Monday, March 31, 2008
Tweet[IWS] SBA: FAMILY HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE for SMALL & LARGE FIRM WORKERS & DEPENDENTS [31 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Small Business Administration (SBA)
Changes in Family Health Insurance Coverage for Small and Large Firm Workers and Dependents: Evidence from 1995 to 2005 [31 March 2008]
http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs321tot.pdf
[full-text, 69 pages]
Research Summary
http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs321.pdf
This study finds that family health insurance coverage for workers in both small and large firms is decreasing, and that firm size plays a role in the type of dependent coverage children have. Access to coverage through a large firm as a dependent remains very important to small firm employees.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Charts................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iii
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ v
Introduction........................................................................................................................ 1
Literature Review................................................................................................................ 2
Policy Relevance................................................................................................................. 4
Hypotheses......................................................................................................................... 5
Data.................................................................................................................................... 5
Empirical Methodology ...................................................................................................... 8
Results.............................................................................................................................. 16
Conclusions...................................................................................................................... 22
References........................................................................................................................ 25
Endnotes........................................................................................................................... 60
List of Figures and Charts
Chart 1: Weighted Distribution of Health Insurance Coverage for Married Workers in Two-
Earner Couples, By Worker and Spouse Firm Size, 2005............................................................ 10
Chart 2: Weighted Distribution of Health Insurance Coverage for Children of Married,
Two-Worker Couples, by Parent's Firm Size, 2005..................................................................... 14
Figure 1: Variable Definitions and Descriptions for Two Workers Married Adult Analysis
Population, Model 1...................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 2: Variable Definitions and Descriptions for Children in Two-Parent, Two-Worker
Households Analysis, Model 2 ..................................................................................................... 30
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Small Business Administration (SBA)
Changes in Family Health Insurance Coverage for Small and Large Firm Workers and Dependents: Evidence from 1995 to 2005 [31 March 2008]
http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs321tot.pdf
[full-text, 69 pages]
Research Summary
http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs321.pdf
This study finds that family health insurance coverage for workers in both small and large firms is decreasing, and that firm size plays a role in the type of dependent coverage children have. Access to coverage through a large firm as a dependent remains very important to small firm employees.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Charts................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iii
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ v
Introduction........................................................................................................................ 1
Literature Review................................................................................................................ 2
Policy Relevance................................................................................................................. 4
Hypotheses......................................................................................................................... 5
Data.................................................................................................................................... 5
Empirical Methodology ...................................................................................................... 8
Results.............................................................................................................................. 16
Conclusions...................................................................................................................... 22
References........................................................................................................................ 25
Endnotes........................................................................................................................... 60
List of Figures and Charts
Chart 1: Weighted Distribution of Health Insurance Coverage for Married Workers in Two-
Earner Couples, By Worker and Spouse Firm Size, 2005............................................................ 10
Chart 2: Weighted Distribution of Health Insurance Coverage for Children of Married,
Two-Worker Couples, by Parent's Firm Size, 2005..................................................................... 14
Figure 1: Variable Definitions and Descriptions for Two Workers Married Adult Analysis
Population, Model 1...................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 2: Variable Definitions and Descriptions for Children in Two-Parent, Two-Worker
Households Analysis, Model 2 ..................................................................................................... 30
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 4:59 PM
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Tweet[IWS] OLDER AMERICANS 2008: KEY INDICATORS of WELL-BEING [27 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics
Older Americans 2008 : Key indicators of Well-Being [27 March 2008]
http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/Data_2008.aspx
or
http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/2008_Documents/OA_2008.pdf
[full-text, 179 pages]
Press Release
http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/2008_Documents/Embargoed_PR.doc
or
http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/2008_Documents/Embargoed_PR.pdf
[excerpt]
[This] fourth chartbook prepared by the Forum since 2000, provides an updated, accessible compendium of indicators, drawn from the most reliable official statistics about the well-being of Americans primarily age 65 and over. The indicators are categorized into five broad areaspopulation, economics, health status, health risks and behaviors and health care. The 160-page report contains data on 38 key indicatorsand a one-time special feature on health literacy.
...
Highlights from Older Americans 2008 include:
Population The demographics of aging in the United States continue to change dramatically, as the baby boomers accelerate growth in the percentage and numbers of older people and other important parameters change.
In 2006, an estimated 37 million people in the United States12 percent of the populationwere 65 and older. Projections forecast that by 2030, approximately 71.5 million people will be 65 and older, representing nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. population.
In 1965, 24 percent of older adults had graduated from high school, and 5 percent had bachelor's degrees. By 2007, 76 percent were high school graduates, and 19 percent had at least a bachelor's degree. Substantial educational differences exist among racial and ethnic groups. Eighty-one percent of non-Hispanic whites age 65 and older had finished high school in 2007, compared with 72, 58 and 42 percent, respectively, of older Asians, blacks and Hispanics.
Economics More older people enjoy increased prosperity than any previous generation, with an increase in higher incomes and a decrease in the proportion of older people with low incomes and in poverty. However, major inequalities continue to exist for older blacks and for people without high school diplomas, who report smaller economic gains and fewer financial resources.
Income generally rose between 1974 and 2006. The proportion of older people with incomes below the poverty line went from 15 percent to 9 percent; those categorized with low income dropped from 35 percent to 26 percent; those with high incomes increased from 18 percent to 29 percent.
Median net worth for households headed by whites age 65 and older was six times that of older black households, although the gap has slightly narrowed since 2003.
More older people, especially women, continued to work past age 55.
Health Status Americans' longevity continues to increase, although life expectancy at age 65 in the United States is lower than that of other industrialized countries. While older people experience a variety of chronic health conditions that often accompany aging, the rate of functional limitations among people age 65 and older has declined in recent years.
Life expectancy in the U.S. is lower than that of many high-income countries, such as Canada, France, Sweden and Japan. For example, in 2003, women age 65 in Japan could expect to live 3.2 years more on average than women in the United States, with the difference among men at 1.2 years. In the early 1980s, U.S. women age 65 had one of the highest average life expectancies in the world, but over the next two decades, the life expectancies of older women in many countries surpassed that of women in the United States.
The prevalence of certain conditions differs by sex and by race and ethnicity. Women reported higher levels of arthritis than men did, while men reported higher levels of heart disease and cancer. Non-Hispanic blacks reported higher levels of hypertension and diabetes than did non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics reported higher levels of diabetes than did non-Hispanic whites.
The prevalence of functional limitations declined from 49 percent in 1992 to 42 percent in 2005.
Health Risks and Behaviors Factors affecting the health and well-being of older Americans, such as smoking history, influenza and pneumonia vaccinations and mammogram screenings, are key indicators that have shown long-term improvements but no significant change in recent years.
There was no significant change in the percentage of older people engaged in physical activity between 1997 and 2006.
The percentage of people age 65 and older who are obese, as with other age groups, increased between 1988-1994 and 2005-2006, from 22 percent to 31 percent. However, over the past several years, the trend appears to have leveled off.
The percentage of older people living in counties with poor air quality for any air pollutant decreased from 55 percent in 2000 to 34 percent in 2006.
Health Care Health care costs, particularly for prescription drugs, have risen dramatically for older Americans.
Between 1992 and 2004, average inflation-adjusted health care costs for older Americans increased from $8,644 to $13,052. Costs varied by race and ethnic group, income and health status.
