Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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[IWS] Dublin Foundation/CLIP: MIGRANT HOUSING & SEGREGATION: CASE STUDIES [30 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation)
Cities for Local Integration Policies (CLIP)

HOUSING & SEGREGATION of MIGRANTS: CASE STUDIES [30 September 2009]

[excerpt]
In 2006, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the city of Stuttgart and the European
Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) established a 'European network of
cities for local integration policies for migrants', henceforth termed CLIP. The network comprises a steering committee,
a group of expert European research centres and a number of European cities. In the following two years, the cities of
Vienna and Amsterdam joined the CLIP Steering Committee. The network is also supported by the Committee of the
Regions (CoR) and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), and has also formed a partnership
with the European Network Against Racism (ENAR).

Through the medium of separate city reports (case studies) and workshops the network enables local authorities to learn
from each other and to deliver a more effective integration policy.
The unique character of the CLIP network is that it
organises a shared learning process between the participating cities, between the cities and a group of expert European
research centres as well as between policy makers at local and European level.

The CLIP network brings together more than 30 large and medium sized cities from all regions of Europe and includes
Amsterdam (NL), Arnsberg (DE), Antwerp (BE), Athens (EL), Diputaciò de Barcelona (ES), Bologna (IT), Breda (NL),
Brescia (IT), Budapest (HU), Copenhagen (DK), Dublin (IE), Frankfurt (DE), Helsinki (FI), Istanbul (TR), Izmir (TR),
Kirklees (UK), Lisbon (PT), Liège (BE), City of Luxembourg (LU), Matarò (ES), Malmö (SE), Prague (CZ),
Sefton (UK), Stuttgart (DE), Sundsvall (SE), Tallinn (EE), Terrassa (ES), Torino (IT), Turku (FI), Valencia (ES), Vienna
(AT), Wolverhampton (UK), Wroclaw (PL), Zagreb (HR) and Zurich (CH).


Housing and segregation of migrants - Case study: Frankfurt, Germany
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef09493.htm
or
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2009/493/en/1/EF09493EN.pdf
[full-text, 36 pages]

As early as the 1960s, due to its industrial facilities, Frankfurt became one of the first main destinations for guest workers. Today, almost 161,000 foreigners from 130 countries live in Frankfurt, accounting for one quarter of the city's population. Frankfurt's housing market, particularly in the lower price ranges, is extremely competitive. As a result of the (on average) low income level of Frankfurt's migrants, they frequently have less housing space than inhabitants without a migration background. Migrants also tend to live in neighbourhoods with comparatively bad housing environments. However, in general, ethnic segregation is relatively low owing to the efforts of the Housing Office and housing companies to actively prevent segregation over a long period of time.


Housing and segregation of migrants - Case study: Stuttgart, Germany
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef09494.htm
or
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2009/494/en/1/EF09494EN.pdf
[full-text, 33 pages]

Stuttgart has about 600,000 inhabitants, almost a quarter of whom are foreigners and 40% have a migration background. In this prosperous city, the integration of migrants has primarily taken place through structural integration into the labour market. The city included migrants in the general welfare state and social policy system. Concerning the housing market, this means that non-Germans have the same legal rights as Germans to apply for housing assistance. The most important measures in Stuttgart for low-income households are council flats and the housing allowance. The city also supports affordable homeownership for families, a programme often used by migrants.


Housing and segregation of migrants - Case study: Terrassa, Spain
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef09495.htm
or
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2009/495/en/1/EF09495EN.pdf
[full-text, 40 pages]

Considering the late start of immigration - 10 years ago -, integration policies in Terrassa have developed rather quickly and the implementation of social measures has been undertaken in a dynamic and energetic way. Measures include visiting immigrants in order to prevent problems in apartment buildings, providing induction courses and mediation services, organising the reception of newcomers, offering language courses and running training courses for unemployed people. The municipality intends to increase its social housing stock as quickly as possible, but it will still take time until this goal is reached.


