.-based engineering
firm. The closely held company is hiring 30 right now, but
doesn't expect employment to return to its peak anytime
soon, Mr. Stone says. Dewberry employed 1,800 in
2009, about 10% below its prerecession high.
While stimulus projects have bolstered its business with
the federal government, state and local governments still
seem strapped for cash, Mr. Stone says. Dewberry's
private development work also has remained scarce.
"Projects have been very sporadic and certainly not what
I would call a rebound," he says.
31. Catholic Health Initiatives, a nonprofit national health-
care provider based in Denver, is taking a wait-and-see
approach to hiring. Over the last 18 months, the
company laid off about 2,000, leaving its work force at
70,000, says chief operating officer Michael Rowan.
With inpatient admissions down 3.5% this year, Mr.
Rowan expects staffing to grow only 1%, and that will
happen through acquisitions.
Health care was one of the few sectors adding jobs
during the downturn. But in March, the gains were
broad-based.
32. The retail sector added 14,900 jobs. Temporary employment—a
positive indicator for the labor market, since many employers
increase temp hiring as a prelude to adding permanent jobs—
increased by 40,200. Construction added jobs for the first time
since mid-2007, although the gains likely were the result of a
bounce back from February's weather slowdown. Manufacturing
added 17,000 jobs, the third straight month of gains.
Replacing the more than eight million jobs lost since the recession
started likely will take much of the next decade. The economy
needs to create at least 100,000 jobs a month just to keep the
unemployment rate flat, due to population growth. Because of the
downturn, millions of Americans quit searching for work or
dropped out of the labor force.
A broader measure of unemployment, which includes people who
stopped looking for work and those settling for part-time jobs, rose
to 16.9% in March
33. The government's March jobs report showed strong gains over
recent months. Despite additional census jobs, the report was
slightly weaker than expected, but with stock markets closed for
Good Friday, the report's full impact will be more apparent next
week.
The improving economy is certain to draw more job seekers back
into the market, one factor likely to keep the unemployment rate
from dropping quickly. The labor force—those working or looking
for work—grew by 398,000 in March, the third straight monthly
increase.
Federal Reserve officials expect the jobless rate to remain above
9% through this year and above 8% throughout 2011. The large
pool of available labor is likely to constrain wage growth in the
coming years. The report showed that average hourly earnings
declined 0.1% during the month, although the average work week
and total hours worked grew. For that reason, even with the latest
turn toward job growth, the Fed isn't likely to raise interest rates
until late this year at the earliest.
34. Types of Unemployment
• Cyclical - result of lower rates of production
during recessions.
• Seasonal - result of shifts in the demand for
workers based on holidays.
• Structural - skills needed by employers do not
match skills of unemployed.
35. Underground (or Shadow)
Economy
• The underground
economy involves
activities such as cash
payments to workers that
are never reported as
earnings and on which
no taxes are paid.
• Does the underground
economy constitute a
threat to the legitimate
economy?
36. Globalization of Markets
• Dramatic changes in stock markets in nations such as
Japan and the United States create reverberations that
are felt in financial markets around the world.
37. How Much Do You Know About the
Economy and the World of Work?
True or False?
• Around the world, positions with the most
job security are located in large,
transnational corporations.
38. False
• Although it is difficult to determine which
types of jobs are the most secure, many
positions in transnational corporations have
been lost through downsizing and plant
relocations and closings.
39. Capitalism
• Built on the pursuit of
profit.
• The opening-bell
ceremony at the New
York Stock Exchange is a
symbol of that pursuit.
• Although corporations
and shareholders may
reap economic gains
from the stock market,
most families do not own
stock.
40. Capitalism
Four distinctive features:
1. Private ownership of the means of production.
2. Pursuit of personal profit.
3. Competition.
4. Lack of government intervention.
41. Mixed Economies
• Combine elements of a market economy
(capitalism) with elements of a command
economy (socialism).
– Democratic socialism: combines private ownership
of some of the means of production,
governmental distribution of some essential goods
and services, and free elections.
42. The U.S. Economy
• In April 2007, our national debt was
$8,851,983,831,350, making each citizen’s
share more than $29,000.
• Many workers will be fragmented into two major
labor market divisions:
1. Those who work in the innovative, primary
sector.
2. Those whose jobs are located in the growing
secondary, marginal sector.