In 2004, as in the previous 4 years, over half of out-of-pocket health care spending (excluding health insurance premiums) by community-dwelling older people was for purchase of prescription drugs. By 2004, prescription medications accounted for 61 percent of these out-of-pocket expenses. Out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs are expected to decline because of the savings available through the Medicare prescription drug program.
The implementation of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits is included in the Indicators volume for the first time. From June 2006 through September 2007, the number of beneficiaries age 65 or older enrolled in the program increased from 18.2 million to 19.7 million, with two-thirds selecting stand-alone plans and one-third in Medicare Advantage plans.
Several new specific indicators have been added in Older Americans 2008:
Housing. Most older people live in adequate, affordable housing. However, a significant percentage has housing-related issues that can pose problems to an older person's physical or psychological well-being. In 2005, 41 percent of households with people over age 65 had significant housing-related problems, such as housing cost burden (expenditures on housing and utilities that exceed 30 percent of household income), physically inadequate housing and crowded housing. The prevalence of housing cost burden for households with people age 65 and over increased from 30 percent in 1985 to 38 percent in 2005, compared with 26 and 33 percent, respectively, for all U.S. households. Notably, a smaller percentage of older adults' housing had major physical problems, such as faulty plumbing or poor upkeep5 percent in 2005 versus 8 percent in 1985.
Use of Time. The proportion of leisure time that older Americans spent socializing and communicatingsuch as visiting friends or attending social eventsdeclines by age, from 13 percent in those ages 55 to 64 to 10 percent for those 75 and over. The proportion of leisure time devoted to sports, exercise, recreation and travel also declines with age. On an average day, most Americans age 65 and older spent at least half of their leisure time watching television. Americans age 75 and older spent a higher proportion of their leisure time reading, relaxing and thinking than did those ages 55 to 64.
Health Literacy. Among older Americans, the average level of health literacythe extent to which people can obtain, process and understand basic health information and serviceswas lower than that of any other age group, and it continued to decrease with age. Thirty-nine percent of people age 75 and over had below basic health literacy, compared with 23 percent of people ages 65 to 74 and 13 percent of people ages 50 to 64.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics
Older Americans 2008 : Key indicators of Well-Being [27 March 2008]
http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/Data_2008.aspx
or
http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/2008_Documents/OA_2008.pdf
[full-text, 179 pages]
Press Release
http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/2008_Documents/Embargoed_PR.doc
or
http://www.agingstats.gov/agingstatsdotnet/Main_Site/Data/2008_Documents/Embargoed_PR.pdf
[excerpt]
[This] fourth chartbook prepared by the Forum since 2000, provides an updated, accessible compendium of indicators, drawn from the most reliable official statistics about the well-being of Americans primarily age 65 and over. The indicators are categorized into five broad areaspopulation, economics, health status, health risks and behaviors and health care. The 160-page report contains data on 38 key indicatorsand a one-time special feature on health literacy.
...
Highlights from Older Americans 2008 include:
Population The demographics of aging in the United States continue to change dramatically, as the baby boomers accelerate growth in the percentage and numbers of older people and other important parameters change.
In 2006, an estimated 37 million people in the United States12 percent of the populationwere 65 and older. Projections forecast that by 2030, approximately 71.5 million people will be 65 and older, representing nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. population.
In 1965, 24 percent of older adults had graduated from high school, and 5 percent had bachelor's degrees. By 2007, 76 percent were high school graduates, and 19 percent had at least a bachelor's degree. Substantial educational differences exist among racial and ethnic groups. Eighty-one percent of non-Hispanic whites age 65 and older had finished high school in 2007, compared with 72, 58 and 42 percent, respectively, of older Asians, blacks and Hispanics.
Economics More older people enjoy increased prosperity than any previous generation, with an increase in higher incomes and a decrease in the proportion of older people with low incomes and in poverty. However, major inequalities continue to exist for older blacks and for people without high school diplomas, who report smaller economic gains and fewer financial resources.
Income generally rose between 1974 and 2006. The proportion of older people with incomes below the poverty line went from 15 percent to 9 percent; those categorized with low income dropped from 35 percent to 26 percent; those with high incomes increased from 18 percent to 29 percent.
Median net worth for households headed by whites age 65 and older was six times that of older black households, although the gap has slightly narrowed since 2003.
More older people, especially women, continued to work past age 55.
Health Status Americans' longevity continues to increase, although life expectancy at age 65 in the United States is lower than that of other industrialized countries. While older people experience a variety of chronic health conditions that often accompany aging, the rate of functional limitations among people age 65 and older has declined in recent years.
Life expectancy in the U.S. is lower than that of many high-income countries, such as Canada, France, Sweden and Japan. For example, in 2003, women age 65 in Japan could expect to live 3.2 years more on average than women in the United States, with the difference among men at 1.2 years. In the early 1980s, U.S. women age 65 had one of the highest average life expectancies in the world, but over the next two decades, the life expectancies of older women in many countries surpassed that of women in the United States.
The prevalence of certain conditions differs by sex and by race and ethnicity. Women reported higher levels of arthritis than men did, while men reported higher levels of heart disease and cancer. Non-Hispanic blacks reported higher levels of hypertension and diabetes than did non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics reported higher levels of diabetes than did non-Hispanic whites.
The prevalence of functional limitations declined from 49 percent in 1992 to 42 percent in 2005.
Health Risks and Behaviors Factors affecting the health and well-being of older Americans, such as smoking history, influenza and pneumonia vaccinations and mammogram screenings, are key indicators that have shown long-term improvements but no significant change in recent years.
There was no significant change in the percentage of older people engaged in physical activity between 1997 and 2006.
The percentage of people age 65 and older who are obese, as with other age groups, increased between 1988-1994 and 2005-2006, from 22 percent to 31 percent. However, over the past several years, the trend appears to have leveled off.
The percentage of older people living in counties with poor air quality for any air pollutant decreased from 55 percent in 2000 to 34 percent in 2006.
Health Care Health care costs, particularly for prescription drugs, have risen dramatically for older Americans.
Between 1992 and 2004, average inflation-adjusted health care costs for older Americans increased from $8,644 to $13,052. Costs varied by race and ethnic group, income and health status.
In 2004, as in the previous 4 years, over half of out-of-pocket health care spending (excluding health insurance premiums) by community-dwelling older people was for purchase of prescription drugs. By 2004, prescription medications accounted for 61 percent of these out-of-pocket expenses. Out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs are expected to decline because of the savings available through the Medicare prescription drug program.
The implementation of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits is included in the Indicators volume for the first time. From June 2006 through September 2007, the number of beneficiaries age 65 or older enrolled in the program increased from 18.2 million to 19.7 million, with two-thirds selecting stand-alone plans and one-third in Medicare Advantage plans.
Several new specific indicators have been added in Older Americans 2008:
Housing. Most older people live in adequate, affordable housing. However, a significant percentage has housing-related issues that can pose problems to an older person's physical or psychological well-being. In 2005, 41 percent of households with people over age 65 had significant housing-related problems, such as housing cost burden (expenditures on housing and utilities that exceed 30 percent of household income), physically inadequate housing and crowded housing. The prevalence of housing cost burden for households with people age 65 and over increased from 30 percent in 1985 to 38 percent in 2005, compared with 26 and 33 percent, respectively, for all U.S. households. Notably, a smaller percentage of older adults' housing had major physical problems, such as faulty plumbing or poor upkeep5 percent in 2005 versus 8 percent in 1985.