Housing and segregation of migrants - Case study: Vienna, Austria
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef09496.htm
or
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2009/496/en/1/EF09496EN.pdf
[full-text, 61 pages]

The city of Vienna's integration policies since the beginning of the 1990s have aimed to achieve equal rights and opportunities for immigrants in all spheres of social and economic, cultural and political life of the local population. Thus, a comprehensive set of measures were implemented to provide ample support for voluntary and affordable language courses, labour market integration, provision of information and support in the sphere of housing and conflict mediation at the regional level for all groups of the migrant population.


Housing and segregation of migrants - Case study: Antwerp, Belgium
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef09491.htm
or
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2009/491/en/1/EF09491EN.pdf
[full-text, 41 pages]

Antwerp is the largest city in Flanders, with 470,044 inhabitants in 2006. Some 13% of the city's population consists of foreigners, of whom 8% are non-EU nationals. Antwerp's municipal housing policy aims to sustain and even increase the diversity within the city. This diversity pertains not so much to ethnicity, but rather to age, socioeconomic status, family status, level of professional qualification and other aspects of diversity. A priority target of Antwerp's housing policy is to attract young families with two salaries and young children to the city. It also aims to increase the city's housing supply and improve the present housing stock.


Housing and segregation of migrants - Case study: Arnsberg, Germany
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef09492.htm
or
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2009/492/en/1/EF09492EN.pdf
[full-text, 28 pages]

Migrant integration in Arnsberg has primarily taken place by opening up the core institutions, such as the education system and the labour market, to migrants and by including migrants in the national welfare system. With regard to the housing market, this means that non-Germans have the same legal rights as Germans to apply for housing assistance. The most important measures for low income households have been the availability of council flats and the housing allowance. Socio-spatially, foreigners have been well integrated into city life. However, some segregated housing areas do exist, and numerous concepts, measures and initiatives have been introduced to combat this problem.


______________________________
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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] ILAB: FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS (FTAs) web page

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 International Labor Affairs ( ILAB)
Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA)

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/otla/freetradeagreement.htm

[MAP]

If you are interested in information on U.S. free trade agreements, please select one of the highlighted areas on the map [using the link above] or choose from the links below:
   * North American Free Trade Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Regional/NAFTA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=North%20American%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement&fedpage=yes
  * Jordan Free Trade Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Jordan/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-%20Jordan%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement&fedpage=yes
   * Chile Free Trade Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Chile_FTA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-Chile%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement&fedpage=yes
   * Singapore Free Trade Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Singapore_FTA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-Singapore%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement&fedpage=yes
   * Morocco Free Trade Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Morocco_FTA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-Morocco%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement&fedpage=yes
  * Australia Free Trade Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Australia_FTA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-Australia%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement&fedpage=yes
   * Bahrain Free Trade Agreement
http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Bahrain_FTA/Section_Index.html
   * CAFTA-DR Free Trade Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/CAFTA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-%20CAFTA-DR%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement&fedpage=yes
   * Oman Free Trade Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Oman_FTA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-%20Oman%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement&fedpage=yes
   * Colombia Free Trade Agreement Negotiations
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Colombia_FTA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-Colombia%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement%20Negotiations&fedpage=yes
  * Peru Trade Promotion Agreement
http://www.dol.gov/cgi-bin/leave-dol.asp?exiturl=http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Peru_TPA/Section_Index.html&exitTitle=U.S.-%20Peru%20Trade%20Promotion%20Agreement&fedpage=yes


Additional resources
   * North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/nao/naalc.htm
   *Procedural Guidelines and Public Submissions
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/otla/proceduralguidelines.htm
   * Technical Cooperation
http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ofr/technical_cooperation.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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] BLS: LOCAL AREA EMPLOYEE BENEFITS in 15 METROPOLITAN AREAS (estimates) [28 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

Compensation and Working Conditions
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/


Local Area Employee Benefits Estimates for 15 Metropolitan Areas
by Michael K. Lettau, Jonathan Lisic, Jesus Ranon, Bradley D. Rhein, Thuy T. Shipp, and Sarah J. Stafira, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Originally Posted: September 28, 2009
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20090924ar01p1.htmo
or
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/print/cm20090924ar01p1.htm

Includes TABLES...

