Dollars & Sense articles from May 2006

Dollars & Sense archives from May 2006

From the editors.(illegal immigration)(Editorial)
May 1, 2006... Unlike previous generations, new immigrants make up part of what is now being called a 'transnational division of labor,' as the global market replaces the nation-state as the dominant organizing force in the lives of migrant...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 1, 2006... In "New Orleans by the Numbers" (March/April 2006), a less-than symbol should have been a greater-than symbol. The error appeared in the section of the table on poverty; the column labeled" 2x poverty line."

Treatment pays for itself many times over.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... A study of drug treatment programs published in the journal Health Policy Research has found that every dollar spent on treatment saves $7 in costs ranging from health care and mental health services, to crime- and prison-related costs, to lost...

Fat and happy no more.(Walt Disney Co., McDonald's Corp.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... After a long and successful marriage that produced millions of fat, happy children, Walt Disney Co. has filed for divorce from McDonald's. For 10 years the industry giants collaborated in an agreement, said to be worth $1 billion, that allowed...

Parking in the entertainment world getting tougher.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Jack Bauer (of FOX's program "24") drives a Ford Expedition, Chris Molitsanti (HBO's "Sopranos") owns a Hummer, and Charlie's Angels have their very own 1976 Ford Mustang Cobra. And starting in July, DC Comics' new hero "The Rush" will add to...

"We only earned $8.4 billion last quarter!".(Exxon-Mobil on cleaning up Prince William Sound suffered from Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Alaskans are set to demand that Exxon-Mobil pay an additional $100 million to finish cleaning up Prince William Sound, which suffered massive environmental damage from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, according to the Associated Press. A...

Delphi's priorities.(plans to lay off and cut hourly workers package)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Workers at Delphi have voted to authorize a strike if the company succeeds in getting permission from a federal bankruptcy judge to break its union contracts. The auto parts manufacturer wants to cut hourly workers' pay by 39% to 54% and plans...

Taxing the poor and the poorer.(Texas and Arizona)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Imagine the most unfair tax you can. How about a double tax on the incomes of people who are hard-working but poor, a tax that hits them just at the moment they're using the money to support their families? The state senates of Texas and...

Ampersand.(Cartoon)
May 1, 2006... TOP TEN REASONS WE WANT PRISON, NOT TREATMENT, FOR DRUG ADDICTS. 10 PARTISAN POLITICS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 9 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 8 GYM COACH MENTALITY [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 7 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Letters.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... To the editors: Thank you for your recent issue on the Katrina aftermath. However, you repeat the error of others in referring to the destruction in New Orleans as caused by a "natural disaster." While other parts of the Gulf Coast were...

A friend of the left: John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908-2006.(Obituary)
May 1, 2006... When John Kenneth Galbraith died on April 29, Dollars & Sense, radical economists, and the left more generally lost a friend. Because he was long a member in good standing of the "Liberal Establishment," many on the left may not have viewed him...

Calling for change: challenging a 630% markup on prisoner phone calls.(Department of Correctional Services, Verizon Communications Inc.)
May 1, 2006... Jackie Sparling's husband was incarcerated in New York State's Oneida Correctional Facility three years ago. Since then, she has lost her job, has gone on public assistance, and can't pay her phone bills. The phone bills are a particular...

Anti-displacement victory in San Francisco.
May 1, 2006... Home to one of the most expensive housing markets in the United States, San Francisco has seen more than its fair share of working-class people forced to leave the city their labor helped to create. However, thanks to tenacious community...

Corporate social responsibility: an insider's view.
May 1, 2006... More and more companies are adopting "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) programs. Broadly, CSR programs are supposed to assess and improve corporate operations in relation to a range of values beyond profit: human rights, environmental...

The globalization clock: why corporations are winning and workers are losing.
May 1, 2006... Political economy has historically been constructed around the divide between capital and labor, with firms and workers at odds over the division of the economic pie. Within this construct, labor is usually represented as a monolithic interest,...

Measuring the full impact of minimum and living wage laws: workers who were earning less than the new wage floor are not the only ones who benefit from a higher minimum wage.
May 1, 2006... Raising the minimum wage is quickly becoming a key political issue for this fall's midterm elections. In the past, Democratic politicians have shied away from the issue while Republicans have openly opposed a higher minimum wage. But this year...

Gender responsive budgeting: countries around the world are assessing the impact of government decisions on women and girls; The United States lags behind.
May 1, 2006... Government budget are far from bureaucratic exercises. They are profound expressions of how those who govern a country distribute its resources and how the results of their policies help or harm different sectors of its population. Budgets...

Legalizing human trafficking: current WTO negotiations threaten to worsen the already precarious lot of migrant workers around the globe.
May 1, 2006... For six months, Francisco* was a prisoner of his employers. He was housed in a trailer in rural central Florida with six other men from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. He would work from dawn until dusk picking oranges, earning an unbelievable...

Marxian class analysis and economics.
May 1, 2006... Class analysis predates economics. Long before modern economics emerged, ancient Greek thinkers, for example, analyzed their society by classifying people into groups by wealth. They viewed understanding the relationships between classes as...

Immigrants and the labor market: what are "the jobs Americans won't do"?
May 1, 2006... Congress and the streets are abuzz with talk of immigration policy reform. Militias patrol the Mexican border under the aegis of national security, and the House decides that helping the undocumented should be a felony. Meanwhile, hundreds of...