43. Senate Trims Obama's Plans For Spending
By DAVID HOGBERG, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS
DAILYPosted 03/25/2009 06:55 PM ET
Senate Democrats' budget plan released
Wednesday includes less spending than
President Obama wants, lets more tax cuts expire
and doesn't address his ideas on education or
climate change.
The president would spend $3.67 trillion in fiscal
year 2010 and hike taxes by $942 billion over five
years, based on Congressional Budget Office
estimates.
The deficit would fall in half by 2014 to $749
billion, or 4.3% of GDP, before rising again.
Deficits over 3% aren't deemed to be sustainable
long-term.
44. The president wants to move the government to
the left, make it far more expansive and intrusive,"
said Senate Budget Committee ranking member
Judd Gregg, R-N.H.
Senate Budget chair Kent Conrad, D-N.D.,
described his panel's budget as trying "to preserve
the major priorities of the president while making
the necessary adjustments necessary in light of
the dramatic change in the CBO's estimates."
Last week the CBO said that "the outlook for the
budget deficit has deteriorated further." Citing
continued economic woes, it estimated that 2010-
2014 deficits would be $670 billion higher than the
administration projects.
Budget resolutions are nonbinding blueprints for
taxes and spending, setting caps for appropriating
panels later in the year
45. •Wall Street Journal, MARCH 31, 2009, 11:01 A.M. ET
U.S. Bailouts So Far Total $2.98 Trillion, Official Says
MORE IN POLITICS »
By MEENA THIRUVENGADAM
WASHINGTON -- A special inspector general overseeing
government efforts to bail out portions of the private sector
said Tuesday the U.S. so far has committed nearly $2.98
trillion toward stabilizing financial companies and rescuing
domestic auto makers.
The figure reflects spending on the U.S. Treasury's Troubled
Asset Relief Program, as well as funding for various
programs from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp., special inspector general Neil Barofsky
planned to tell the Senate Finance Committee. It doesn't
include costs for working-capital loans to General Motors
Corp. and Chrysler LLC or a new government auto-warranty-
guarantee program announced Monday.
46. Such a large commitment of funds in such a short
time "will inevitably attract those seeking to profit
criminally," Mr. Barofsky said in a testimony
prepared for a committee hearing Tuesday. "If, by
percentage terms, some of the estimates of fraud
in recent government programs apply to the TARP
programs, we are looking at the potential exposure
of hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money
lost to fraud," he planned to tell lawmakers.
In a separate report Tuesday, the Government
Accountability Office said Treasury alone has
announced plans for as much as $667.4 billion in
TARP funds. The office, however, noted that all of
those funds haven't yet been disbursed and
estimated actual expenditures for programs
announced thus far would likely reach $590.4
billion.
That estimate would leave the TARP with just
$109.6 billion, less than the $134.5 billion Treasury
said it estimated remained in the fund.
47. In its report, the GAO said it remains difficult to assess the rescue
program's effects and recommended the Treasury seek out
concessions from employees of American International Group Inc. and
the counterparties who have done business with the insurance giant.
AIG, the recipient of $173 billion in federal aid, has become the
subject of sharp criticism for paying out $165 million in employee
bonuses after being rescued by the government and for payments it
has made to banks with which it has done business.
In his testimony, Mr. Barofsky said his office has initiated an
investigation into AIG's bonus payments.
"We will be looking closely to ensure that the bonuses to AIG
employees are not inconsistent with AIG's legal or contractual
obligations," Mr. Barofsky said, adding that his office will "report to
Congress the sequence of events which led to the approval of these
payments by government officials."
"I too am frustrated with these very substantial bonuses given at a
time when AIG would have by now been in bankruptcy proceedings
but for huge, repeated infusions of government money," his testimony
said.
Mr. Barofsky said his office, at the request of congressional leaders,
also plans to investigate payments AIG made to its counterparties.
Write to Meena Thiruvengadam at
meena.thiruvengadam@dowjones.com
48.
49. Conflict Perspective of Economy and
Work in the U.S
• From a conflict perspective, business cycles are the
result of capitalist greed.
• As prices increase, workers are not able to purchase
products.
• Surpluses cause capitalists to close factories, and lay
off workers.
• Karl Marx referred to the propensity of capitalists to
maximize profits by reducing wages as the falling
rate of profit.
