Free Republic

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. OK, let´s suspend the bashing of President Bush and his Democratic presidential opponent John Kerry for their stupefyingly awful records and platforms on trade policy. Let´s turn instead to how their utter inability to understand America´s globalization challenges will sandbag other major policies they´re pitching. To date, there´s no better example than Bush´s goal of turning America into an “opportunity society.” Anyone who likes free markets and capitalism, will rightly love the concept of an ownership society; and it´s no wonder that the Republicans are making it a centerpiece of their...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. HIGH POINT -- State and national economies are gradually improving, but furniture companies continue to announce layoffs despite an effort to stem imports from China. Last week Hooker Furniture announced it would close a plant in Maiden near Hickory. The move will cost 240 workers their jobs when the shutdown is completed this fall. The erosion of American furniture manufacturing employment reflects an extended and painful economic structural change, said Don Jud, professor emeritus of business administration at UNC-Greensboro. "In my view, it's part of a long-term trend that just continues,...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Motivated by the massive loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to foreign outsourcing, a Milwaukee group is in the midst of a national campaign to convince consumers to buy American-made products. We Employ America is using television and print advertisements to deliver its message. Locally produced advertisements already have aired on CNN. The campaign is the brainchild of Jeff Cowie, who retired in 2002 as vice president of sales and marketing at Johnson Level & Tool Manufacturing Co., a Mequon hand-tool manufacturer. Cowie worked for 15 years at Johnson Level & Tool,...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. THE NEXT BIG THING/ Western companies are now merely testing the water Bangalore -- If you think this is a year of impressive growth for offshoring to India, as has been signaled by the first quarter financial results, you ain´t seen nothing yet. Western firms and independent IT vendors are for the most part marking time, waiting for the US elections to be over. The jobs traveling to India are mainly resulting from the need to take care of growth and attrition and little because of layoffs. This has resulted in...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Blame the foreigners. That is a time-tested political tactic in America, and this year is no exception. With the job outlook uncertain, protectionist winds are blowing. President Bush last week blasted European subsidies for Airbus, which has replaced Boeing as No. 1 in commercial jets. Sen. John Kerry has focused more of his fire on "Benedict Arnold CEOs," executives who send American jobs overseas. Those campaign positions both reflect and obscure a reality that neither candidate shows much sign of addressing seriously, the large American trade deficit. In going after Europe,...

Fresno company's move to Texas will idle 325 workers by May The Vendo Co. will close its Fresno plant next year, laying off 325 highly skilled and well-paid workers. Vendo officials filed a notice of mass layoffs with Fresno County late Friday, saying it will close the North Ingram Avenue plant about May 1. The vending machine manufacturer is moving to an upgraded plant in Dallas to be closer to its sister company, Sanden Corp., and to bigger markets in the central and eastern United States. "We've always recognized the disadvantage of being on the West Coast," said Michael Vartanian,...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. A closely watched measure of future economic activity fell in July for the second consecutive month, reinforcing evidence that the U.S. financial recovery is slackening. The Conference Board said Thursday its Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators dropped by 0.3 per cent in July to 116.0, following a revised decline of 0.1 per cent in June. Last month was the first time in more than a year that the index had lost ground. "The latest decline in the Leading Index reflects a loss of forward momentum," said Ken Goldstein, economist for...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. In his strategy to foster a Cuba free from Fidel Castro, one of the world´s last Stalinist rulers, President George W. Bush has directed that several actions be taken to deny resources and legitimacy to the communist regime.  A key objective is to close off the flow of hard currency to the island, which is used prop up Castro´s dictatorship and fund its covert operations in Latin America.   The new limits placed on family remittances to Cuba have gotten much media attention, but this flow is small compared to other...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Despite Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan´s praise for the New Information Economy, his recent comments on job-quality trends in America made it painfully clear that he needs a lesson in elementary internet use. Responding at Congressional hearings last week to worries that the United States recently has been replacing high-paying jobs with low-paying jobs, Greenspan stated, “We have not been able to find a significant, meaningful change in the quality of jobs being produced relative to the quality of jobs being lost for the nation as a whole over the last year.”...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. LEWISTOWN - Miranda Frymyer waits in front of the Armed Forces Recruiting Center for the shuttle bus to drive her to boot camp. She seems neither happy nor sad, but resigned. The 18-year-old, sporting a blue Grateful Dead teddy bear tattoo on her chest, is surrounded by her mother, her stepmother, her father, her sister, her boyfriend and several family friends, none of whom want her to join the Army. "We're having this war," her mother, Lisa Courtney, says. "I do not want my daughter going. I'm here to cry." For...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Layoffs in the United States rose 8 percent in July from the previous month, a report said on Monday, as the job market recovery struggled to gain momentum. The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said employers announced 69,572 job cuts in July, up from 64,343 in June but down 18 percent from July 2003. Hiring announcements also declined, but companies do not announce hires as frequently as they announce layoffs. The number of announced hires fell to 26,880, a 30 percent decline from June's 38,377....

