Free Republic

  Unrecoverable Stall: Air France 447, America David C. Stolinsky Feb. 16, 2012 The closest I ever came to flying a plane was sitting next to a colleague who was piloting a small plane. But even I know that what enables a plane to fly is lift. As the plane moves forward, the angle and shape of the wings cause the air rushing by to produce an upward force. This lift must exceed the drag caused by the friction of the air, and still be enough to counter the plane’s weight. Unlike balloons or blimps, airplanes are heavier than...

This roll the country has been on lately, where we burn brighter and brighter while our traditional lodestars, the United States and Europe, sink deeper into the western sky — and, moreover, the rest of the world seems to be noticing our ascent — has produced strangely unaccustomed feelings of self-confidence in many Canadians. It’s not that they aren’t nice feelings. But for a country more used to thinking of itself as not being terribly noticeable, superstar status — well, OK, let’s not get carried away — rising-star status takes getting used to. Not since Expo 67 or the early...

The productivity of U.S. businesses climbed 3.1% in the third quarter...Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected productivity to increase by 3.7% in the third quarter... ...real output, grew at an annual rate of 3.8%...Hours worked, however, rose a much smaller 0.6%, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. As a result, unit-labor costs fell 2.4%...

The productivity of U.S. businesses fell in the second quarter, the government said Tuesday, while first-quarter figures were revised lower to show a decline as labor costs accelerated. Second-quarter productivity fell by a 0.3% annual rate on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Labor Department. Productivity in the first quarter was revised lower to a 0.6% decline instead of a 1.8% increase. The economy hasn’t experienced two straight drops in productivity since the second half of 2008. The government also revised productivity for the prior three years, showing a higher increase in 2010 and lower gains in 2009 and...

Businesses expect a lot more out of their employees these days, as a visit to Rioja, the top-rated Denver restaurant, can demonstrate. If you like Rioja's hazelnut tortamisu, thank pastry chef Eric Dale. And if you happen to pop your head into the bakery room and admire the tile job on the floor, you can thank him for that, too. Ever since his boss, chef Jen Jasinski, discovered that Mr. Dale is handy, she's had him doing double duty as the maintenance man. He has spent hours repainting the oven, fixing the plumbing and installing a garbage disposal. And that's...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The productivity of U.S. businesses rose at a slower rate in the first quarter while hourly wages of workers adjusted for inflation fell by the largest amount in almost three years, according to government data. First-quarter productivity rose at a 1.6% annual rate, the Labor Department said Thursday. Productivity in the fourth quarter was also revised up to 2.9% from 2.6%. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected productivity to increase by 1.5% in the first quarter... ...Although compensation per hour rose 2.6% at an annualized rate, hourly wages adjusted for inflation fell by 2.5%. That’s the biggest...

Season's greetings. And while I'm on the subject, this is a good time for us "haves" to start thinking more about America's "have nots." The national unemployment rate stands at a horrifying 9.8%. But unemployment is 15.7% among high-school dropouts, and an astonishing 42% of all unemployed workers have been jobless for more than six months. At press time, Congress appeared poised to pass a package of tax cuts that offers 19% of its benefits to the richest 1% of taxpayers. Earlier this month, the president's deficit commission proposed a comprehensive deficit-reduction plan with many virtues. But it included, among...

Goods-producing industries could achieve high productivity growth as labor-saving automation and supply-chain efficiencies scaled up. But jobs in nursing and teaching required the same number of person-hours with patients or students as they did in years past. In other words, labor-intensive services had far lower rates of productivity growth than did goods-producing industries. And yet salary increases in those service sectors -- education, health care, government, to name a few -- keep pace with those in industries where raises are justified by greater productivity. This difference has a consequence that few had noticed before: As gross domestic product rises due...

In the four months between June and October, retail sales surged 10.2% at an annual rate and are up 7.3% over the past 12 months. Still, consumers get no respect from the majority of analysts and economists, who during the summer and early fall, could not stop talking about a double-dip recession. But instead of going wobbly, consumers seem to be standing strong. ComScore ( SCOR - news - people ) says online sales vs. last year were up 28% on Thanksgiving Day, 9% on Black Friday and 13% so far in November. Coremetrics, another online data gatherer, reports sales...

Here's my sin: I'm trying to find some grounds for optimism. Achilles2000 (and others) say, forget it: "The only thing in the middle of the road is road kill ;-) For those who care about America and liberty, there is exactly one right answer - education by government must end." I don't say this is wrong, just that I don't think anything so drastic will actually happen. Conservatives might take over Congress. This is no time to assume the worst. Meanwhile, the main thing I'm struck by as I read comments on many sites is that the average American doesn't...

Ron Bullock, chairman of Bison Gear & Engineering Corp, writing in the Washington Examiner: "More effective foreign competition has led to increasing manufactured-goods trade deficits and the loss of 7 million U.S. manufacturing jobs since 1980." Don Boudreaux responds: "This account – repeated ad nauseam – would be more plausible if it were also the case that U.S. manufacturing output, during this same time, had declined. But this output rose. Manufacturing output today is nearly 100 percent higher than it was 30 years ago (see chart). Importantly, manufacturing output is up while manufacturing employment is down for a reason...