This article presents experimental estimates for access to retirement benefits, medical care benefits, and life insurance for the 15 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. The results for December 2008 show that most of the estimates for the areas do not differ from the corresponding national estimate for March 2008 by an amount much larger than their standard errors.



BLS Introduces New Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Data for Private Industry Workers in 15 Metropolitan Areas
by Albert E. Schwenk, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Originally Posted: September 28, 2009
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20090921ar01p1.htm
or
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/print/cm20090921ar01p1.htm

Includes TABLES....

This article introduces a new addition to the National Compensation Survey Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data series. Available until now only for the Nation as a whole and for large geographic areas, the cost per hour worked for compensation, wages and salaries, and employee benefits are now published for 15 selected metropolitan areas as well. The article also provides a description of how the areas were selected and an overview of what the data show.


______________________________
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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] BLS: METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- AUGUST 2009 [30 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT -- AUGUST 2009 [30 September 2009]
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm
or
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/metro.pdf
[full-text, 21 pages]
and
Supplemental Files Table of Contents
http://www.bls.gov/web/metro.supp.toc.htm

Unemployment rates were higher in August than a year earlier in all 372 metro-
politan areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sixteen areas
recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while 9 areas registered rates
below 5.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in August was 9.6 percent, not
seasonally adjusted, up from 6.1 percent a year earlier. Among the 369 metropol-
itan areas for which nonfarm payroll employment data were available, 356 areas
reported over-the-year decreases in payroll employment, 11 reported increases,
and 2 had no change.

Metropolitan Area Unemployment (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

In August, 129 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent,
up from 11 areas a year earlier, while 69 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent,
down from 282 areas in August 2008. El Centro, Calif., recorded the highest un-
employment rate, 28.7 percent, followed by Yuma, Ariz., 26.1 percent. These two
adjacent areas are highly agricultural and experience extreme heat during summer
months. Among the 16 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 7 were
located in California and 4 were in Michigan. Bismarck, N.D., registered the low-
est jobless rate in August, 3.3 percent, followed by Fargo, N.D.-Minn., and Rapid
City, S.D., 4.1 and 4.2 percent, respectively. Overall, 141 areas posted unemploy-
ment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.6 percent, 227 areas reported rates below it,
and 4 areas had the same rate. (See table 1.)

For the eighth consecutive month, all 372 metropolitan areas had over-the-year
unemployment rate increases. The largest jobless rate increase from August 2008
was reported in Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (+7.9 percentage points), followed
by Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich. (+7.0 points). An additional 7 areas registered
unemployment rate increases of 6.0 percentage points or more, and another 36 areas
had increases of 5.0 to 5.9 points. Only three areas had over-the-year rate in-
creases of less than a full percentage point: Bismarck, N.D. (+0.4 point), Great
Falls, Mont. (+0.8 point), and Fairbanks, Alaska (+0.9 point).

Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a Census 2000 population of 1 million or more,
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., reported the highest unemployment rate in August,
17.0 percent. The large areas with the next highest rates were Riverside-San Ber-
nardino-Ontario, Calif., 14.5 percent, and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., 13.4 percent.
Sixteen additional large areas posted rates of 10.0 percent or more. The large
areas with the lowest jobless rates in August were Washington-Arlington-Alexandria,
D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., 6.0 percent, and Oklahoma City, Okla., 6.1 percent. All but 2
of the 49 large areas registered over-the-year unemployment rate increases of at
least 2.0 percentage points. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich., had the largest job-
less rate increase from a year earlier (+7.9 percentage points). The areas with
the next largest rate increases were Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. (+6.4 percentage
points), Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash. (+5.7 points), and San Jose-
Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (+5.6 points). Two other large areas recorded rate
increases of 5.0 percentage points or more.

AND MUCH MORE...including TABLES....


______________________________
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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] BEA: GDP & CORPORATE PROFITS: 2nd Qtr. (new estimates) [30 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT:  SECOND QUARTER 2009 (THIRD ESTIMATE) [30 September 2009]
CORPORATE PROFITS:  SECOND QUARTER 2009 (REVISED ESTIMATE)
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2009/gdp2q09_3rd.htm
or
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2009/pdf/gdp2q09_3rd.pdf
[full-text, 15 pages]
or
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2009/xls/gdp2q09_3rd.xls
[spreadsheet]
and
Highlights
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2009/pdf/gdp2q09_3rd_fax.pdf


Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property
located in the United States -- decreased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009,
(that is, from the first quarter to the second quarter), according to the "third" estimate released by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis.  In the first quarter, real GDP decreased 6.4 percent.

