Dollars & Sense articles from July 2003

Dollars & Sense archives from July 2003

From the editors.
July 1, 2003... Even before the war in Iraq began, U.S. corporations were lining up to profit from reconstructing the soon-to-be-war-torn country. In this issue ("The Real Winners"), Todd Tavares profiles companies that won lucrative contracts in Iraq: some...

Licensed to Kill, Inc.(the short run)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A new tobacco company has sprung up: "Licensed to Kill, Inc." Its articles of incorporation state its intention to profit by any means permitted by the state of Virginia (where it is incorporated) "including, but not limited to, the manufacture...

Shock and Awe[TM].(the short run)
July 1, 2003... On March 21, just two days after American armed forces launched their hostile takeover of Iraq and its oil fields, the Sony Corporation sought to cash in on the carnage by registering the phrase "shock and awe" as a trademark to use as a...

The value of higher education.(the short run)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... As admission to America's top colleges and universities becomes ever more competitive, wealthy parents of underachieving students are finding that paying up can pay off. According to a series by Daniel Golden in the Wall Street Journal, Duke...

A model war.(the short run ... Indonesia adopts the U.S. model in its war on secessionist Aceh)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A little known conflict recently escalated into full-scale war when Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri abandoned peace negotiations and ordered a massive strike on a group of guerrillas in the rural province of Aceh. The parallels...

Ring ring ring.(the short run)(Pro Life Communications)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The Christian Coalition, suffering slumping donations due in part to the economic slowdown, has found a new way to raise money. It plans to sell "Pro Life Communications" phone service to its 2 million members. Revenues will likely go toward...

Muslims report credit card cancellations.(the short run)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A recent article in City Limits magazine reported that 12 Muslims, almost all Pakistani-American, found their American Express cards cancelled after the company requested years of tax returns, bank statements and proof of employment. According...

CEOs make even more money.(the short run)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... While corporate earnings declined and workers' wages fell last year, the nation's top corporate brass raked in more than ever. A Business Week survey of 365 CEOs found that median pay increased by 5.9% to $3.7 million in 2002. A survey by...

Bush's overtime proposal: a piece of work.(the short run)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... This spring, the Bush administration proposed to overhaul decades-old labor law, arguing that the fundamentals of American labor law, including the 40-hour workweek, are antiquated. According to the AFL-CIO, the administration proposal...

On the move: Boston residents fight for a more just public transit system.(active culture)
July 1, 2003... Imagine you need to get to an important appointment downtown. You stand at the crowded bus stop, where there is no shelter, no bench. The sun heats down as you inhale noxious diesel bus fumes. Your bus finally arrives, ten minutes behind...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... To the Editor: I have been hard-pressed to find a decent publication to read. Although some economists do write with the people in mind, much of the literature is hard to find, very academic, and does not engage the public. The right is...

The new old Wall Street settlement: ten reasons the Wall Street fix is a farce.(making sense)
July 1, 2003... You may have experienced a sense of deja vu soaking in the media fanfare surrounding the recent Wall Street settlement, a $1.4 billion wrist-slap levied on the investment banking industry in the name of reform. That's because the headlines that...

Flattening Appalachia: new mining techniques explode mountains and cause acres of land to collapse. The coal industry calls it economic development, and paid-off politicians agree.(making sense)
July 1, 2003... Just after midnight on October 11, 2000, a Martin County Coal computer operator noticed a problem at Kentucky's largest "slurry impoundment"--one of the 200 waste reservoirs that catch the liquid run-off from Appalachian coal mines. The...

Don't lose heart: what we can take from the anti-war movement.(comment)
July 1, 2003... We didn't stop the war. Despite tireless efforts, the peace movement in the United States failed to foil the Bush gang's nearly unilateral, unprovoked invasion of Iraq, or to convince a majority of Americans that the war represented a...

Big bang for the buck: the ten largest U.S. defense contractors get a lot of contract dollars for their lobbying and campaign contributions. "Revolving door" executives may help.(Balance Sheet)
July 1, 2003... PAYOUTS PAYOFFS 200-2002 2000-2002 Campaign Value of WEAPONS REVOLVING ...

Bad news on main street is good news on Wall Street. What's so confusing?(Up against: the Wall Street Journal)
July 1, 2003... On May 2, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the U.S. economy lost 48,000 jobs in April, pushing the unemployment rate up to 6% and matching the eight-year high. The stock market promptly rallied. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of...

Arab and Muslim immigrants under fire: interview with Hatem Abudayyeh of the Arab American Action Network.(Interview)
July 1, 2003... Since September 11, 2001, Arab and Muslim immigrants have confronted mounting discrimination at the hands of the U.S. government and private citizens. Individuals the Department of Homeland Security identifies as "potential terrorists" are...

Fiscal lockdown: facing their most serious revenue shortfall in generations, states are slashing spending on nearly everything, including prisons. Will these cuts weaken the prison-industrial complex or strengthen it?
July 1, 2003... Eds. note: This is Part I of a two-part article on the effect of budget cuts on state corrections systems and the prisoners they incarcerate. Part II will appear in the fall. "Drastic austerity measures have been applied at Greensville...

The real winners: a roque's gallery of war profiteers.(Iraqi reconstruction)
July 1, 2003... Even as bombs were raining down on Baghdad, a short list of private beneficiaries was being drawn up behind closed doors. As the invasion entered its final phase, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Army Corps...

From the classroom to the White House: economics according to N. Gregory Mankiw: presidential advisor Mankiw's influential textbook gives students a biased introduction to economics and justifies the Bush policy agenda.
July 1, 2003... Let those who will, write the nation's laws if I can write its textbooks," Paul Samuelson, author of the one-time leading economics textbook, once boasted. Now N. Gregory Mankiw (pronounced "Mankew") is about to do both. He's the newly...

From HOPE VI to HOPE sick? A federal program that was supposed to improve the worst of the nation's public housing gets hijacked by private developers and government bureaucrats.
July 1, 2003... These buildings are not a problem. They say that everything's falling apart and that's not true. We don't know where anyone is going with the relocation. There isn't really any place to go. No affordable apartments. They also say that the new...

Will rent control make a comeback in Boston? How tenants' efforts to reinstate rent regulation in Boston were thwarted, for now.
July 1, 2003... Tenant leaders in Boston sat across the table from representatives of a large real estate company in negotiations. The building owner wanted $400 rent increases from each of 32 residential units. Tenants sought much smaller increases. The...

Raw deal for workers: why have U.S. workers experienced a long-term decline in pay, benefits, and working conditions?
July 1, 2003... Few people have seen the inside of a "secondary meat processor"--a factory where large cuts of beef are turned into hamburger patties, roast beef, and other beef products. The workers who process beef do not have it easy. Many stand for long...

Ask Dr. Dollar.(deflation)
July 1, 2003... Dear Dr. Dollar: I have been hearing quite a bit about the dangers of deflation to the United States economy. I have even heard warnings that "spiraling deflation" could cause a global depression such as occurred in the 1930s. But wasn't...

Megacities in the Global South.(economy in numbers)
July 1, 2003... In the past 50 years, the world's urban population has more than tripled. Currently, almost every other person across the globe lives in a city. Five decades ago, New York was the only metropolis with more than 10 million residents. Now, there...