There is no shortage of disastrous behaviors in Obama’s District of Corruption today, but among the most fatal practices is that of refusing to discuss our many challenges in an open, honest and forthright manner. One of the most dangerous patterns in American politics today is the practice of allowing political ambitions to drive the facts, instead of allowing the facts to drive policy decisions. Nowhere is that more evident than in the insane discussion concerning very serious global economic conditions and the right medicine for those international ills.

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-national-broadband-plan Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release March 16, 2010 Statement from the President on the National Broadband Plan America today is on the verge of a broadband-driven Internet era that will unleash innovation, create new jobs and industries, provide consumers with new powerful sources of information, enhance American safety and security, and connect communities in ways that strengthen our democracy. Just as past generations of Americans met the great infrastructure challenges of the day, such as building the Transcontinental...

Private sector productivity has soared in the past year, helping to shape the country's rise out of recession. Businesses have pared down their workforces, cut back on nonessential spending, and pushed their workers to do more. Have governments around the country increased their productivity, too, giving taxpayers more for their money? We have little idea, because we put a low priority on measuring public sector costs and output. As a result, we're not in much of a position to say whether our tens of thousands of federal, state and local government units and departments can squeeze more out their workforce...

This Is Why Nobody Has Any Jobs: Productivity Rises Way Ahead Of Expectations Vincent Fernando, CFA May. 6, 2010, 8:32 AM U.S. worker productivity rose 3.6% in Q1, which was well ahead of the 2.4% expected growth. --- Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 3.6 percent annual rate during the first quarter of 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, with output rising 4.4 percent and hours worked rising 0.8 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) From the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010, output...

When workers become more efficient, it's normally a good thing. But lately, it has acted as a powerful brake on job creation. And the question of whether the recent surge in productivity has run its course is the key to whether job growth is finally poised to take off. One of the great surprises of the economic downturn that began 27 months ago is this: Businesses are producing only 3 percent fewer goods and services than they were at the end of 2007, yet Americans are working nearly 10 percent fewer hours because of a mix of layoffs and cutbacks...

This is a parable of Goldilocks and Cinderella. The global Goldilocks growth story had an unhappy ending in October 2007. Today, the recession impoverished Cinderella economy of the US believes it is dancing with the prince. Will midnight chimes bring the bears back? The future growth of US (and, therefore, government revenue) will be severely curtailed by declining competitiveness, costs of medicare, social security and unmanageable deficits. The US government "bail outs" give stock markets confidence, yet the real bailout is strengthening of America's competitiveness. Advances in science and engineering have spearheaded 50 to 80 per cent of US GDP...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of U.S. workers filing for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but another big gain in productivity in the fourth quarter offered hope that companies were closer to adding to payrolls. Initial claims for state unemployment insurance increased 8,000 to 480,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Financial markets had expected claims to come in at 460,000. While claims are down sharply from their peak last spring, the improvement has stalled in recent weeks. Despite the setback, analysts are optimistic hiring will pick up soon as firms run out of ways to boost output without...

Our Current Economic Illusions Daryl Montgomery December 04, 2009 When reading economic statistics, you should see if they are consistent (they rarely are) and make sense based on real world observations (lately they don't). On Thursday, December 3rd the U.S. productivity numbers were released, as were same store sales and weekly unemployment claims. The stories these three pieces of data are telling are quite different, which means at least one and possibly two of them are not correct. Productivity in the U.S. is supposedly up astronomically. It rose by 8.1% last quarter and this is after being revised down from...

WASHINGTON — Productivity surged in the third quarter by the largest amount in six years while labor costs fell. While that indicates inflation is remaining under control, it also signals that workers' wages are getting squeezed, raising doubts about the durability of the economic recovery. The Labor Department said Thursday productivity was rising at an annual rate of 8.1 percent in July-September period, the biggest jump since 2003, while unit labor costs were falling at a 2.5 percent rate. The productivity gain was revised down from an initial estimate of 9.5 percent made a month ago while the drop in...

Rising productivity is usually one of the best things you can hope for in an economy. It means people are producing more for each hour they work. That's the path to higher living standards. But the huge burst in productivity that the U.S. economy experienced in the third quarter is not entirely good. In fact, it's a sign that the U.S. economy is still in a sickly condition—a conclusion that is likely to be driven home by the latest job-loss figures release on Nov. 6. Economists who cheered the productivity number are ignoring the dark side of its sudden growth....

Jobless Claims Down, Productivity Soars! Joe WeisenthalNov. 5, 2009, 8:33 AM At first blush, we like this morning's economic numbers. New jobless claims of 512,000 was lower than the 530,000 last week, and the 525,000 analysts had anticipated.[snip]

...In "The Graduate"...Dustin Hoffman's Benjamin is given a one-word bit of career counseling by one of those shallow and corrupt grown-ups at a shallow and corrupt grown-up cocktail party: "Plastics." Forty-two years later, the line has picked up a meaning that the makers of "The Graduate" could not possibly have anticipated.. today, the reaction is, "Oh, right: America still made things then." We don't any more...Since 1987, manufacturing as a share of our gross domestic product has declined 30 percent. Once the world's leading net exporter, we have become the world's leading net importer. In 2007, we exported $1.2 trillion...