50. Budget Breakdown
The budget blueprint estimates a federal
deficit of $1.75 trillion for 2009.
The Obama administration plans to create
a task force to consider elimination of
corporate loopholes and subsidies,
tougher enforcement against tax
avoidance, and tax simplification, White
House Budget Director Peter Orszag said
late Tuesday.
51. •MARCH 25, 2009
White House to Hunt for New Tax Revenues
Task Force to Weigh Ending Loopholes, Bolstering Enforcement as
Lawmakers Take Aim at Budget
By JOHN D. MCKINNON, GREG HITT and NAFTALI BENDAVID
WASHINGTON -- The White House said it would launch a search for
new tax revenues, as Congressional leaders moved to scale back
proposed spending increases and tax cuts in President Barack
Obama's ambitious budget.
View Interactive
52. Mr. Obama's budget proposal began the process of
addressing problems such as the tax gap, the
difference between taxes owed and taxes collected.
"The question is whether we can be even more
aggressive" in those areas, Mr. Orszag said in an
interview late Tuesday. The task force will be run
through a White House advisory board being headed
by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker,
Mr. Orszag said.
No target for a dollar figure has been set. But the effort
theoretically could lead to tens of billions of dollars in
additional collections. The tax gap alone is estimated
at $300 billion a year, of which more than $100 billion
is believed to be collectible, according to IRS
statistics.
By congressional estimates, annual spending on basic
government services -- programs other than defense
and entitlements -- would rise by more than 10% in
fiscal 2010 under the $3.6 trillion Obama plan. Sen.
Kent Conrad (D., N.D.), chairman of the Senate
Budget Committee, presented his version of Mr.
Obama's budget to his colleag ues.
on Tuesday, including an increase in annual nondefense spending of 7% for 2010 --
a $15 billion reduction from the president's.
53. including an increase in
annual
nondefense spending of 7%
for 2010
-- a $15 billion reduction from
the
president's.
57. By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, January
29, 2009
4:20 PM PT
Stimulus: Washington's attempt to spend us out of our
economic
doldrums gets more ambitious by the day and could total
more than
$1 trillion once interest is figured in. The long-range
implications of this are alarming
58. AMERICAN RECOVERY AND
REINVESTMENT ACT
Source: ed.gov/recovery
Of the $787 billion American Recovery and
Reinvestment
Act of 2009
(ARRA or Recovery Act) signed by President
Obama on February 17, 2009
approximately $100 billion designated for
education.
This unprecedented funding is targeted to save or create
hundreds of thousands of jobs, support states and school
districts, and advance reforms and improvements
intended to create long-lasting results for our students
and our nation in the areas of early learning, K-12, and
post-secondary education
59. Education: Funds for state education budgets and other critical services, as well as grants for
'Title I' and other programs for disadvantaged children, special education, technology for
schools, services for disabled people and federal work-study programs in colleges. $7.15
billion to meet the Pell Grants federal student loan program shortfall for 2008-9 and to
increase the maximum award for 2009-10.
PER CAPITA SPENDING, EDUCATION
IN FLORIDA = $238; STIMULUS
FUNDING
60. Workforce Investment Act of 1998 created Local
Workforce Investment Boards
Directs federal, state & local funding
to local
workforce development programs
Career & Service Centers of Southwest Florida (One
Stop Centers)
Partnering with
Rapid Recovery Program
61. Transparency, Reform, and
Accountability
the Federal Department of Education expects
to guide state ARRA spending decisions
toward reform.
Making progress toward rigorous college- and
career-ready standards and high quality
assessments that are valid and reliable for all
students, including English language learners and
students with disabilities;
62. ELIGIBLE RAPID RECOVERY EDISON STATE PROGRAMS
BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONS
• Accounting Applications Certificate
• Accounting Technology Associate in Science Degree
• Business Administration And Management Associate in Science Degree
• Computer Programming And Applications Specialist Certificate
• Computer Programming And Analysis Associate in Science Degree
• Drafting & Design Technology Associate in Science Degree
• Internet Services Technology Associate in Science Degree
• Networking Specialist Certificate
• Networking Services Technology Associate in Science Degree
• Small Business Management Certificate
63. EDUCATION PROFESSIONS—removed from eligibility list June 30,
2009
Early Childhood Education Associate in Science Degree
Elementary Education Bachelor
of Science Degree
Secondary Biology Education Bachelor of Science Degree
Secondary Mathematics Education Bachelor of Science Degree
64. Wall Street Journal AUGUST 11, 2009
A Hard Lesson for Teachers
By DANA MATTIOLI
Widespread layoffs caused by tight school budgets are forcing thousands of
teachers out of the classroom, in some cases, permanently. Many are taking
other jobs or considering changing careers, even as they anxiously hope to be
recalled.
