Dollars & Sense articles from May 1995

Dollars & Sense archives from May 1995

Hard times roll on: growth and well-being on different tracks.
May 1, 1995... Rave reviews for the economy continue to pour in. "The economy has not enjoyed such a healthy expansion of strong growth and modest inflation in more than a generation," gushed Laura Tyson, Chair of Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA),...

No more candy store: states move to end corporate welfare as we know it.
May 1, 1995... Lurking within the records of almost every city, county and state in America there is a scandal. Look up the companies that have received generous development subsidies - tax abatements, low-interest loans, training grants, infrastructure aid...

Aid to dependent corporations: exposing federal handouts to the wealthy.
May 1, 1995... In 1992 rancher J.R. Simplot of Grandview, Idaho paid the U.S. government $87,000 for grazing rights on federal lands, about one-quarter the rate charged by private landowners. Simplot's implicit subsidy from U.S. taxpayers, $261,000, would have...

Hemp's Kentucky moment.
May 1, 1995... The hemp plant, whose spiky blossoms usually conjure up images of aging hippies in the public's mind, has recently won some unlikely admirers in the state of Kentucky. Small-town, adamantly non-toking farmers are contending that a breed of hemp...

The wages of greed: why Orange County gambled on derivatives and lost. (California)
May 1, 1995... Orange County, California, one of the most affluent municipalities in the country, brought America the Proposition 13 Tax Revolt of the 1970s. Today it is again a leader in creative public policy, shaking the country with another feat of fiscal...

Brazil's debt debacle: an interview with Maria Clara Soares.(Interview)
May 1, 1995... The collapse of the Mexican peso last December sent shock waves through Wall Street, as the stability of other Latin American currencies was cast into doubt. Especially nervous were those watching finances in Brazil, where the government has...

From white to out of sight: the color of unions in the building trades.
May 1, 1995... Early advocates of affirmative action found potent ammunition in the shameful spectacle of the corporate boardroom packed with white men in grey suits. Likewise, today's debate seems to hinge on whether such elite institutions have cracked open...

Locked out and fighting. (interview with labor leader Chuck Turner)(Interview)
May 1, 1995... Chuck Turner Co-founder, Greater Roxbury Workers Association What was the most effective way of countering discrimination that you found when you were organizing in Roxbury? CT: We formed an association of workers in September 1990, because...

Boom-and-bust racism. (interview with labor leader Bill Fletcher)(Interview)
May 1, 1995... Bill Fletcher Director of Field Services, Service Employees International Union (SEIU); former community and labor organizer, Roxbury neighborhood. What form has racism taken in the labor movement in general, and specifically, in the building...

Are the unions bad for blacks? (interview with labor leader Herb Jackson)(Interview)
May 1, 1995... Herb Jackson Executive Director, Greater Roxbury Workers Association How has racism in the building trade unions changed over the years? HJ: It hasn't changed at all. In the case of the Central Artery, there are hundreds or thousands of...

What unions can do. (interview with labor leader Mark Erlich)(Interview)
May 1, 1995... Mark Erlich Business Manager, Carpenters Local Union #40, Cambridge, MA What are the major issues facing workers of color who want access to the building trades? ME: The issue was first raised politically about 25 years ago, when a lot of...

To be young, black, and female: falling further behind in the shifting economy.
May 1, 1995... Since the 1970s the average earnings of most workers have been falling consistently. For most young workers the situation has been worse, with job opportunities and wages in sharp decline. The losses have been especially severe for African...

The real un(der)employment rate.
May 1, 1995... An average of eight million people were unemployed in 1994, yielding an unemployment rate of 6.4%. But the rate would jump to at least 9.2% if the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the government agency that tracks unemployment, counted everyone...

The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy.
May 1, 1995... "Once it was the 'revolt of the masses' that was held to threaten social order and the civilizing tradition of Western culture. In our time, however, the chief threat seems to come from those at the top of the social hierarchy, not the masses....

The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era.
May 1, 1995... In the weeks leading up to the humiliating defeat of the Democrats in last fall's elections, The Wall Street Journal wondered how - if it really is "the economy, stupid" - a party presiding over a robust recovery could be in such electoral...

Rising output, falling incomes.
May 1, 1995... During the past 25 years the U.S. economy has continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate than in earlier decades. But these gains have not trickled down enough to benefit low-to-average wage workers or the poor who rely on government benefits....