      The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for
the "second" estimate issued last month.  In the second estimate, the decrease in real GDP was 1.0
percent (see "Revisions" on page 3).

      The decrease in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected negative contributions from
private inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, personal
consumption expenditures (PCE), and exports that were partly offset by positive contributions from
federal government spending and state and local government spending.  Imports, which are a subtraction
in the calculation of GDP, decreased.

      The much smaller decrease in real GDP in the second quarter than in the first primarily reflected
much smaller decreases in nonresidential fixed investment and in exports, an upturn in federal
government spending, a smaller decrease in private inventory investment, an upturn in state and local
government spending, and a smaller decrease in residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a
much smaller decrease in imports and a downturn in PCE.

AND MUCH MORE...including TABLES....


______________________________
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                  
****************************************


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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[IWS] Census: Reports on POVERTY & FOOD STAMPS/SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP) [29 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

Census

Reports on POVERTY & FOOD STAMPS/SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP) [29 September 2009]


* Food Stamp/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Receipt in the Past 12 Months for Households: 2008 American Community Survey
http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/acsbr08-8.pdf
[full-text, 3 pages]


* Poverty: 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys
http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/acsbr08-1.pdf
[full-text, 4 pages


The item above include a MAP and TABLES....


The information and data can be further explored at
2008 AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS&_submenuId=&_lang=en&_ts =


______________________________
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
****************************************


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[IWS] MEASURING LABOUR MARKETS in CANADA & the U.S. 2009 Edition [3 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

Fraser Institute

Measuring Labour Markets in Canada and the United States: 2009 Edition [3 September 2009]
http://www.fraserinstitute.org/researchandpublications/publications/6887.aspx
or
http://www.fraserinstitute.org/commerce.web/product_files/MeasuringLabourMarkets2009.pdf
[full-text, 96 pages]

Measuring Labour Markets in Canada and the United States: 2009 Report is the fifth installment in our ongoing research to assess the performance of labour markets and explain why results differ among jurisdictions. This study provides a series of specific evaluations as well as a comprehensive measure of labour market performance. Indicators of labour performance such as job creation, unemployment, and productivity are used to assess Canadian provincial and US state labour market performance. This study also examines those characteristics and regulations of the labour market that have been shown to affect its performance.

CONTENTS
Executive summary / 1
Introduction / 14
Labour market performance / 15
Index of Labour Market Performance / 22
Labour market characteristics and regulation / 35
Appendix A: Methodology / 56
Appendix B: Other important factors / 58
References / 66
About this publication / 83

______________________________
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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] Kaiser: HEALTH [REFORM] POLL -- SUPPORT RISES [29 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll­September 2009 [29 September 2009]
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/posr092909pkg.cfm

The September Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that public support for health reform ended its summer slide, reversed course and moved modestly upwards in September.  The survey also finds initial majority support for taxing expensive health plans and imposing fees on insurers to pay for reform.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans now believe that tackling health care reform is more important than ever­up from 53 percent in August.  The proportion of Americans who think their families would be better off if health reform passes is up six percentage points (42% versus 36% in August), and the percentage who think that the country would be better off is up eight points (to 53% from 45% in August).

Substantial majorities of Americans continue to say they back individual reform components designed to expand coverage, including an individual mandate (68%), an employer mandate (67%) and an expansion of state programs such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (82%).

When it comes to paying for reform, two ideas now under discussion among policymakers garner initial majority support.  Fifty-seven percent of the public say they would support "having health insurance companies pay a fee based on how much business they have" and 59 percent would support "having health insurance companies pay a tax for offering very expensive policies."  In both cases, Republicans are evenly divided while Democrats and political independents tilt in favor.

The September poll, the sixth in a series designed and analyzed by the Foundation's public opinion survey research team, examines voters' specific health care issue interests and experiences and perceptions about health care reform.