When school begins this month, as many as 100,000 of last year’s teachers
won’t have jobs, resulting in an overall drop in education jobs in the U.S.,
estimates Carmen Quesada, director of field operations for the National Education
Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union.
Quesada, director of field operations for the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union.
Altering a Career Path
Judith Franco at her work bench.
That’s a jolt to people drawn to teaching in part for its recession-proof reputation. The
number of people working in local education has increased every year since 1983,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That streak is now in jeopardy: Local schools
employed fewer people overall, including non teachers, in July, the latest month
available, than in July 2008. The majority of the layoffs have involved non tenure teaching
positions, with cuts determined by seniority.
Judith Franco is among those affected. She taught typing and business technology at
Westglades Middle School in Parkland, Fla., for two years before being laid off in June—
one of 394 teachers laid off by the Broward County Public Schools.
65. Now, the 45-year-old single mother is plotting how to pay her daughter’s college tuition, while
supporting her 13-year-old son and a brother with lymphoma. She is considering resuming the
alterations business she ran for 20 years before teaching. She recently reconnected with
former clients and has lined up a few jobs working on weddings. “I’m in wait-and-see mode,”
she says. “I’m looking everywhere.”
Historically, many teachers laid off during tough times quit the profession. New York City laid
off 15,000 teachers during its fiscal crisis in the 1970s. It later recalled 10,000, but only 3,000
returned, according to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
“You’ll lose teachers to other professions. They certainly didn’t come to education to become
rich,” says Ms. Weingarten.
Some teachers given pink slips last spring have been recalled. Eighth-grade English teacher
Samantha Terrasas, 28 years old, was notified of her impending layoff in March, a few months
before she was named the “Outstanding New Teacher” in San Lorenzo, Calif. In late July, she
was offered her job back and accepted.
Even when teachers are recalled, job security is never certain, and that can take a toll. Audrey
Day, 30, taught fourth and fifth grades for three years in San Diego. During that time, she was
told five times that she might have to change schools; and she was formally notified she might
be laid off only once. Ms. Day never lost her job, but says the process was extremely stressful
and made her wary of bonding with her students. “Ultimately I worked far too hard through an
undergrad degree, credential [program] and master’s not to know month to month if I’ll have a
position,” she says.
In 2007, Ms. Day quit to prepare for law school. She starts Seton Hall University law school
later this month.
66. Lauren Sikorski, 25, recently laid off after two years teaching special-
education math at Carteret Middle School in Carteret, N.J., plans to pursue
a degree in occupational therapy, beginning next spring.
“The plan my whole life was to be a teacher,” she says. “Now I’ll still work
with children, just in a different setting.”
Many others are biding their time, scrambling to craft back-up plans while
hoping to be recalled. Tony Whitesel, 39, left a branch-manager job at Hertz
in 2001 to return to college to become a teacher. In 2006, he started work
as a fifth-grade teacher at Great Valley Elementary School in Manteca,
Calif. He was laid off in June. Mr. Whitesel says he went into teaching
thinking he would have job security. “Ironically, I’m the only one in my family
to graduate high school, let alone college, yet I’m the only one not working,”
he says.
He spent the summer struggling to pay rent, a total of $40,000 in student
loans and other living expenses on unemployment benefits and his wife’s
salary as an aide for children with learning disabilities; she makes about a
third of his old salary. His health insurance will run out at the end of the
month, and he says he won’t be able to extend it.
67. Last week, Mr. Whitesel was told he could fill in for several months in the coming school year for a
teacher on sick leave from a different Manteca school. But the substitute post doesn’t offer benefits, so
Mr. Whitesel is still looking for nonteaching jobs, hindered by the 15.5% unemployment rate in San
Joaquin County, among the nation’s highest. If he finds a job and sees potential for growth, he says he
would leave teaching. “I won’t be terribly picky as long as the income is high enough and I have
benefits,” he says.
