Dollars & Sense articles from May 1998

Dollars & Sense archives from May 1998

Taking steps against child labor.
May 1, 1998... The struggle to end child labor picked up speed in January when the Global March Against Child Labor began winding its way through the Philippines. Parallel marches through Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas will eventually travel through 92...

Cup of justice. (economic and social justice in trading of goods)
May 1, 1998... To most people, a cup of coffee is just a cup of coffee. But the people at Equal Exchange of Canton, Mass., would like coffee drinkers to recognize that their choice of brands can mean the difference between supporting coffee producers paid a...

The business of social responsibility.
May 1, 1998... Late last fall, some 600 business leaders - including CEOs, marketing directors, and investors in some of the nation's largest corporations - gathered at the Sheraton Grande, a giant nonunion conference center in downtown L.A., for the fifth...

'Be realistic - demand the impossible.' (analysis of the revolt led by students and workers in Paris, France in May, 1968)
May 1, 1998... In the 1960s, student-led demonstrations erupted around the world but the Paris revolt of May '68 stands out because students marched with workers. The system shook and so did our sense of the possible. Thirty years ago this month in Paris, tens...

What does the U.S. want from Africa? (Africa Growth and Opportunity Act)
May 1, 1998... "This is a huge economic prize the U.S. wants to get hold of." So said Howard French, a New York Times foreign correspondent commenting on the reasons for Madeleine Albright's visit to Africa last December, in preparation for Clinton's trip to...

The threat from mergers: can antitrust make a difference? (includes related articles)
May 1, 1998... "Are we looking forward to the information age, or will it be the Microsoft Age?," asked Lawrence Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation, one of Microsoft's competitors. Hoping to stave off the Microsoft Age, the Antitrust Division of the U.S....

The challenge to the Brazilian left: a conversation with Benedita da Silva.(Interview)
May 1, 1998... Her election to the Brazilian Congress is, in fact, a remarkable achievement in a country that has historically and systematically excluded from positions of importance, not only women, but all people of color. Our conversation returned often to...

Labor held captive. (prison labor)(includes related article on the global economy)
May 1, 1998... Michael Matthews is a medium security prisoner at the Dayton Correctional Institute, a 480-man facility for both adults and youth in south Dayton. Originally from Missouri, he's been in Ohio's penal system for twelve years and at Dayton...

Who cares for the caregivers? Home care coops struggle against Medicare cuts.
May 1, 1998... "I was in so much pain, working everyday," Betty Cooper was saying. She is not the sort of woman who complains of her troubles. Even now, resting up from knee surgery in her high-rise Harlem apartment, she doesn't spend a lot of time dwelling on...

Can we build a new American dream? (Center for a New American Dream)(Interview)
May 1, 1998... The Center for a New American Dream is a new nonprofit organization whose goal is to promote "sustainable consumption. "The Center seeks to change the ways North Americans produce and consume, in order to lessen our harmful impact on the natural...

Currency speculation: how great a danger? (includes related article on reducing currency speculation)
May 1, 1998... The financial turmoil in eastern Asia has thrown its people out of work, shut down factories, and led investors to remove their capital from the area. The severe crisis in South Korea, for example, may raise unemployment to two million people...

The super rich are out of sight. (top 1% earners not represented in databases and many studies)
May 1, 1998... The super rich, the top 1% who earn the lions share of the nation's income, go uncounted in most income distribution reports. Even those who study the question sometimes overlook the wealthiest among us. For instance, the Center on Budget and...

There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos.
May 1, 1998... When the Progressive's reviewer of Jim Hightower's new book smugly sneered that Hightower had a hokey Texas way of talking and was a wussy, besides, it didn't take long for fellow Texan and syndicated columnist Molly Ivins to rip the reviewer to...

The Big One.
May 1, 1998... When the Progressive's reviewer of Jim Hightower's new book smugly sneered that Hightower had a hokey Texas way of talking and was a wussy, besides, it didn't take long for fellow Texan and syndicated columnist Molly Ivins to rip the reviewer to...

The Social Meaning of Money: Pinchecks, Poor Relief and Other Currencies.
May 1, 1998... You can't use a U.S. dollar to buy bread in France; it is the wrong currency; you need francs. And you can't use money given to you as a wedding gift to buy groceries (and not a toaster) because it too is the wrong currency, says Viviana Selizer...