Dollars & Sense articles from March 2003

Dollars & Sense archives from March 2003

Environmental costs of militarism and capitalism.(Editorial)
March 1, 2003... As of this writing. 113,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to the Persian Gulf region, with thousands more en route. The war against Iraq is on the minds of the staff and collective of this magazine--even as a worldwide peace movement...

So much for scientific objectivity. (The Short Run).(Politically conservative scientists wanted)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... If you've always wanted to be a prominent research scientist, but never bothered to spend time in a research lab, you may be in luck--provided that you've got the correct ideology. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the...

Plastic prez. (The Short Run).(George W. Bush dolls)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Talkingpresidents.com, a toy manufacturer, is having trouble keeping its new talking "George W. Bush" doll in stock. The all-American plastic George spouts political and patriotic phrases, acknowledges the difficult nature of "putting food on...

Vigilantes hunt immigrants. (The Short Run).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The Wild West is no thing of the past in Tombstone, Arizona, where armed vigilante groups are taking the law into their own hands. According to the Los Angeles Times, newly formed militia groups plan to patrol the border, track down...

Nestle teaches famine-struck country a lesson. (The Short Run).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Nestle, the world's largest food and beverage conglomerate, demanded $6 million from Ethiopia this December as compensation for the actions of a prior military government. The offense? In 1975, Ethiopian authorities nationalized a subsidiary of...

Layoff stats given pink slip. (The Short Run).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... "The United States economy is growing again," President Bush announced cheerily in a holiday-themed radio address from his Texas ranch this winter. Apparently, the administration feels the economy is growing so fast that it no longer has a use...

Canadians inspect rogue nation. (The Short Run).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... A Canada-based peace and disarmament group, Rooting Out Evil, is planning to dispatch a team of volunteer weapons inspectors into the United States, a nation they consider "the greatest of rogue nations." The team will include a member of the...

Riches and the republic. (The Short Run).(C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Representative-elect C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Maryland) told the Associated Press that the talents that make people successful in business also make them good lawmakers. "They bring a lot to the table, especially in our difficult...

Super-sized tax relief. (The Short Run).(Small business owners )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Small business owners who opt to buy huge gas-guzzling vehicles are eligible for big tax breaks, thanks to provisions in the tax code drawn up after September 11, 2001. Currently small-business owners and the self-employed who purchase...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... To the Editor: I just finished Ellen Frank's brilliant article, "The Great Stock Illusion" (November/December 2002). For me, her explanation of the necessary relationship between any increase in the value of stocks that exceeds growth in...

"We shouldn't have to be a dumping ground": the Gila River alliance shuts down a Stericycle medical waste incinerator in Arizona. (Active Culture).(Indian reservation shuts incinerator)
March 1, 2003... As of November 17, the Gila River Indian Reservation is no longer a haven for polluters. Stericycle, the country's largest medical waste treatment company, has incinerated all types of medical waste on the Gila Reservation for the past ten...

Environmental justice in South Africa: water sanitation, privatization, and the legacy of apartheid. (Making Sense).
March 1, 2003... There's a new hero fighting on edge of illegality to get clean drinking water to Johannesburg's poor. The "struggle plumber" knows how to uninstall the blocks that prevent free water from flowing from central pipes into peoples' homes. Yes,...

Double taxation double speak: why repealing dividend taxes is unfair. (Up Against: The Wall Street Journal).
March 1, 2003... Concerned that the most well off in our society might be suffering a bout of the post-holiday blues, the Wall Street journal's day-after-Christmas editorial urged the Bush Administration to end the "double taxation" of dividends--payments of...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2003... The article "Savage Inequalities Revisited" (January/February 2003) stated that the federal government of Canada funds public schools directly. In fact, the provinces and territories of Canada hold primary responsibility for elementary,...

Is the United States a pollution haven? (Comment).
March 1, 2003... Free trade, according to its critics, runs the risk of creating pollution havens--countries where lax environmental standards allow dirty industries to expand. Poor countries are the usual suspects; perhaps poverty drives them to desperate...