A GOP provision in an export-tax bill would permit new owners of pro sports franchises to write off the value of the team, which they couldn't do before. Tax experts say the 15-year write-off rule could add, on average, 5 percent to team values when they are sold. Big-time professional sports teams are privately owned companies that pay their marquee employees enormous sums of money to entertain fans in publicly subsidized stadiums that never pay for themselves. Those who care absolutely nothing about sports -- or even hate sports -- still pay taxes in support of these private enterprises. And...

Bassett plans to shut doors by Oct. 1, putting about 185 employees out of work Bassett Furniture Industries Inc., which came to Macon in the mid-1960s, plans to close by Oct. 1, putting about 185 employees out of work, a company official said Tuesday. Its Airport Drive manufacturing plant is the company's only facility in Georgia. In April 2003, Bassett closed its Dublin plant, cutting about 300 jobs. Fewer than 10 employees in Macon will be offered jobs at other plants, said Barry Safrit, vice president and chief financial officer. Other employees will be let go in phases during the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.Amid the layoffs that have become a routine result of corporate downsizing, mergers, and outsourcing, there is a growing trend: older supply chain managers who can’t find new jobs. Between February 2000 and January 2002, for example, the re-employment of workers between the ages of 55 and 64 sank from 58.8% to 52.5%, the lowest rate since 1994. “There is absolutely no question that if you are an older worker, your chances of being re-employed are much smaller,” says Sara Rix, a senior policy analyst at American Association of Retired Persons.

NEW DELHI: Currently, there is a great demand of hi-tech IT jobs in the US. The Reason, however, is obvious. The country has lost thousands of technical jobs to India, as a result of which unemployment is rising amongst the American youth. According to sources, joblessness has nearly doubled in the last three years, while the number of Americans calling themselves IT professionals has decreased by nearly 160,000. In typical doublespeak, even the US government has agreed that the tech jobs are not likely to stay onshore, despite the growth in demand....

The draft agreement reached last week in Geneva by 147 countries in the World Trade Organization, including the United States, is important and controversial for domestic politics. The lethal combination probably means that it will benefit from little discussion and no legislative attention until after the November elections. The problem is the United States, the European Union and Japan all pay large subsidies to their domestic agricultural producers, amounting to some $300 billion a year. The United States alone pays its farmers $18 billion annually. That means that Americans, Europeans and Japanese get hit twice -- first in their tax...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Increasing numbers of National Guard and Reserve troops who have returned from war in Iraq and Afghanistan are encountering new battles with their civilian employers at home. Jobs were eliminated, benefits reduced and promotions forgotten. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Labor Department reports receiving greater numbers of complaints under a 1994 law designed to give Guard and Reserve troops their old jobs back, or provide them with equivalent positions. Benefits and raises must be protected, as if the serviceman or servicewoman had never left. Some soldiers, however, are finding the Uniformed Services Employment...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Alcoa Inc. will close an automotive components factory in Ohio and lay off its staff in a bid to cut excess capacity, the Pittsburgh-based company said Tuesday. Alcoa said it would close the Northwood, Ohio, facility by the end of 2004 and take a total of $7 million in charges related to the move. Closing the plant will put 140 people out of work. Alcoa, the world's largest aluminum producer but also a manufacturer of other goods, said it would record $3 million of the charges in the third quarter. "Unfortunately,...