Low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage, according to a new study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The study, the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade, also found that 68 percent of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous work week. ‘We were all surprised by the high prevalence rate, said Ruth Milkman, one of the study’s authors and a sociology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the City University of New York. The study, to be released on Wednesday, was financed by the Ford, Joyce, Haynes and Russell Sage Foundations. In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15 percent loss in pay. The researchers said one of the most surprising findings was how successful low-wage employers were in pressuring workers not to file for workers’ compensation. Only 8 percent […]
Is it better to go with your utility’s renewable power option or install your own solar or wind power? A Minneapolis resident stands outside his garage, which is covered with solar panels. They supply 125 percent of the power he needs for his property. Q: I’d like to know the relative electricity cost of utility-scale solar and wind plants versus rooftop residential solar. In other words, how can I know whether to subsidize my utility’s alternative energy plant or renovate my own home? – Randy Wilson, Flagstaff, Ariz. A: Making such a determination is complex, but you could start with ‘In My Backyard, a new online tool by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. You need to know your electricity usage and what size solar photovoltaic (PV) system or wind turbine you could install. Then, using Google Earth maps and data on the amounts of sunshine and wind at your location, the tool will estimate the electricity you could get from a certain size wind turbine or PV array installed on your property. The costs to install renewable energy systems vary greatly by location, warn researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National […]
The ‘securitization of mortgages – bundling mortgage policies and selling them on to investors – is considered to be one of the major reasons for last year’s financial collapse. Now, Wall Street banks want to do it all again – but this time, with life insurance policies instead of real estate. The New York Times reports that large investment banks are lining up to begin securitizing ‘life settlements, life insurance policies that ill and elderly people sell so that they can get cash before they die. According to the Times: [Banks] plan to ‘securitize these policies, in Wall Street jargon, by packaging hundreds or thousands together into bonds. They will then resell those bonds to investors, like big pension funds, who will receive the payouts when people with the insurance die. The earlier the policyholder dies, the bigger the return – though if people live longer than expected, investors could get poor returns or even lose money. Life settlement companies – companies that buy life insurance policies and cash in when the original policy holder dies – have been around for some time, but this would […]
Dr. David Himmelstein is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a primary care doctor at the Cambridge Hospital in Massachusetts. Dr. Himmelstein is also a founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. In 2005 and 2009, he helped write major studies finding that medical bills were a leading contributor to personal bankruptcies in the United States. He spoke to the freelance writer Anne Underwood. Q. How many medical bankruptcies are there annually in this country? A. The forecast for this year is that there will be 1.4 million to 1.5 million total bankruptcy filings. Our data say 62 percent of those will be medical. That works out to around 900,000 cases, and each one affects about 2.7 people. That makes roughly 2.4 million people who will suffer from new medical bankruptcy filings in 2009 alone. Q. What’s the fallout from declaring medical bankruptcy? A. We know that bankruptcy in general is considered hugely shameful. People who will tell you the intimate details of their sex lives will refuse to tell you about their bankruptcies. It shows up for years on credit reports. It creates problems in obtaining housing and getting jobs. […]
Note that all numbers are current as of September 4, 2009. TOTAL JOBS LOST DURING THE RECESSION: 6.9 MILLION – New jobs needed per month to keep up with population growth: 127,000 – Jobs lost in August 2009: 216,000 – Jobs needed to regain pre-recession unemployment levels: 9.4 million – Manufacturing jobs lost since the start of the recession: 2.0 million (14.6% of sector’s jobs) – Construction jobs lost in the recession: 1.4 million (19%, nearly one in five construction jobs) – Mass layoffs (50 or more people by a single employer) in July 2009: 2,157; jobs lost: 206,791 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 9.7% — Number unemployed: 14.9 million (up from 7.5 million in December 2007) — Underemployment rate: 16.8%; Share of workers un- or underemployed: roughly 1 in 6 — Under- and unemployed, marginally attached and involuntary part-time workers: 26.4 million — Unemployment rate, ages 16 to 24: 18.2% — Male unemployment: 10.9%; female unemployment: 8.2% — White unemployment: 8.9%; black unemployment: 15.1%; Hispanic unemployment: 13% — Unemployment rate, young college graduates: 5.9% (2nd worst on record); Worst recorded unemployment rate for young college graduates: 6.2% (1983) […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