Car trouble: the automobile as an environmental and health disaster.
March 1, 2003... (Scene: Los Angeles, the 1940s) Eddie Valiant: A freeway? What the hell's a freeway? Judge Doom: Eight lanes of shimmering cement running from here to Pasadena. Smooth, straight, fast. Traffic jams will be a thing of the past... I see...

Whose jobs? Our jobs! Here is the untold story of workers' response to the telecommunications meltdown. Unions, ex-employees, and retirees are mobilizing for jobs and reform.
March 1, 2003... At some point, you become numb to the stories of greedy execs who scammed billions of dollars from their shareholders and workers. The $95 million Bel Aire mansions. The $15,000 umbrella stands. The tax-deductible private jets. Even more...

War on the earth.(U.S. Department of Defense is largest polluter)
March 1, 2003... In this era of "permanent war," the U.S. war machine bombards civilians in places like Serbia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It also makes "war on the earth," both at home and abroad. The U.S. Department of Defense is, in fact, the world's largest...

A matter of life and debt: the impact of predatory lending on the black community.
March 1, 2003... Think of it as a word problem. Problem is the operative word: If "company A" lends $50,000 to "consumer F" at an interest rate 7 points above the prime rate, charging finance fees equal to 10% of the loan and a prepayment penalty, how long...

Not the owners of the earth: capitalism and environmental destruction.(Interview)
March 1, 2003... AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN BELLAMY FOSTER The success of the environmental movement in raising public consciousness can be seen and felt almost on a daily basis. From local recycling efforts to tighter automobile inspection standards, we are...

Pricing the priceless: inside the strange world of cost-benefit analysis; the cost-benefit analysis of environmental protection simply does not offer the policy-making panacea its adherents promise. (Primer).
March 1, 2003... How strictly should we regulate arsenic in drinking water? Or carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Or pesticides in our food? Or oil drilling in scenic places? The list of environmental harms and potential regulatory remedies often appears to be...

Nature, Production, Power: Towards an Ecological Political Economy. (In Review).(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... Edited by Fred P. Gale and R. Michael M'Gonigle. Edward Elgar, 2000 A stimulating collection on the relationship between capitalism and the ecological demands of a sustainable society. Some of the essays are theoretical (What is...

Trust Us We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... By Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber. Putnam Publishing Group, 2000 Maybe the manipulation of science to support corporate lies shouldn't make for fun reading, but it does in Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber's Trust Us, We're Experts....

Materials Matter: Towards a Sustainable Materials Policy.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... By Ken Geiser. MIT Press, 2001 Materials Matter has a simple premise: the best way to reduce pollution is to redesign the production process itself to use and generate fewer toxic materials. Seems obvious, but for the most part...

Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... By Sandra Steingraber. Perseus Publishing, 2001 Having Faith is a lyrical memoir of Steingraber's first pregnancy and a scientific look at fetal development and the effects of chemical hazards on fetuses and babies. It offers a glimpse of...

The Art of the Commonplace.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... By Wendell Berry. Counterpoint Press, 2002 Wendell Berry's 21 essays show us why industrial agriculture and urban, profit-driven culture are so destructive--and what makes their alternatives so compelling. Grouped around the five themes of...

Barry Commoner's Contribution to the Environmental Movement: Science and Social Action.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... Edited by David Kriebel. Baywood Publishing, 2002 Dr. Barry Commoner started talking about the origins of the environmental crisis when only a few people knew there was an environmental crisis. He is still at it. This book is a collection...

Ask Dr. Dollar.(analysis of rent control)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... Dear Dr. Dollar What are the merits of the argument that rent control hurts tenants by limiting the incentives to create and maintain rental housing? Sarah Marxer, San Francisco, CA The standard story of rent control, laid out in...

Who's to blame for climate change? (Economy in Numbers).
March 1, 2003... It's now an indisputable fact that the global climate is changing. Scientists have warned for decades that "greenhouse gases," mainly carbon dioxide ([CO.sub.2]), were building up in the atmosphere and trapping the sun's heat. Over the course...