View Full Image
Aside from losing current teachers, some school officials worry the mounting layoffs could deter students from entering the
field. Jack O’Connell, California’s superintendent of public instruction, says generally fewer people apply for teacher
credentials when school funding declines. The California Teachers Association estimates 17,000 teachers in the state
received pink slips last school year
This fall’s class in the teacher-credential program at the University of Redlands School of Education in Redlands, Calif., has
about 50 students, about 20 fewer than normal. Dean Robert Denham says prospective students are having a hard time
justifying the $15,810 expense for another year of education when they may not find a job after completing the program.
Enrollment in the elementary program at California Lutheran University’s School of Education in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is
down by one-third from two years ago, says Carol Bartell, the school’s dean. Applications for the master’s-degree-in-
teaching program at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education in Charlottesville, Va., fell more than 15% this
year, the largest one-year drop in school history, says Sandi Cohen, director of teacher education. Graduates also are
finding it tougher to find a job. Ms. Cohen says slightly more than 15% of this year’s graduates don’t have jobs, a rare
occurrence in other years.
So far Teach for America Inc., a nonprofit that places recent college graduates in low-income public schools, has yet to see
any impact from the school cuts or interest from laid-off teachers, says Kerci Marcello Stroud, national communications
director. The group saw a 42% increase in applications this year and expects to place its largest corps ever this school year:
more than 4,000 new teachers, up from 3,700 last year.
But the recent news of budget cuts and layoffs on a local basis across the country may eventually limit the pool of new
teachers.
“Students who are very competitive in the work force are smart enough to
realize that there aren’t going to be jobs if the school districts around them
are cutting back,” says Tom Carroll, president of the National Commission on
Teaching and America’s Future. “They will pursue a different career.”
68. LAW AND PUBLIC SERVICE PROFESSIONS
RR fundable at ESC
Crime Scene Technology College Certificate
Crime Scene Technology Associate in Science Degree
Criminal Justice Technology Associate in Science Degree
Firefighter II State Certificate
Fire Science Technology Associate in Science Degree
Paralegal Studies Associate in Science Degree
Public Safety Administration Bachelor of Applied Science Degree
Are these promising jobs available in the above positions?
69. ITAs (aka Rapid Recovery Funding for
the “limited access” health programs
will only be initiated after the
student has been admitted to the
specific health program.
This step follows the admission
application to the Edison State
College.
Given June 30, 2011 graduation requirement, most
interested in these professions are precluded for RR
70. HEALTH PROFESSIONS, in demand
ESC/RR eligible educational paths
Cardiovascular Technology Associate in Science Degree
Dental Hygiene Associate in Science Degree
Emergency Medical Services Associate In Science Degree
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-Basic) State/College Certificate
Health Information Management Associate in Science Degree
Nursing Associate in Science Degree
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71. By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday,
February 11, 2009 4:20 PM PT
Stimulus: President Obama, a smart man, says that
tax cuts for the wealthy are the
main reason we're now in such economic trouble.
Someone needs to tell him how utterly — and
dangerously
— wrong that is.
72. As history shows, lower taxes, not more government, work best:
• The 1920s: When the income tax was established in 1913, the
rate was 7%. But it quickly soared, especially for the rich, and by 1918
the top rate was 77%. Unfortunately, coming out of the war the economy was a
mess, with prices falling, unemployment soaring and nominal GDP
dropping by more than 15% in just one year.
From 1921 to 1925, under Presidents Harding and Coolidge, tax rates were slashed
to 25%, and GDP rose at an annual rate of 3.4% in the four
years after the tax cuts vs. 2% before. All told, GDP swelled more than 50% during
the 1920s.
All this was undone, however, on a bipartisan basis — first by President Hoover, a
Republican, then by the Democrat FDR. Hoover boosted the
top income tax rate to 63%. Then, FDR took it to 79%, while also doubling
the corporate tax to 24%, imposing a Social Security tax of 2% and raising
taxes on stocks and dividends, estates, and "excess" profits. Is it any wonder the
economy went nowhere in the 1930s?
•
73. The 1960s: President Kennedy, a Democrat, believed
strongly that lower taxes meant higher growth, and he was
soon proven right. Before he was assassinated, JFK
proposed cutting top tax rates from a punitive 91% to 70%.
In 1965, his cuts were enacted under President Johnson by
a Democratic Congress.
Once again, growth took off, along with private investment.