Use of Time. The proportion of leisure time that older Americans spent socializing and communicatingsuch as visiting friends or attending social eventsdeclines by age, from 13 percent in those ages 55 to 64 to 10 percent for those 75 and over. The proportion of leisure time devoted to sports, exercise, recreation and travel also declines with age. On an average day, most Americans age 65 and older spent at least half of their leisure time watching television. Americans age 75 and older spent a higher proportion of their leisure time reading, relaxing and thinking than did those ages 55 to 64.
Health Literacy. Among older Americans, the average level of health literacythe extent to which people can obtain, process and understand basic health information and serviceswas lower than that of any other age group, and it continued to decrease with age. Thirty-nine percent of people age 75 and over had below basic health literacy, compared with 23 percent of people ages 65 to 74 and 13 percent of people ages 50 to 64.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 3:05 PM
[IWS] CRS: GENETIC ANCESTRY TESTING [12 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RS22830
March 12, 2008
Genetic Ancestry Testing
Amanda K. Sarata, Analyst in Health Policy and Genetics, Domestic Social Policy Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RS22830_20080312.pdf
[full-text, 6 pages]
Summary
Interest in genetic testing to determine ancestry has increased rapidly since its
introduction in 2000. Many individuals are eager to learn more about their ancestors,
and believe genetic testing will be able to provide information where other traditional
genealogical methods have failed. While genetic ancestry testing may in some cases be
able to provide very general information, it also currently has many limitations. The very
complex relationship between race, genetics, and ancestry further complicates this
testing and the interpretation of results. Genetic ancestry testing may, therefore, raise
several policy issues. This report describes genetic ancestry testing, outlines the basic
scientific limitations of the testing currently, and provides an overview of the policy
issues this testing may raise.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RS22830
March 12, 2008
Genetic Ancestry Testing
Amanda K. Sarata, Analyst in Health Policy and Genetics, Domestic Social Policy Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RS22830_20080312.pdf
[full-text, 6 pages]
Summary
Interest in genetic testing to determine ancestry has increased rapidly since its
introduction in 2000. Many individuals are eager to learn more about their ancestors,
and believe genetic testing will be able to provide information where other traditional
genealogical methods have failed. While genetic ancestry testing may in some cases be
able to provide very general information, it also currently has many limitations. The very
complex relationship between race, genetics, and ancestry further complicates this
testing and the interpretation of results. Genetic ancestry testing may, therefore, raise
several policy issues. This report describes genetic ancestry testing, outlines the basic
scientific limitations of the testing currently, and provides an overview of the policy
issues this testing may raise.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 1:24 PM
[IWS] CRS: THE LAW of CHURCH AND STATE: GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND CURRENT INTERPRETATIONS [14 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RS22833
March 14, 2008
The Law of Church and State: General Principles and Current Interpretations
Cynthia Brougher, Legislative Attorney, American Law Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RS22833_20080314.pdf
[full-text, 6 pages]
Summary
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from
establishing a religion and guarantees citizens the right to freely exercise their religion.
The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified the scope of these broad guarantees. This report
provides an overview of the governing principles of the law of church and state.1 It
explains the legal requirements for challenges under the Establishment Clause and Free
Exercise Clause and the standards used to evaluate such challenges. The report includes
current interpretations of these clauses and summarizes related statutes (the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act).
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RS22833
March 14, 2008
The Law of Church and State: General Principles and Current Interpretations
Cynthia Brougher, Legislative Attorney, American Law Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RS22833_20080314.pdf
[full-text, 6 pages]
Summary
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from
establishing a religion and guarantees citizens the right to freely exercise their religion.
The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified the scope of these broad guarantees. This report
provides an overview of the governing principles of the law of church and state.1 It
explains the legal requirements for challenges under the Establishment Clause and Free
Exercise Clause and the standards used to evaluate such challenges. The report includes
current interpretations of these clauses and summarizes related statutes (the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act).
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 1:20 PM
[IWS] CRS: AVERTING FINANCIAL CRISIS [21 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL34412
Averting Financial Crisis
Updated March 21, 2008
Mark Jickling, Specialist in Financial Economics, Government and Finance Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34412_20080321.pdf
[full-text, 18 pages]
Summary
There is no precise definition of "financial crisis," but a common view is that
disruptions in financial markets rise to the level of a crisis when the flow of credit to
households and businesses is constrained and the real economy of goods and services
is adversely affected. Since mid-2007, central bankers including the Federal
Reserve have labored to keep the downturn in U.S. subprime housing from
developing into such a crisis.
While subprime problems were widely anticipated, the subsequent spread of
turmoil into many seemingly unrelated parts of the global financial system was not.
Many losses occurring in diverse firms and markets often quite severe have
features in common: the use of complex, hard-to-value financial instruments; large
speculative positions underwritten by borrowed funds, or leverage; and the use of
off-the-books entities to remove risky trading activities from the balance sheets of
major financial institutions.
It is not yet clear whether financial market problems will significantly slow the
economy: many believe that the current episode is simply the downside of a normal
credit cycle, that is, a natural corrective to several years of unusually easy credit
conditions. On the other hand, some analysts identify market dynamics that may
amplify the effects of financial shocks and have the potential to generate
self-reinforcing, downward financial and economic spirals. The Federal Reserve has
used its traditional tools to avert such an outcome: it has lowered short-term interest
rates dramatically and injected billions of dollars into the banking system to support
market liquidity and keep credit flowing. In addition, the Fed has expanded its
sphere by making funds available to securities firms, which it does not regulate, and
has provided funding to underwrite the rescue-through-acquisition of Bear Stearns,
a leading investment bank. The duration of the current instability is in marked
contrast to financial shocks of recent decades stock market crashes, bond market
disruptions, the 9/11 attacks when the central bank was able to contain market
problems quickly with little or no interruption of U.S. economic growth.
Depending on how soon normal market conditions are restored, and at what
cost, policy makers may consider whether regulators have access to adequate
information about market conditions, and whether currently unregulated market
participants should be subjected to disclosure and reporting requirements. In
addition, the social costs of failed financial speculation may be judged great enough
to warrant new restrictions designed to lower the incidence of losses that have
system-wide impacts or to put the markets and the economy in a better position to
weather such shocks.
This report supplements CRS Report RL34182, Financial Crisis? The Liquidity
Crunch of August 2007, by Darryl Getter et al., which describes in greater detail the
channels through which subprime problems cascaded through the financial system.
This report focuses on the efforts of regulators to reduce stress to the markets and
will be updated as developments warrant.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Underlying Financial Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
SIVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
What Makes a Financial Crisis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Government Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Open Market Operations and Monetary Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Discount Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Term Auction Facility (TAF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Treasury's "Super-SIV" Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Provision of New Capital to Financial Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Policy Issues: Are Regulators' Tools Adequate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Speculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
List of Figures
Figure 1. Commercial and Investment Bank Stock Indexes,
January 2007- March 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Figure 2. Structured Investment Vehicle Cash Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 3. The Leverage Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL34412
Averting Financial Crisis
Updated March 21, 2008
Mark Jickling, Specialist in Financial Economics, Government and Finance Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34412_20080321.pdf
[full-text, 18 pages]
Summary
There is no precise definition of "financial crisis," but a common view is that
disruptions in financial markets rise to the level of a crisis when the flow of credit to
households and businesses is constrained and the real economy of goods and services
is adversely affected. Since mid-2007, central bankers including the Federal
Reserve have labored to keep the downturn in U.S. subprime housing from
developing into such a crisis.