NEWS RELEASE
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/posr092909nr.cfm


KEY FINDINGS
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/7990.cfm
or
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/7990.pdf
[full-text, 9 pages]

CHARTS & DATA
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/7989.cfm>Chartpack
or
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/7989.pdf
[full-text, 19 pages]

Reports,  Studies  and Toplines [QUESTIONS & ANSWERS]
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/7988.cfm
or
http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/upload/7988.pdf
[full-text, 30 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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] [NEW BLOG] GREEN JOBS, SAFE JOBS -- from Hazards Magazine/ International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

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
________________________________________________________________________

Hazards magazine | International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)


[NEW BLOG] Green jobs, safe jobs
http://www.hazards.org/greenjobs/blog/


About
http://www.hazards.org/greenjobs/blog/about/

Making sure green jobs are decent, good and safety jobs

Far from being our economic and employment salvation, left to its own devices the green economy could deliver the same unhealthy mix of hire-and-fire, poison-and-pain jobs that remain a blight on the reputational landscape of the not-so-green economy. This isn�t paranoia. It�s already happening, and it is happening on a grand scale. Luckily, unions and environmental campaigners are on the case, working for good, green jobs.

This �Green jobs, safe jobs� blog, from the trade union health and safety magazine Hazards magazine - http://www.hazards.org/greenjobs/ and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) - http://climate.ituc-csi.org/, addresses the real life health and safety issues that must be an integral part of discussions on the development of a green economy.

The blog aims to challenge the assumption that green jobs are automatically a good thing. If they kill workers they are not good; if they exploit workers they are not good. And there is no iron law guaranteeing that employers who are kind to the environment are kind to their workers.

The �Green jobs, safe jobs� blog presents evidence on the potential pitfalls and how to avoid them, so that we get jobs that are decent, safe and green. And it widens the discussion to incorporate issues like worker participation and unionisation as essential components of a healthy green economy. The blog is designed as a companion to the  Hazards green jobs, safe jobs webpages -- http://www.hazards.org/greenjobs/


______________________________
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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] Urban Institute: RISING SENIOR UNEMPLOYMENT & the NEED TO WORK AT OLDER AGES [28 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

Urban Institute

Rising Senior Unemployment and the Need to Work at Older Ages [28 September 2009]
Richard W. Johnson
http://www.urban.org/publications/411964.html
or
http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411964
or
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411964_senior_unemployment.pdf
[full-text, 19 pages]

Abstract

Unemployment rates for older workers reached record levels in 2009, partly because fewer workers eligible for early retirement benefits are dropping out of the labor force. Growing concerns about the adequacy of retirement savings and whether retirees will have enough money to live comfortably in later life appear to have discouraged early retirement. Instead, more older workers are now remaining in the labor force and searching for work after they lose their jobs. The need for older adults to keep working raises the imperative for new policies that help address the special challenges that older job seekers face.

Contents
Abstract........................................................................................................................................iv
Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
Unemployment Rate Trends for Older Workers.............................................................................2
The New Work Imperative for Older Adults................................................................................. 7
Policy Implications ........................................................................................................................ 9
References................................................................................................................................... 12

______________________________
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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] ITUC: LATVIA: UNION VIEW #14 [27 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

International Trade Union Confederation  (ITUC)


Union View #14: LATVIA [27 September 2009]
http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/VS_Latvia_EN.pdf
[full-text, 8 pages]


The economic and financial crisis has pushed several central European countries to the edge of the abyss. Under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund, international aid is attempting to save them from economic collapse, but on the condition that they accept drastic austerity plans, with disastrous social consequences.