Real GNP, which averaged just 2.4% from 1952 to 1960,
expanded at 4.5% during the '60s. The expansion that
began in 1961 and ended in 1970 was, at the time, the
longest ever.
74. • The 1980s: President Reagan took over an
economy with a 21% prime interest rate, double-
digit unemployment and inflation, slowing
productivity and flagging economic growth.
But he too was a big tax cutter. His 25% across-
the-board rate cuts snapped the economy out of
its funk, creating the longest peacetime
expansion ever at the time. During Reagan's two
terms real GDP growth averaged 3.2% compared
with 2.8% in the preceding eight years.
After stagnating through most of the 1970s, real
median family income grew $4,000 under
Reagan. Investment boomed, as did the stock
market, business creation and innovation. Some
20 million new jobs were created, due to the
increased incentives to create jobs
75.
76. OCTOBER 7, 2009, 2:36 P.M. ET
Republican Effort to Unseat Rangel Fails
By BRODY MULLINS
77. WASHINGTON—Democrats defeated an effort by
Republicans to remove Rep. Charlie Rangel from his
chairmanship of the influential Ways and Means Committee
amid a congressional ethics investigation.
Democrats blocked the anti-Rangel effort on a procedural
motion that would have forced the New York Democrat to step
down. The House later voted by a wide margin to refer the
matter to the House Ethics Committee, a technical move given
that the committee is already reviewing allegations of ethical
lapses by Mr. Rangel.
But in what could be the first signs of the weakening of
support for Mr. Rangel among Democrats, two Democratic
lawmakers broke with their party and voted with Republicans
on the vote.
78. The vote was the third time since July 2008 that the House has
voted on a measure by Republicans to remove Mr. Rangel.
This was the first time that any Democrat had voted with
Republicans.
The two Democrats who voted with Republicans were Gene
Taylor and Travis Childers, both of Mississippi.
Mr. Rangel stands accused of several ethical lapses, including
failing to disclose income on a rental property in the
Dominican Republic on official personal-financial statements
filed with Congress.
He also used official House letterhead when writing letters
asking for donations to an educational center in New York that
bears his name
79. In August, Mr. Rangel amended his official personal financial statements
to reveal a half-million dollars in assets he hadn't previously disclosed, as
required.
Republicans say Mr. Rangel shouldn't be allowed to be chairman of the
House committee that controls tax laws when he is accused of violating
such laws.
Mr. Rangel's predicament poses difficulties for Democrats as they
prepare to take up several tax issues in his committee, including
repealing the estate tax. The continued drumbeat of bad news also
undermines pledges by Congressional Democrats to clean up
Washington. The party took control of Congress in 2006 helped in part
by Republican corruption scandals.
The House Ethics Committee has been looking into whether Mr. Rangel
violated ethics rules for at least a year. The congressman himself asked
the ethics panel to conduct a review to clear his name.
80. The resolution, offered by Texas Republican
John Carter, called for Mr. Rangel to step
down from the chair of the Ways and Means
Committee until the House Ethics Committee
concluded its investigation.
81. Read More: Budget & Tax Policy
In its yearly report released last week, the Taxpayer Advocate
Service notes what the public has known for decades:
"America's taxpayers deserve a simpler and less burdensome tax
system thaThe national taxpayer advocate recommends that
"Congress substantially simplify the Internal Revenue Code." Is
anyone on Capitol Hill listening?
t enables them to comply with their tax obligations
expeditiously."
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, January 13, 2009 4:20
PM PT
Taxation:
82.
83. Then there's the expense. In 2006, the tax advocate's report
says, corporations and individuals spent $193 billion to
comply with the tax code. (Some estimates are far higher.
The Tax Foundation, for one, says $265 billion was spent in
2005.)
The enormous time, resources and energy eaten up by tax
preparation would be of far better use if it were applied to
the private economy. Imagine if that $193 billion (or more)
were used instead for investment, providing jobs for the
equivalent of 3.8 million full-time workers performing
productive tasks.
84. And we haven't even mentioned how the code's bias against savings
and investment, the engine of our economy, curbs growth.
Americans deserve a tax code that doesn't entrap taxpayers; a
Taxpayers Bill of Rights that informs and protects them; a simple,
transparent system that doesn't require professional help; a code
that isn't constantly shifting (3,250 changes since 2001, more than
500 just in 2008); an arrangement that doesn't encourage
overpayments (estimated to be an average $610 per return a decade
ago, says the Government Accountability Office); and revenue agents
who are more understanding of taxpayers' burdens.