While subprime problems were widely anticipated, the subsequent spread of
turmoil into many seemingly unrelated parts of the global financial system was not.
Many losses occurring in diverse firms and markets often quite severe have
features in common: the use of complex, hard-to-value financial instruments; large
speculative positions underwritten by borrowed funds, or leverage; and the use of
off-the-books entities to remove risky trading activities from the balance sheets of
major financial institutions.
It is not yet clear whether financial market problems will significantly slow the
economy: many believe that the current episode is simply the downside of a normal
credit cycle, that is, a natural corrective to several years of unusually easy credit
conditions. On the other hand, some analysts identify market dynamics that may
amplify the effects of financial shocks and have the potential to generate
self-reinforcing, downward financial and economic spirals. The Federal Reserve has
used its traditional tools to avert such an outcome: it has lowered short-term interest
rates dramatically and injected billions of dollars into the banking system to support
market liquidity and keep credit flowing. In addition, the Fed has expanded its
sphere by making funds available to securities firms, which it does not regulate, and
has provided funding to underwrite the rescue-through-acquisition of Bear Stearns,
a leading investment bank. The duration of the current instability is in marked
contrast to financial shocks of recent decades stock market crashes, bond market
disruptions, the 9/11 attacks when the central bank was able to contain market
problems quickly with little or no interruption of U.S. economic growth.
Depending on how soon normal market conditions are restored, and at what
cost, policy makers may consider whether regulators have access to adequate
information about market conditions, and whether currently unregulated market
participants should be subjected to disclosure and reporting requirements. In
addition, the social costs of failed financial speculation may be judged great enough
to warrant new restrictions designed to lower the incidence of losses that have
system-wide impacts or to put the markets and the economy in a better position to
weather such shocks.
This report supplements CRS Report RL34182, Financial Crisis? The Liquidity
Crunch of August 2007, by Darryl Getter et al., which describes in greater detail the
channels through which subprime problems cascaded through the financial system.
This report focuses on the efforts of regulators to reduce stress to the markets and
will be updated as developments warrant.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Underlying Financial Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
SIVs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
What Makes a Financial Crisis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Government Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Open Market Operations and Monetary Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Discount Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Term Auction Facility (TAF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Treasury's "Super-SIV" Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Provision of New Capital to Financial Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Policy Issues: Are Regulators' Tools Adequate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Speculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
List of Figures
Figure 1. Commercial and Investment Bank Stock Indexes,
January 2007- March 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Figure 2. Structured Investment Vehicle Cash Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 3. The Leverage Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 1:15 PM
[IWS] CRS: GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION in FINANCIAL MARKETS: Economic and Historic Analysis of Subprime Mortgage Options [25 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL34423
Government Interventions in Financial Markets: Economic and Historic Analysis of Subprime Mortgage Options
March 25, 2008
N. Eric Weiss, Analyst in Financial Economics, Government and Finance Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34423_20080325.pdf
[full-text, 16 pages]
Summary
This report summarizes and analyzes four previous government market
interventions (Home Owners Loan Corporation in 1933, Continental Illinois in 1984,
the savings and loan insurance fund shortfall in 1989, and the Latin American debt
crisis in 1989), in light of current mortgage market conditions. Current proposals to
help delinquent homeowners share many features in common with all of these
actions.
The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) purchased delinquent mortgages
at a discount and worked with homeowners to restructure the mortgages into more
manageable terms. HOLC accepted slightly more than one million applications from
homeowners to refinance their homes between June 1933 and June 1935. It rejected
488,000 applications, most for "inadequate security" and "lack of distress." HOLC
foreclosed on 194,000 of those it was attempting to assist. At the time, many had
serious concern that HOLC could be a costly undertaking, but when it disbanded in
the early 1950s, HOLC returned a small profit to the government. HOLC
successfully conceived and implemented new ways to contact delinquent
homeowners and, in some cases, help homeowners find new jobs.
In 1984, Continental Illinois National Bank suffered a run after loans that it had
not properly underwritten failed. The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation led intervention efforts. There were concerns that allowing
the bank to fail could have serious repercussions throughout the financial system.
This led to the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991.
In the 1980s, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation approached
insolvency because of the failure of member savings and loan institutions, also
known as thrifts. Working together, Congress and the George H. W. Bush
administration established the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), which was
funded by the Resolution Funding Corporation (REFCORP). The thrift industry is
still paying off the intervention operation, which is estimated to have cost $152.9
billion.
In 1989, Brady bonds helped less developed countries, mostly in Latin America,
restructure their debt by renegotiating terms and writing down some of the loans.
The plan, proposed by then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady, overcame
coordination problems in previous restructuring efforts. In addition to writing down
some loans, the plan included some interest rate reductions, and having debtor
nations post U.S. Treasury bonds as collateral with the Federal Reserve.
Approximately $91.8 billion was refinanced under the plan. Repayment continues
today.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Policy Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A Brief Overview of Subprime Delinquency and Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Nature of the Subprime Reset Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Selected Previous Government Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Home Owners' Loan Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Contemporary Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Application to Subprime Mortgage Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Continental Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Contemporary Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Application to Subprime Mortgage Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Savings and Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Contemporary Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Application to Subprime Mortgage Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Brady Bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Contemporary Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Application to Subprime Mortgage Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL34423
Government Interventions in Financial Markets: Economic and Historic Analysis of Subprime Mortgage Options
March 25, 2008
N. Eric Weiss, Analyst in Financial Economics, Government and Finance Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34423_20080325.pdf
[full-text, 16 pages]
Summary
This report summarizes and analyzes four previous government market
interventions (Home Owners Loan Corporation in 1933, Continental Illinois in 1984,
the savings and loan insurance fund shortfall in 1989, and the Latin American debt
crisis in 1989), in light of current mortgage market conditions. Current proposals to
help delinquent homeowners share many features in common with all of these
actions.
The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) purchased delinquent mortgages
at a discount and worked with homeowners to restructure the mortgages into more
manageable terms. HOLC accepted slightly more than one million applications from
homeowners to refinance their homes between June 1933 and June 1935. It rejected
488,000 applications, most for "inadequate security" and "lack of distress." HOLC
foreclosed on 194,000 of those it was attempting to assist. At the time, many had
serious concern that HOLC could be a costly undertaking, but when it disbanded in
the early 1950s, HOLC returned a small profit to the government. HOLC
successfully conceived and implemented new ways to contact delinquent
homeowners and, in some cases, help homeowners find new jobs.
In 1984, Continental Illinois National Bank suffered a run after loans that it had
not properly underwritten failed. The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation led intervention efforts. There were concerns that allowing
the bank to fail could have serious repercussions throughout the financial system.
This led to the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991.
In the 1980s, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation approached
insolvency because of the failure of member savings and loan institutions, also
known as thrifts. Working together, Congress and the George H. W. Bush
administration established the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), which was
funded by the Resolution Funding Corporation (REFCORP). The thrift industry is
still paying off the intervention operation, which is estimated to have cost $152.9
billion.
In 1989, Brady bonds helped less developed countries, mostly in Latin America,
restructure their debt by renegotiating terms and writing down some of the loans.