See also
UNION VIEW ARCHIVES
http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?mot71


______________________________
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                  
****************************************


Monday, September 28, 2009

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[IWS] GLOBAL CORRUPTION REPORT 2009: CORRUPTION & THE PRIVATE SECTOR [23 September 2009]

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
________________________________________________________________________

Transparency International

Global Corruption Report 2009: Corruption and the Private Sector [23 September 2009]
http://transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/2009/gcr2009
or
http://www.transparency.org/publications/gcr/gcr_2009
or
http://www.transparency.org/content/download/46187/739801
[full-text, 496 pages]

Executive Summary
http://www.transparency.org/content/download/46184/739789

[excerpt]
After a first broad wave of anti-corruption activism and corporate social responsibility (CSR)
activities, business worldwide now has a clearer responsibility, more profound self-interest and
greater potential to assume a vital role in the fi ght against corruption. This is a key message of
the Global Corruption Report 2009, which brings together more than eighty recognised experts,
practitioners and scholars to present the most comprehensive analysis to date of corruption
and remedies for the business sector in all world regions.
The lesson from the analysis is clear: more of the same simply will not do. A step change
in strategy and action is required to ensure that corruption in the business sector is tackled
effectively.

œ Business needs to recognise that corruption risks start with bribery and go beyond, requiring
an integrated approach to corporate integrity and corporate citizenship.

œ Governments need to take advantage of a new generation of innovative tools and thereby
put much more emphasis on regulatory capabilities, actual enforcement and international
cooperation.

œ Civil society needs to become fully aware of how corruption in business is at the core of many
other social, developmental and environmental challenges, and must forge much broader
and more effective partnerships to support corporate integrity.

œ Stakeholders ­ from business owners, executives and workers to auditors, investors,
regulators and anti-corruption activists ­ have to acknowledge that corporate integrity is a
multi-stakeholder effort that requires collective action across sectors, borders and institutional
boundaries.

AND MUCH MORE....

Figures
1 Corruption risks within spheres of corporate activity 8
2 From corporate integrity to a corporate integrity system 9
3 Share of pyrethroid contracts won 28
4 The four key pillars of the Business for Social Responsibility framework 64
5 Increase in business codes among Fortune Global 200 companies, 1970­2007 84
6 Measures at the Fortune Global 200 to embed their codes of ethics 87
7 Percentage of companies using whistleblowing systems and their effectiveness 94
8 Key standards: reach and potential impact 105
9 Staff for public enforcement of securities regulation, selected countries 125
10 Budgets for public enforcement of securities regulation, selected countries 125
11 Forms of corruption in the private sector, 2007 249
12 Corruption and poverty 396
13 Types of foreign bribery 405
14 Respondents stating that corruption was 'very relevant' or 'highly relevant' to their business 410
15 Percentage of respondents from each country stating that corruption took place 'often' and 'always' when companies compete for public sector contracts 411
16 Percentage of respondents from each country stating that corruption took place 'often' and 'always' when companies compete for private sector contracts 412
17 Reasons why IPUs' activities are not registered 414
18 Proportion of IPUs that were in contact with public agents and made payments to them 415
19 Administrative corruption and degree of informal activity 417
20 Number of companies by rating category 421
21 IOC and NOC average results, by areas of revenue transparency 425
22 Financial penalties collected annually: SEC compared to FSA (US$ millions) 434
23 Financial penalties collected annually (US$ per billion dollars market
capitalisation) 435

Tables
1 Disclosure policies for executive remuneration in selected European countries 91
2 Executive remuneration policies in Asia 92
3 Independent directors and corporate governance in the Middle East and north Africa 93
4 Whistleblower laws for private sector employees in Asia 95
5 Selected standards in comparative perspective 104
6 Sovereign wealth fund scoreboard: leaders and laggards 115
7 Offences and related provisions in regional and international anti-corruption conventions 118
8 Shortcomings in OECD country anti-corruption legislation 122
9 Comparison of the level of obstacles for doing business: rank among 181 countries 171
10 Acceptability of corrupt practices in the private sector 172
11 Prevalence of corrupt practices according to the reason for giving a gift or bribe in the course of paying local taxes, by sector 173
12 Classification of the causes of corruption in public sectors/services 173
13 Corruption Perceptions Index 2008 397
14 Bribe Payers Index 2008 404
15 Predicted probability of the willingness to register according to the types of
contact with public agents 415
16 TRAC country/territory rankings 422
17 Foreign bribery cases and investigations 427
18 Resources for public enforcement in securities regulation, selected countries 432