The taxpayer advocate has recommended that Congress rip the
complexity from the tax code. The reality, though, is lawmakers don't
want to change a system that has served them well. As long as they
can use the code to hand out favors to supporters and punish political
enemies, they will have little interest in change
85. Can Social Security Get A New Deal?
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted
Thursday, January 08, 2009 4:20 PM PT
Entitlements: In a speech focused on
fiscal discipline, the president-elect
referred Wednesday to out-of-control
Social Security and Medicare spending.
Can he tackle these problems while
launching a record stimulus?
86. Social Security and Medicare are headed for the pecuniary
ditch, and they could take the U.S. economy down with them.
In less than 10 years, Social Security will begin to pay out
more in benefits than it takes in in tax revenues. By 2017, it
will need $20 billion from taxpayers to meet its obligations. In
2020, Social Security will be underfunded by $96 billion.
Five years later, it will owe $280 billion more than it generates
in tax revenues, and only 2.4 taxpaying workers will support
each retiree, down from the 3.3-to-1 workers-to-retiree ratio
of 2007. (In 1945, by comparison, 42 workers existed per
beneficiary.) In 2030, the gap swells to a half-trillion dollars,
with only two workers per retiree. By 2041, Social Security
will be essentially broke, having exhausted its trust fund,
those dollars amassed through decades of surplus payroll tax
revenues that Congress will have already squandered on
general budget expenditures.
87. Medicare's future is just as bleak. It is
already spending more than it is receiving
in payroll taxes. Beginning this year through
2017, it will need $342 billion from the
federal treasury to cover the hospital
insurance costs run up by beneficiaries.
Medicare trustees expect the Hospital
Insurance Trust Fund to be insolvent by
2019.
88. In both cases, Washington has three choices to
make up the growing gaps between benefits
and revenues. It can:
• Cut benefits (a possibility Obama hinted at,
though it is likely to be politically impossible).
• Raise incomes taxes by as much as 150% or
payroll taxes significantly (both of which would
have devastating economic effects).
• Slash general budget spending and use the
savings to fund entitlements (almost as
politically difficult as cutting benefits).
• Employ some combination of the three.
89. There is a another way, however, at least with Social Security, which is the larger of the
two problems. That way is privatization.
Obama's party lashes out when even partial privatization is brought up.
But taking retirement out of government's hands works. It has worked in Chile. It has
worked in Britain.
It's worked, as well, in Texas, where in 1981, Galveston County employees voted 78% to
22% to opt out of the Social Security system and put their trust in a private retirement
plan. Brazoria and Matagorda counties followed Galveston out of Social Security before
Congress outlawed in 1983 the option of leaving Social Security.
Now more than 5,000 Texas participants are in a private plan where the rate of return far
exceeds that of Social Security's average of 1.25%.
The Institute of Policy Innovation, a Texas think tank, reports that a low-income worker
making $17,124 a year and retiring at 65 will get $782 per month from Social Security
while someone with an identical salary retiring at the same age would receive $1,285 a
month from the plan the Texas county workers invest in. A retiree who earned roughly
$51,000 a year will get $1,540 monthly from Social Security, $3,846 from the Texas plan.
In September, Obama referred to President Bush's "failed privatization scheme" for Social
Security, indicating that his administration would never consider private plans.
But that was while he was shoring up his party's support. In many ways, Obama the
president-elect is acting as if he is not familiar with Obama the candidate.
If overhauling entitlements is truly "a central part" of his administration's attempts to
tame federal spending, he must be open to ideas beyond cutting benefits, raising taxes
and shifty budgeting.
Better to be known as the president who saved the nation from an entitlement disaster and
economic doom than the president who had the chance and failed.
90.
91. Corporations
• Large-scale organizations that have legal
powers, such as the ability to enter into
contracts and buy and sell property, separate
from their individual owners.
• Transnational corporations are large
corporations that are headquartered in one
country but sell and produce goods and
services in many countries.
92. Competition
• An oligopoly exists when several companies
overwhelmingly control an entire industry.
– Example: The music industry, in which a few giant
companies are behind many of the labels and
artists known to consumers.