The plan, proposed by then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady, overcame
coordination problems in previous restructuring efforts. In addition to writing down
some loans, the plan included some interest rate reductions, and having debtor
nations post U.S. Treasury bonds as collateral with the Federal Reserve.
Approximately $91.8 billion was refinanced under the plan. Repayment continues
today.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Policy Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A Brief Overview of Subprime Delinquency and Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Nature of the Subprime Reset Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Selected Previous Government Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Home Owners' Loan Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Contemporary Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Application to Subprime Mortgage Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Continental Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Contemporary Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Application to Subprime Mortgage Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Savings and Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Contemporary Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Application to Subprime Mortgage Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Brady Bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Contemporary Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Application to Subprime Mortgage Restructuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 1:10 PM
[IWS] CRS: BEAR STEARNS: CRISIS and "RESCUE" for a MAJOR PROVIDER of MORTGAGE-RELATED PRODUCTS [26 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL34420
Bear Stearns: Crisis and "Rescue" for a Major Provider of Mortgage-Related Products
Updated March 26, 2008
Gary Shorter, Specialist in Business and Government Relations, Government and Finance Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34420_20080326.pdf
[full-text, 12 pages]
Summary
In March 2008, Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth largest investment banking firm,
was battered by what its officials described as a sudden liquidity squeeze related to
its large exposure to devalued mortgage-backed securities. On March 14, the Federal
Reserve System announced that it would provide Bear Stearns with an unprecedented
short-term loan. This was rendered essentially moot when, on March 16, a major
commercial bank, JP Morgan Chase, agreed to buy Bear Stearns in an exchange of
stock shares for about 1.5% of its share price of a year earlier, a price that translated
to $2/share. To help facilitate the deal, the Federal Reserve agreed to provide special
financing in connection with the transaction for up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns's
less liquid assets.
During the weekend of March 22, in the wake of criticism from Bear
shareholder and employees (employees own about one-third of the firm's outstanding
stock) over the $2/share price, Bear Stearns and JP Morgan renegotiated the terms
of the deal: JP Morgan will purchase 95 million newly issued shares of Bear's
common stock at $10/share in a stock exchange. In response to the changed deal
conditions, the Fed altered the terms of its financial involvement: it got JP Morgan
to agree to absorb the first $1 billion in losses if the collateral provided by Bear for
a loan proves to be worth less than Bear Stearn's original claims. Instead of its
original agreement to absorb up $30 billion, the Fed will now be responsible for up
to $29 billion.
The Fed's unprecedented role has generated a widespread debate on the
implications of such an intervention. Some argue that the help made sense in the
interest of avoiding potential systemic financial risk. Others argue that it tells the
market that it is willing to help a large and failing financial enterprise, setting a bad
precedent in terms of corporate responsibility.
This report will be amended as events dictate
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Some Background on Bear Stearns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Mortgage-Backed Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Bear Stearns and the Initial Fed "Rescue" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
JP Morgan Initially Agrees to Acquire Bear Stearns with Fed Assistance . . . . . . 5
The Amended Buyout Offer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Altered Terms for the Fed and the Debate over Moral Hazard and
Systemic Risk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL34420
Bear Stearns: Crisis and "Rescue" for a Major Provider of Mortgage-Related Products
Updated March 26, 2008
Gary Shorter, Specialist in Business and Government Relations, Government and Finance Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34420_20080326.pdf
[full-text, 12 pages]
Summary
In March 2008, Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth largest investment banking firm,
was battered by what its officials described as a sudden liquidity squeeze related to
its large exposure to devalued mortgage-backed securities. On March 14, the Federal
Reserve System announced that it would provide Bear Stearns with an unprecedented
short-term loan. This was rendered essentially moot when, on March 16, a major
commercial bank, JP Morgan Chase, agreed to buy Bear Stearns in an exchange of
stock shares for about 1.5% of its share price of a year earlier, a price that translated
to $2/share. To help facilitate the deal, the Federal Reserve agreed to provide special
financing in connection with the transaction for up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns's
less liquid assets.
During the weekend of March 22, in the wake of criticism from Bear
shareholder and employees (employees own about one-third of the firm's outstanding
stock) over the $2/share price, Bear Stearns and JP Morgan renegotiated the terms
of the deal: JP Morgan will purchase 95 million newly issued shares of Bear's
common stock at $10/share in a stock exchange. In response to the changed deal
conditions, the Fed altered the terms of its financial involvement: it got JP Morgan
to agree to absorb the first $1 billion in losses if the collateral provided by Bear for
a loan proves to be worth less than Bear Stearn's original claims. Instead of its
original agreement to absorb up $30 billion, the Fed will now be responsible for up
to $29 billion.
The Fed's unprecedented role has generated a widespread debate on the
implications of such an intervention. Some argue that the help made sense in the
interest of avoiding potential systemic financial risk. Others argue that it tells the
market that it is willing to help a large and failing financial enterprise, setting a bad
precedent in terms of corporate responsibility.
This report will be amended as events dictate
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Some Background on Bear Stearns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Mortgage-Backed Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Bear Stearns and the Initial Fed "Rescue" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
JP Morgan Initially Agrees to Acquire Bear Stearns with Fed Assistance . . . . . . 5
The Amended Buyout Offer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Altered Terms for the Fed and the Debate over Moral Hazard and
Systemic Risk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 1:05 PM
Friday, March 28, 2008
Tweet[IWS] OLMS: FORM T-1 (for Labor Unions) PROPOSED RULEMAKING - Request for Comments [28 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Department of Labor
Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS)
Form T-1: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Comments
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/t1form.htm
Note: On March 28, 2008 OLMS published a notice extending the comment period, which was to expire on April 18, 2008, to May 5, 2008.
Federal Register Notice
< http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-6301.htm>
or
< http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/T-1Extension032808.pdf >
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) on March 4, 2008 published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish a form to be used by labor organizations to file trust annual financial reports with OLMS pursuant to section 208 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"). The proposed rule will apply prospectively.
Federal Register Notice
< http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20081800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-3853.htm >
or|
< http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/t1_fedreg30408.pdf>
Comments must be received on or before April 18, 2008.
You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1215-AB64, only by the following methods:
Internet Federal eRulemaking Portal. Electronic comments may be submitted through < http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/www.regulations.gov> To locate the proposed rule, use key words such as "Labor-Management Standards" or "Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports" to search documents accepting comments. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Please be advised that comments received will be posted without change to < http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/www.regulations.gov> including any personal information provided.
Mail: Mailed comments should be sent to:
Kay H. Oshel
Director of the Office of Policy, Reports and Disclosure
Office of Labor-Management Standards
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5609
Washington, DC 20210
Because of security precautions the Department continues to experience delays in U.S. mail delivery. You should take this into consideration when preparing to meet the deadline for submitting comments.
OLMS recommends that you confirm receipt of your mailed comments by contacting (202) 693-0123 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with hearing impairments may call (800) 877-8339 (TTY/TDD).
Only those comments submitted through < http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/www.regulations.gov> hand-delivered, or mailed will be accepted.
Comments will be available for public inspection during normal business hours at the above address.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Department of Labor
Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS)
Form T-1: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Comments
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/t1form.htm
Note: On March 28, 2008 OLMS published a notice extending the comment period, which was to expire on April 18, 2008, to May 5, 2008.
Federal Register Notice
< http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-6301.htm>
or
< http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/T-1Extension032808.pdf >
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) on March 4, 2008 published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish a form to be used by labor organizations to file trust annual financial reports with OLMS pursuant to section 208 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("LMRDA"). The proposed rule will apply prospectively.