Boxes
1 Making compliance feasible rather than walking away 65
2 Engaging workers in supply chain integrity 65
3 Facing up to the consequences of bribery: a real-world case 121
4 Global bribery risks and the global banking system: some recent examples 141
5 Extract of an interview with Mr Farid Lahoud, Banque Audi 193
6 Information sought on corporate anti-bribery efforts for TRAC survey 420

______________________________
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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] CRS: THE FALL & RISE of HOUSEHOLD SAVING [1 September 2009]

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)

The Fall and Rise of Household Saving
Brian W. Cashell, Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy
September 1, 2009
http://opencrs.com/document/R40647/2009-09-01/download/1013/
[full-text, 14 pages]

Summary
Household saving matters for two reasons. First, it is an important source of funds to finance
domestic investment. Second, it is the means by which workers accumulate wealth and maintain
their living standard into retirement. Congress has indicated its desire to promote household
saving by, among other things, creating individual retirement accounts, and saving is an important
consideration in proposals to reform Social Security. At a time, however, when policymakers
have been looking for ways to increase spending to minimize the downturn and get the economy
growing again, households have begun to save more.

For the 40 months between January 2005 and April 2008, the personal saving rate averaged 1.8%.
In contrast, in the 1970s, the average personal saving rate was 9.6%. In May 2008, the personal
saving rate began to rise. It remains too early to tell with certainty if that represents the reversal of
the long-term decline. What may seem unusual is that it occurred at a time of general economic
weakness. The increase in household saving resulted in more than $300 billion less in consumer
spending than would have occurred had the saving rate not risen.

Prudent individuals might be expected to save enough to avoid a substantial decline in their living
standard on retirement. If consumers seek to maintain a fairly stable level of consumption over
their entire lives, then the level of consumption at any given point in their lives will depend on
their current wealth and some expectation about their income over the rest of their lives.

Changes in household net worth in recent years seem to have contributed to the swings in the
household saving rate. In the 1990s, equity prices rose substantially. Between 1991, the beginning
of an economic expansion, and 2001, the year it ended, the Standard and Poor's index of 500
stock prices rose by 217%. It is widely believed those increases in equity prices contributed to a
decline in the household saving rate.

After the turn of the century, increased house prices insulated household balance sheets from the
effects of a decline in equity values, and the household saving rate fell to near zero.

More recently, both equity and house prices have fallen. The combined drop in asset prices had a
significant effect on household net worth. At a time when current incomes have been falling, the
personal saving rate rose to more than 5%. It may be that the economic downturn is limiting the
saving response to the decline in household net worth. If that is the case, the saving rate might be
expected to continue to rise, or at least remain steady at current levels, when the economy begins
to recover, unless asset prices recover to levels now considered by many to have constituted a
"bubble."

Contents
Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1
Is the Long-Term Decline in Household Saving Over? ................................................................1
Measuring Saving .......................................................................................................................2
An Alternative Measure ........................................................................................................3
Household Saving and Wealth Accumulation...............................................................................4
Asset Prices and Personal Saving ..........................................................................................5
The Decline in Household Net Worth and the Recent Increase in the Saving Rate........................7
Who Saves? ...............................................................................................................................8
Are Households Saving Enough? ..........................................................................................9
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................10

Figures
Figure 1. Personal Saving as a Percentage of Disposable Personal Income...................................2
Figure 2. Flow of Funds Household Saving Rate .........................................................................4

Tables
Table 1. Saving by Income Quintile.............................................................................................9

Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 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                  
****************************************


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[IWS] CRS: DISPUTE SETTLEMENT in the WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO): AN OVERVIEW [8 September 2009]

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)


Dispute Settlement in the World Trade Organization (WTO): An Overview
Jeanne J. Grimmett, Legislative Attorney
September 8, 2009
http://opencrs.com/document/RS20088/2009-09-08/download/1013/
[full-text, 15 pages]

Summary
Dispute settlement in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is carried out under the WTO
Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU). In effect
since January 1995, the DSU provides for consultations between disputing parties, panels and
appeals, and possible retaliation if a defending party fails to comply with a WTO decision by an
established deadline. Automatic establishment of panels, adoption of panel and appellate reports,
and authorization of requests to retaliate, along with deadlines and improved multilateral
oversight of compliance, are aimed at producing a more expeditious and effective system than
had existed under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). To date, 398 complaints
have been filed, approximately half involving the United States as complainant or defendant.