93. Competition
• A shared monopoly exists when four or fewer
companies supply 50% or more of a particular
market.
– Example: U.S. automobile manufacturers (referred
to as the “Big Three”) and cereal companies (3 of
which control 77% of the market).
94. Monopoly Capitalism
• Corporations gain near monopoly control over
production and distribution by acquiring companies
that supply raw materials and the companies that
are the outlets for their products.
• Example: An oil company may hold leases on land
where oil is pumped out of the ground, own the
plants that convert the oil into gasoline, and own the
gas stations that sell the product.
95. Conglomerates
• Combinations of businesses in different
commercial areas, all of which are owned by
one holding company.
• They are often formed by a series of mergers
and acquisitions across industries.
96. Interlocking Corporate Directorates
• When members of the board of directors of one
corporation sit on the board(s) of other corporations.
• The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 made it illegal for a
person to sit on the boards of directors of two
corporations in direct competition.
• A person may serve on the board of a bank and the
board of a commercial corporation that borrows
money from the bank.
97. 2003 General Motors Board of Directors
• On the chair representing each of the directors is the name
of another entity each director is connected with, and his or
her position with that entity.
98. Largest Nonfinancial U.S.
Transnational Corporations
Foreign
Corporation Product Revenues
(billions)
Exxon/Mobil Oil refining 143.0
Chevron
Oil refining 65.0
Texaco
Ford Motor vehicles 51.7
99. The Music Industry’s Big Four
Company Country Leading Artists
U2
Universal Music Group
France Jimi Hendrix
(MCA, Polygram)
Sting
Sony BMG Entertainment Avril Lavigne Pearl
Japan
(RCA, Arista) Jam Carlos Santana
100. The Music Industry’s Big Four
Company Country Leading Artists
The Beatles
EMI Group (Capitol, EMI, United
Pink Floyd
Virgin) Kingdom
Radiohead
Led Zeppelin
Warner Music Group Jewel
United States
(Atlantic, Elektra) Hootie & the Blowfish
102. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective of
Economy and Work in the U.S.
• According to symbolic interactionists, work is
an important source of self-identity.
• Job satisfaction refers to people’s attitudes
toward their work, based on:
– Job responsibilities
– Organizational structure
– Individual needs and values
103. Occupations
• Categories of jobs that involve similar activities at
different work sites.
• The primary labor market consists of high paying
jobs with good benefits that have some security and
possibility of future advancement.
• The secondary labor market consists of low-paying
jobs with few benefits and very little job security or
possibility for future advancement.
104. Five Characteristics of Professions
1. Abstract, specialized knowledge
2. Autonomy
3. Self regulation
4. Authority
5. Altruism
105. Professionals
• Professionals such
as the lawyer shown
here are expected to
have specialized
knowledge of their
field based on formal
education and prior
experience.
107. Occupational Segregation
• Occupational
segregation is clearly
visible in personal
service industries.
• Women and people of
color are
disproportionately
represented in jobs that
do not meet societal
norms for benefits and
security.
108. Contingent Work
• Part-time work, temporary work, or
subcontracted work that offers advantages to
employers but that can be detrimental to the
welfare of workers.
• Found in every segment of the work force,
including colleges and universities, where
tenure-track positions are fewer in number
than in the past.
109. Contingent Work
• Hiring contingent
workers can increase
the profitability of
many corporations.
• What message does
this ad convey to
corporate employers?
110. Subcontracting
• An agreement in which a corporation
contracts with other firms to provide
specialized components, products, or services
to the larger corporation.
112. Labor Unions and Strikes
• In recent years, strike activity has diminished
as workers fear losing their jobs.
• In 2002 only 19 strikes involving more than
1,000 workers were reported.
• Number of workers involved in the actions
declined from more than 2.5 million in 1971 to
192,000 in 1995.
113. Protests
• Seeking to improve economic and social
opportunities for farm workers, the late César
Chávez held rallies and engaged in protests in
an effort to better the workers’ lives.
114. Employment For Persons With A Disability
• On the average, workers with a disability make
85% (men) and 70% (women) of what
coworkers without disabilities earn.
• Studies have shown a 30 year decline in the
economic condition of persons with
disabilities.
115. Workers With a Disability
• Workers with a
disability are able to
engage in a wide
variety of occupations
when they are offered
the opportunity to do
so.