Federal Register Notice
< http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20081800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-3853.htm >
or|
< http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/t1_fedreg30408.pdf>
Comments must be received on or before April 18, 2008.
You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1215-AB64, only by the following methods:
Internet Federal eRulemaking Portal. Electronic comments may be submitted through < http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/www.regulations.gov> To locate the proposed rule, use key words such as "Labor-Management Standards" or "Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports" to search documents accepting comments. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Please be advised that comments received will be posted without change to < http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/www.regulations.gov> including any personal information provided.
Mail: Mailed comments should be sent to:
Kay H. Oshel
Director of the Office of Policy, Reports and Disclosure
Office of Labor-Management Standards
U.S. Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5609
Washington, DC 20210
Because of security precautions the Department continues to experience delays in U.S. mail delivery. You should take this into consideration when preparing to meet the deadline for submitting comments.
OLMS recommends that you confirm receipt of your mailed comments by contacting (202) 693-0123 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with hearing impairments may call (800) 877-8339 (TTY/TDD).
Only those comments submitted through < http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/www.regulations.gov> hand-delivered, or mailed will be accepted.
Comments will be available for public inspection during normal business hours at the above address.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 11:51 AM
[IWS] Census: METROPOLITAN & MICROPOLITAN POPULATION ESTIMATES [27 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
The latest metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area population estimates - for July 1, 2007 - were released March 27, 2008.
DETAILED TABLES
http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php
Press Release
Dallas-Fort Worth Leads Metro Areas in Numerical Growth [27 March 2008]
New Orleans Among the 10 with Fastest Growth Rate
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011671.html
Dallas-Fort Worth had the largest numeric gain of any metro area between 2006 and 2007, increasing by 162,250, according to July 1, 2007, estimates of metro area population size and growth released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Atlanta (151,063), Phoenix (132,513) and Houston (120,544) rounded out the metro areas with a gain of at least 100,000.
AND MUCH MORE...including CHARTS.....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
The latest metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area population estimates - for July 1, 2007 - were released March 27, 2008.
DETAILED TABLES
http://www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php
Press Release
Dallas-Fort Worth Leads Metro Areas in Numerical Growth [27 March 2008]
New Orleans Among the 10 with Fastest Growth Rate
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011671.html
Dallas-Fort Worth had the largest numeric gain of any metro area between 2006 and 2007, increasing by 162,250, according to July 1, 2007, estimates of metro area population size and growth released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Atlanta (151,063), Phoenix (132,513) and Houston (120,544) rounded out the metro areas with a gain of at least 100,000.
AND MUCH MORE...including CHARTS.....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 9:15 AM
[IWS] BLS: EXPERIMENTAL ALL EMPLOYEE HOURS & EARNINGS SERIES by STATE [online 27 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Experimental All Employee Hours and Earnings Series by State from the Current Employment Statistics Program [online 27 March 2008]
http://www.bls.gov/sae/saeaepp.htm
Click on any of the states below to access experimental all employee hours and earnings data:
[MAP}
Background
The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program began work in 2005 to add new series on hours and earnings. New series have been developed to measure the average hourly earnings, average weekly hours, and gross monthly earnings of all nonfarm private sector employees. Additionally, CES is adding average overtime hours in manufacturing. Historically, the CES program has published average hours and earnings series for production workers in the goods-producing industries and non-supervisory workers in the service-providing industries. These workers account for about 80 percent of total private nonfarm employment.
The new hours and earnings series are more comprehensive in coverage, thereby providing improved information for analyzing economic trends and improved input to productivity and personal income series.
Experimental designation and future publication plans - BLS is designating the first release of these new series as experimental because of the limited experience to date with the editing and review of the sample reports and the resultant estimates. BLS began the first collection of the all employee payroll, hours, and gross monthly earnings data from respondents late in 2005. There is not yet enough historical information to apply all of the edit and review techniques used in the published CES data to these new series, nor is there sufficient data to allow seasonal adjustment of the new series.
The first release of experimental State series on March 11, 2008, included level estimates at a total private sector level and limited industry detail from January 2007 through December 2007. Each month the experimental estimates will be released on the same date as the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment news release. Unlike the published CES series, these experimental series will be published only as final sample-based estimates; there will be no preliminary estimates. For example, March estimates will be published in May. As BLS and data users gain more experience with these new data series, additional industry detail may be released, and publication of preliminary estimates may be added over the next 2 to 3 years.
By the end of 2009, BLS should have sufficient historical data to seasonally adjust the all employee payroll and hours series and is planning to publish them as official CES data in the Employment Situation news release and other BLS publications beginning in February 2010.
Definitions and Methodology - In order to publish all employee average weekly hours, average hourly earnings, and average weekly earnings, BLS is collecting all employees total payroll and all employees total hours from survey respondents. The definitions of these data items parallel the definitions used for the production worker payroll and hours data; the only difference is that they cover all employees rather than just production or non-supervisory workers. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/bls790e.pdf for a sample collection form. Additionally, the same estimation formulas currently used for the published series on production and non-supervisory workers are used for the all employee hours and earnings series. More detailed information on current estimation formulas can be found at http://www.bls.gov/web/cestn1.htm .
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Experimental All Employee Hours and Earnings Series by State from the Current Employment Statistics Program [online 27 March 2008]
http://www.bls.gov/sae/saeaepp.htm
Click on any of the states below to access experimental all employee hours and earnings data:
[MAP}
Background
The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program began work in 2005 to add new series on hours and earnings. New series have been developed to measure the average hourly earnings, average weekly hours, and gross monthly earnings of all nonfarm private sector employees. Additionally, CES is adding average overtime hours in manufacturing. Historically, the CES program has published average hours and earnings series for production workers in the goods-producing industries and non-supervisory workers in the service-providing industries. These workers account for about 80 percent of total private nonfarm employment.
The new hours and earnings series are more comprehensive in coverage, thereby providing improved information for analyzing economic trends and improved input to productivity and personal income series.
Experimental designation and future publication plans - BLS is designating the first release of these new series as experimental because of the limited experience to date with the editing and review of the sample reports and the resultant estimates. BLS began the first collection of the all employee payroll, hours, and gross monthly earnings data from respondents late in 2005. There is not yet enough historical information to apply all of the edit and review techniques used in the published CES data to these new series, nor is there sufficient data to allow seasonal adjustment of the new series.
The first release of experimental State series on March 11, 2008, included level estimates at a total private sector level and limited industry detail from January 2007 through December 2007. Each month the experimental estimates will be released on the same date as the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment news release. Unlike the published CES series, these experimental series will be published only as final sample-based estimates; there will be no preliminary estimates. For example, March estimates will be published in May. As BLS and data users gain more experience with these new data series, additional industry detail may be released, and publication of preliminary estimates may be added over the next 2 to 3 years.
By the end of 2009, BLS should have sufficient historical data to seasonally adjust the all employee payroll and hours series and is planning to publish them as official CES data in the Employment Situation news release and other BLS publications beginning in February 2010.
Definitions and Methodology - In order to publish all employee average weekly hours, average hourly earnings, and average weekly earnings, BLS is collecting all employees total payroll and all employees total hours from survey respondents. The definitions of these data items parallel the definitions used for the production worker payroll and hours data; the only difference is that they cover all employees rather than just production or non-supervisory workers. See http://www.bls.gov/ces/bls790e.pdf for a sample collection form. Additionally, the same estimation formulas currently used for the published series on production and non-supervisory workers are used for the all employee hours and earnings series. More detailed information on current estimation formulas can be found at http://www.bls.gov/web/cestn1.htm .
