Dollars & Sense articles from January 1997

Dollars & Sense archives from January 1997

A maverick wins the Nobel Prize. (William Vickery)
January 1, 1997... This October, William Vickery, an 82-year-old emeritus professor of economics at Columbia University, along with James Mirrlees, a British economist whom Vickery had never met, won the Nobel prize in economics. Nothing unusual about that. The...

Horatio Alger, where are you? (Forbes 500 richest individuals with wealthy parents)
January 1, 1997... Last October, Forbes Magazine released its vaunted list of rich people, combined with its usual celebration of the prowess of American entrepreneurship. "Forget America's 50 families," Forbes' 1996 survey begins. "Forget old money. Forget...

A business showcases its segregated staff. (segregation at steakhouse Smith and Wollensky)
January 1, 1997... Would we have a meritocracy if we got rid of affirmative action in employment and its "unfair preferences"? The Texaco case suggests the answer is no. An even more graphic demonstration that segregation by race and sex remains a problem not only...

Workers de-compensation: benefits evaporate for repetitive stress sufferers.(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... It starts as a catch in a wrist, tingling fingers in the middle of the night, or simply a vague feeling that a pinky doesn't reach the "a" key as quickly as it used to. Then, for many computer users, the problem becomes a full-blown Repetitive...

Competition comes to electricity: industry gains, people and the environment lose.
January 1, 1997... "People will die." That's why Bobbi Bennett, an energy specialist at the National Training and Information Center (NTIC) in Chicago, opposes competition in the electric utility industry. "Many people simply can't afford to pay their bills,"...

Judi Bari: revolutionary ecologist.
January 1, 1997... "I want people who are reading Dollars & Sense to understand that the environmental movement is not just a bunch of bourgeois dilettantes trying to save scenery," Judi Bari told me in her typical no-bullshit style. "We are fighting the same...

Last in, first out: black men take the heat. (unemployment among black men)
January 1, 1997... The widely-syndicated economics columnist Robert Samuelson recently wrote, "Most men, whatever their race, shouldn't regularly be without work. If they are, the main reason is that they lack the skills, discipline or desire to find and keep...

South Africa beyond apartheid. (interview with Warren Krafchik, director of Public Information Center of the Institute for Democracy)(Interview)
January 1, 1997... Warren Krafchik is the director of the Public Information Center of the Institute for Democracy, a non-governmental organization in South Africa. The Institute aims to help build the capacity, both within government and private civic groups, for...

A progressive's (brief) guide to the Internet.
January 1, 1997... When the United States military hooked up the Internet, connecting military and educational organizations throughout the world, their vision was a far cry from the current reality. Rather than a few computer dweebs sharing military secrets or...

What is that masked bank? (Federal Reserve Bank)
January 1, 1997... "What is the Fed? What does it do and why should I care about it?" - Robbie Liben, Manhattan The Federal Reserve Bank ("The Fed") is a weird and undemocratic institution that holds a lot of power. It both regulates banks, and sets the...

Why have savings fallen? Rising inequality deserves the blame.
January 1, 1997... Beginning in the mid-1970s the share of their incomes which U.S. households save steadily declined, and this drop accelerated in the 1980s. According to household surveys, the savings rate averaged 13.8% of income during 1981 to 1983, but fell...