Expressing dissatisfaction with WTO dispute settlement results in the trade remedy area,
Congress, in the Trade Act of 2002, directed the executive branch to address dispute settlement in
WTO negotiations. WTO Members have been negotiating DSU revisions in the currently stalled
Doha Development Round of trade negotiations but no final agreement on the DSU has been
reached. Use of the DSU has revealed procedural gaps, particularly affecting the compliance
phase of a dispute. These include a failure to coordinate procedures for requesting retaliation with
procedures for tasking a WTO panel with determining whether a defending Member has complied
in a case and the absence of a procedure for withdrawing trade sanctions imposed by a
complaining Member where the defending Member believes it has fulfilled its WTO obligations.
As a result, disputing Members have entered into bilateral agreements permitting retaliation and
compliance panel processes to progress on an agreed schedule and have initiated new dispute
proceedings aimed at removing retaliatory measures.

Where a U.S. law or regulation is at issue in a WTO case, the adoption by the WTO of a panel or
Appellate Body report finding that the measure violates a WTO agreement does not give the
report direct legal effect in this country; thus federal law is not affected until Congress or the
executive branch, as the case may be, takes action to remove the offending measure. Where a
restrictive foreign trade practice is at issue, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 provides a
mechanism by which the United States Trade Representative (USTR) may challenge the measure
in a WTO dispute settlement proceeding and authorizes the USTR to take retaliatory action if the
defending Member has not complied with the resulting WTO decision. Although Section 301 was
challenged in the WTO on the ground that it requires the USTR to act unilaterally in WTO-related
trade disputes in violation of DSU provisions requiring resort to multilateral WTO dispute
settlement, the United States was ultimately found not to be in violation of its DSU obligations.

H.R. 496 (Rangel) would create an Office of the Congressional Trade Enforcer (CTE) that would,
inter alia, investigate restrictive foreign trade practices in light of WTO obligations and call on
the USTR to initiate WTO dispute proceedings where the CTE finds that WTO violations have
occurred; express congressional dissatisfaction with WTO dispute settlement decisions finding
that the U.S. practice of "zeroing" (i.e., disregarding non-dumped sales in the calculation of
dumping margins) violates the WTO Antidumping Agreement and with decisions of the WTO
Appellate Body generally; and place restrictions on the Department of Commerce in
implementing the revised antidumping methodology that it adopted in 2007 in response to the
WTO "zeroing" decisions. S. 363 (Snowe), would give the U.S. Court of International Trade
exclusive jurisdiction to review de novo certain USTR determinations under Section 301 of the
Trade Act of 1974, which may in some cases involve the initiation and conduct of WTO disputes;
the bill would also amend various Section 301 authorities themselves.

Contents
Background ...............................................................................................................................1
WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding.....................................................................................1
Steps in a WTO Dispute..............................................................................................................3
Consultations (Article 4) .......................................................................................................3
Establishing a Dispute Panel (Articles 6, 8) ...........................................................................3
Panel Proceedings (Articles 12, 15, Appendix 3) ...................................................................4
Adoption of Panel Reports/Appellate Review (Articles 16, 17, 20)........................................4
Implementation of Panel and Appellate Body Reports (Article 21) ........................................4
Compliance Panels (Article 21.5) ..........................................................................................5
Compensation and Suspension of Concessions (Article 22) ...................................................5
Use of Multilateral Dispute Settlement Procedures ......................................................................6
Compliance Issues ......................................................................................................................6
"Sequencing" ........................................................................................................................6
Removal of Retaliatory Measures..........................................................................................7
WTO Dispute Settlement and U.S. Law ......................................................................................9
Legal Effect of WTO Decisions.............................................................................................9
Section 301 of the Trade Act .................................................................................................9
Recent Legislation .................................................................................................................... 11
111th Congress..................................................................................................................... 11
110th Congress.....................................................................................................................12

Contacts
Author Contact Information ......................................................................................................12


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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.

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Institute for Workplace Studies 
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