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 8:59 AM
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tweet[IWS] BLS: Methods Underlying New Workplace Injury and Illness Rates by Demographic Group [26 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Compensation and Working Conditions Online
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/home.htm
Methods Underlying New Workplace Injury and Illness Rates by Demographic Group [26 March 2008]
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/sh20080320ar01p1.htm
by Brooks Pierce
Abstract:
Beginning with the 2006 survey year, BLS began publishing new estimates of injury and illness rates for days-away-from-work cases by certain demographic characteristics. This article describes the methodology used to produce these new data and provides some illustrative examples of how to use the statistics.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Compensation and Working Conditions Online
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/home.htm
Methods Underlying New Workplace Injury and Illness Rates by Demographic Group [26 March 2008]
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/sh20080320ar01p1.htm
by Brooks Pierce
Abstract:
Beginning with the 2006 survey year, BLS began publishing new estimates of injury and illness rates for days-away-from-work cases by certain demographic characteristics. This article describes the methodology used to produce these new data and provides some illustrative examples of how to use the statistics.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 4:43 PM
[IWS] BLS: CHARACTERISTICS of MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS: 2007 [25 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2007 [25 March 2008]
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.htm
or
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.pdf
[full-text, 13 pages]
According to Current Population Survey estimates for 2007, 75.9 million American workers were paid at hourly rates, representing
58.5 percent of all wage and salary workers.1 On July 24, 2007, the Federal minimum wage increased to $5.85 per hour from $5.15 per hour.
Data in this report reflect the average number of workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less for the year (those who earned
$5.15 or less from January 2007 through July 2007 and those who earned $5.85 or less from August 2007 through the end of the year).
Among those paid by the hour in 2007, 267,000 were reported as earning exactly the prevailing Federal minimum wage. Nearly 1.5 million
were reported as earning wages below the minimum. 2 Together, these 1.7 million workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 2.3
percent of all hourly-paid workers. Tables 1-10 present data on a wide array of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourlypaid
workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage. The following are some highlights from the 2007 data.
-- Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they
made up almost half of those paid the Federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 7 percent earned
the minimum wage or less, compared with fewer than 2 percent of workers age 25 and over. (See table 1 and table 7.)
-- About 3 percent of women paid hourly rates reported wages at or below the prevailing Federal minimum, compared with about 1 percent of
men. (See table 1.)
-- The percent of workers earning the minimum wage did not vary much across the major race and ethnic groups. About 2 percent of white,
black, Asian, and Hispanic hourly-paid workers earned the Federal minimum wage or less. (See table 1.)
-- Among hourly-paid workers age 16 and over, about 3 percent of those who had less than a high school diploma earned the minimum wage
or less, compared to 2 percent of those who had a high school diploma (with no college) and 1 percent of college graduates. (See table 6.)
-- Never-married workers, who tend to be young, were several times more likely than married workers to earn the minimum wage or less.
(See table 8.)
-- Part-time workers (persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week) were more likely than their full-time counterparts to be paid the
Federal minimum wage or less (about 5 percent versus 1 percent). (See table 1 and table 9.)
-- By major occupational group, the highest proportion of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage was in service occupations,
about 7 percent. Nearly three in four workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2007 were employed in service occupations, mostly in
food preparation and service jobs. (See table 4.)
-- The industry with the highest proportion of workers with reported hourly wages at or below the Federal minimum wage was leisure and
hospitality (about 12 percent). About three-fifths of all workers paid at or below the Federal minimum wage were employed in this industry,
primarily in the food services and drinking places component. For many of these workers, tips and commissions supplement the hourly
wages received. (See table 5.)
-- Among the States, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas had the highest proportions of hourly-paid workers
earning at or below the Federal minimum wage (at about 4 percent). The percentage of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum
wage was lowest (1 percent or less) in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. It should be noted that some states have
minimum wage laws establishing standards that exceed the Federal minimum wage. (See table 2 and table 3.)
-- The proportion of hourly-paid workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less has trended downward since 1979, when data
first began to be collected on a regular basis. (See table 10.)
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2007 [25 March 2008]
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.htm
or
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.pdf
[full-text, 13 pages]
According to Current Population Survey estimates for 2007, 75.9 million American workers were paid at hourly rates, representing
58.5 percent of all wage and salary workers.1 On July 24, 2007, the Federal minimum wage increased to $5.85 per hour from $5.15 per hour.
Data in this report reflect the average number of workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less for the year (those who earned
$5.15 or less from January 2007 through July 2007 and those who earned $5.85 or less from August 2007 through the end of the year).
Among those paid by the hour in 2007, 267,000 were reported as earning exactly the prevailing Federal minimum wage. Nearly 1.5 million
were reported as earning wages below the minimum. 2 Together, these 1.7 million workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 2.3
percent of all hourly-paid workers. Tables 1-10 present data on a wide array of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourlypaid
workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage. The following are some highlights from the 2007 data.
-- Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they
made up almost half of those paid the Federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 7 percent earned
the minimum wage or less, compared with fewer than 2 percent of workers age 25 and over. (See table 1 and table 7.)
-- About 3 percent of women paid hourly rates reported wages at or below the prevailing Federal minimum, compared with about 1 percent of
men. (See table 1.)
-- The percent of workers earning the minimum wage did not vary much across the major race and ethnic groups. About 2 percent of white,
black, Asian, and Hispanic hourly-paid workers earned the Federal minimum wage or less. (See table 1.)
-- Among hourly-paid workers age 16 and over, about 3 percent of those who had less than a high school diploma earned the minimum wage
or less, compared to 2 percent of those who had a high school diploma (with no college) and 1 percent of college graduates. (See table 6.)
-- Never-married workers, who tend to be young, were several times more likely than married workers to earn the minimum wage or less.
(See table 8.)
-- Part-time workers (persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week) were more likely than their full-time counterparts to be paid the
Federal minimum wage or less (about 5 percent versus 1 percent). (See table 1 and table 9.)
-- By major occupational group, the highest proportion of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage was in service occupations,
about 7 percent. Nearly three in four workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2007 were employed in service occupations, mostly in
food preparation and service jobs. (See table 4.)
-- The industry with the highest proportion of workers with reported hourly wages at or below the Federal minimum wage was leisure and
hospitality (about 12 percent). About three-fifths of all workers paid at or below the Federal minimum wage were employed in this industry,
primarily in the food services and drinking places component. For many of these workers, tips and commissions supplement the hourly
wages received. (See table 5.)
-- Among the States, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas had the highest proportions of hourly-paid workers
earning at or below the Federal minimum wage (at about 4 percent). The percentage of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum
wage was lowest (1 percent or less) in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. It should be noted that some states have
minimum wage laws establishing standards that exceed the Federal minimum wage. (See table 2 and table 3.)
-- The proportion of hourly-paid workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less has trended downward since 1979, when data
first began to be collected on a regular basis. (See table 10.)
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 4:37 PM
[IWS] GSA: 2008 CONSUMER ACTION HANDBOOK [27 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
General Services Admininstration (GSA)
Federal Citizen Information Center
2008 CONSUMER ACTION HANDBOOK [27 March 2008]
http://www.consumeraction.gov/pdfs/2008_Handbook_Web_Version.pdf
[full-text, 177 pages]
Press Release 27 March 2008
2008 Consumer Action Handbook
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/press/nfccah08.htm
You work hard for your money, so it's important to get the most out of it. Where can you turn to make informed major purchases? Do you know where to go when you have a consumer problem? To help answer both these questions, the Federal Citizen Information Center has published the free 2008 Consumer Action Handbook.
The Consumer Action Handbook is published annually by the Federal government in cooperation with 31 corporate and 8 federal partners. All 176 pages of this book are researched and approved by Uncle Sam. It includes tips and suggestions to help you make educated consumer decisions and get the most for your money in today's marketplace.
Identity theft is on everyone's mind. Don't be caught off-guard; the Handbook offers advice on protecting your personal information and steps to take if you discover your identity has been stolen.
Does the current real estate market make you nervous? Check out the "Housing" section of the Handbook for strategies on buying and avoiding foreclosure on a home. The Handbook helps you understand options such as reverse mortgages, refinancing, and renting or leasing a home.
Are you dissatisfied with a purchase or service? Use the Handbook's sample complaint letter to clearly explain the issue and how you'd like it resolved. Then find the contact information for hundreds of companies in the Handbook's Consumer Assistance Directory.
For all of life's purchasing decisions let the Handbook guide you, whether it's buying a new car, getting a loan or choosing a doctor. The Handbook's list of Quick Consumer Tips offers advice you can trust through your daily life as a buyer.
The valuable information provided by the 2008 Consumer Action Handbook is also available online at www.ConsumerAction.gov. This easy-to-navigate site gives you searchable, interactive access to the Handbook's information along with the latest consumer news. The free Handbook is also available in Spanish at www.Consumidor.gov.
There are three easy ways to get your free copy of the 2008 Consumer Action Handbook:
* Send your name and address to Handbook, Pueblo, Colorado 81009.
* Visit www.ConsumerAction.gov and click on "Order Handbook."
* Call toll-free 1 (888) 8 PUEBLO. That's 1 (888) 878-3256, weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time and ask for the Handbook.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
Tweet
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
General Services Admininstration (GSA)
Federal Citizen Information Center
2008 CONSUMER ACTION HANDBOOK [27 March 2008]
http://www.consumeraction.gov/pdfs/2008_Handbook_Web_Version.pdf
[full-text, 177 pages]
Press Release 27 March 2008
2008 Consumer Action Handbook
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/press/nfccah08.htm
You work hard for your money, so it's important to get the most out of it. Where can you turn to make informed major purchases? Do you know where to go when you have a consumer problem? To help answer both these questions, the Federal Citizen Information Center has published the free 2008 Consumer Action Handbook.
The Consumer Action Handbook is published annually by the Federal government in cooperation with 31 corporate and 8 federal partners. All 176 pages of this book are researched and approved by Uncle Sam. It includes tips and suggestions to help you make educated consumer decisions and get the most for your money in today's marketplace.
Identity theft is on everyone's mind. Don't be caught off-guard; the Handbook offers advice on protecting your personal information and steps to take if you discover your identity has been stolen.
Does the current real estate market make you nervous? Check out the "Housing" section of the Handbook for strategies on buying and avoiding foreclosure on a home. The Handbook helps you understand options such as reverse mortgages, refinancing, and renting or leasing a home.
Are you dissatisfied with a purchase or service? Use the Handbook's sample complaint letter to clearly explain the issue and how you'd like it resolved. Then find the contact information for hundreds of companies in the Handbook's Consumer Assistance Directory.
For all of life's purchasing decisions let the Handbook guide you, whether it's buying a new car, getting a loan or choosing a doctor. The Handbook's list of Quick Consumer Tips offers advice you can trust through your daily life as a buyer.
The valuable information provided by the 2008 Consumer Action Handbook is also available online at www.ConsumerAction.gov. This easy-to-navigate site gives you searchable, interactive access to the Handbook's information along with the latest consumer news. The free Handbook is also available in Spanish at www.Consumidor.gov.
There are three easy ways to get your free copy of the 2008 Consumer Action Handbook:
* Send your name and address to Handbook, Pueblo, Colorado 81009.
* Visit www.ConsumerAction.gov and click on "Order Handbook."
* Call toll-free 1 (888) 8 PUEBLO. That's 1 (888) 878-3256, weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time and ask for the Handbook.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 3:48 PM
[IWS] AARP: N.C. WORKERS' OPINIONS ON ELECTION ISSUES, RETIREMENT, CAREGIVING, & JOB BENEFITS [March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
AARP
Research Report
Terri Guengerich, AARP Knowledge Management
The Employee Point of View: Opinions of Workers in North Carolina on Election Issues, Retirement, Caregiving, and Job Benefits
March 2008
http://www.aarp.org/research/work/retirement/nc_worker_08.html
or
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/nc_worker_08.pdf
[full-text, 33 pages]
The majority of workers age 30 and older in North Carolina believe that the country is on the wrong track and say that the most important domestic issues are health care, immigration, and the economy. This October-November 2007 telephone survey gathered opinions on election issues, retirement plans, job benefits, and caregiving responsibilities.
* More than 70% of respondents said that financial security and health care issues are important to them in making their decisions about whom to vote for in the 2008 election. And over 60% said they have heard too little from the 2008 Presidential candidates about proposals to ensure financial security and improve our health care system.
* Most would support making earnings over $97,500 subject to Social Security taxes and requiring employers to make automatic payroll deductions for personal Individual Retirement Accounts.
* The majority of workers are not currently saving enough money for their retirement needs, nor have they calculated how much money they will need to live on when they retire.
* One in six workers in North Carolina is currently providing care to a family member or friend.
AARP commissioned Alan Newman Research, Inc. to conduct a random digit dial telephone survey of the general population in North Carolina age 30 and older who are employed. A total of 800 interviews were conducted between October 19 and November 4, 2007. (33 pages)
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
AARP
Research Report
Terri Guengerich, AARP Knowledge Management
The Employee Point of View: Opinions of Workers in North Carolina on Election Issues, Retirement, Caregiving, and Job Benefits
March 2008
http://www.aarp.org/research/work/retirement/nc_worker_08.html
or
http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/nc_worker_08.pdf
[full-text, 33 pages]
The majority of workers age 30 and older in North Carolina believe that the country is on the wrong track and say that the most important domestic issues are health care, immigration, and the economy. This October-November 2007 telephone survey gathered opinions on election issues, retirement plans, job benefits, and caregiving responsibilities.
* More than 70% of respondents said that financial security and health care issues are important to them in making their decisions about whom to vote for in the 2008 election. And over 60% said they have heard too little from the 2008 Presidential candidates about proposals to ensure financial security and improve our health care system.
* Most would support making earnings over $97,500 subject to Social Security taxes and requiring employers to make automatic payroll deductions for personal Individual Retirement Accounts.
* The majority of workers are not currently saving enough money for their retirement needs, nor have they calculated how much money they will need to live on when they retire.
* One in six workers in North Carolina is currently providing care to a family member or friend.
AARP commissioned Alan Newman Research, Inc. to conduct a random digit dial telephone survey of the general population in North Carolina age 30 and older who are employed. A total of 800 interviews were conducted between October 19 and November 4, 2007. (33 pages)
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 3:23 PM