Showering during the working day helps employees become more productive and more creative, according to a new study. Four businesses - a restaurant, an architect firm, an advertising agency and a lingerie company - took part in the eight-week study, conducted by PR firm Lucre. Staff took a shower break in addition to their usual daily wash - and results showed improvement across a range of areas, from mood to productivity. Employees taking shower breaks at the four businesses - ad agency Home, in Leeds, restaurant The Chancery, in London, architects and designers 3s, in London, and Simone Perele UK,...

"No matter how much money is spent, literacy rates plunge and SAT scores fall. General knowledge throughout the society becomes more scant. Our better students can’t compete against better foreign students. The depressing statistics are all around us. Everyone admits the public schools are doing a lousy job. The question is, why can't we do more to improve them?"

Tiny sensors can track you for your own good—or, at least, your company's GOT rhythm? If so, you are likely to be more productive than your arrhythmic colleagues. That was one conclusion drawn from a study carried out recently by Benjamin Waber and Sandy Pentland of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Moreover, it did not apply only when the subject of the study was typing away furiously. It also held when he was sitting, wandering, fidgeting or chatting with his colleagues. Those who did so with measured regularity were more productive than those whose activity levels, though the same on...

Inflationary pressures were subdued, the data showed, with real hourly compensation falling -- a hopeful sign for the fight against inflation, but troubling for economic growth. Productivity in the nonfarm business sector rose a 2.2% annualized rate in the second quarter, a bit slower than the 2.7% rate that economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for. See Economic Calendar. Unit labor costs -- a key gauge of inflationary pressures from labor markets -- rose 1.3% compared with the 1.6% rate expected by economists. Output rose an annualized 1.7% in the quarter, while hours worked dipped 0.5% and real hourly...

...The globalization paradigm has turned out to be very convenient for politicians. It allows them to blame foreigners for economic woes. It allows them to pretend that by rewriting trade deals, they can assuage economic anxiety... But there’s a problem with the way the globalization paradigm has evolved. It doesn’t really explain most of what is happening in the world. Globalization is real and important. It’s just not the central force driving economic change. Some Americans have seen their jobs shipped overseas, but global competition has accounted for a small share of job creation and destruction over the past few...

This is a series of slides done by the Chicago Federal Reserve. You can go through them quickly and see some interesting information. A summary of these slides is as follows: Manufacturing in the US has never been higher. Success in manufacturing is due to massive increases in productivity. Productivity has changed the nature of the workforce. The profit margin for manufacturing exceeds that of other industries. Future projections include increasing manufacturing output with fewer and fewer employees needed.

We know our objective: to prevent a first ballot victory by John McCain. I think we also know the only effective way to do this: campaigning for Mike Huckabee.Please go to mikehuckabee.com and/or to hucksarmy.com and get busy. There is an excellent way to make phone calls while on-line. Donations are always critical. There are voter guides for forwarding to those you know. The next rounds are critical, to see if we can maximize our potential, to shut McCain out.

...Fifteen years ago, Japan ranked fourth among the world's countries in gross domestic product per capita. It now ranks 20th. In 1994, its share of the world's economy peaked at 18 percent; in 2006, the number was below 10 percent... ...Japan's slide relative to other major economies is not a tabloid tale of suddenly squandered riches. It is rather an insidious petering out of growth, productivity and innovation -- and of political will to stop the slippage. The slide has dovetailed with another quietly insidious crisis -- the petering out of the population. Japan has the world's highest proportion of...

"Reports of the death of U.S. manufacturing have been greatly exaggerated." This is the opening line in a revealing and timely economic analysis aptly titled "Thriving in a Global Economy — The Truth About U.S. Manufacturing and Trade." =============================================================== The Good News is we're doomed! Part II 9/3/07 Early Tuesday morning I was tuned to Squawk on the Street on CNBC. Big economic report about to be released. During the wait, the ominous drumbeat from the TV box: 'Period of anxiety', 'period of uncertainty', 'period of fear', 'worst yet to come', 'credit collapse', 'credit crunch', 'subprime collapse', 'housing collapse', 'recession...

Worker Productivity Rebounds, Growing at the Fastest Pace in Nearly Two Years WASHINGTON (AP) -- Worker productivity rebounded, growing at the fastest pace in nearly two years, while wage pressures eased sharply in the spring -- developments that should reduce inflation worries. The Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, jumped to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent in the April-June quarter, even better than the 1.8 percent increase that was originally reported. Wage pressures, as measured by unit labor costs, slowed to an annual growth rate of 1.4 percent, slower than...

U.S. worker productivity rebounded, growing at the fastest pace in nearly two years, while wage pressures eased sharply in the spring -- developments that should reduce inflation worries. The Labor Department reported Thursday that productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, jumped to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent in the April-June quarter, even better than the 1.8 percent increase that was originally reported. Wage pressures, as measured by unit labor costs, slowed to an annual growth rate of 1.4 percent, slower than the initial estimate that labor costs were rising at a 2.1 percent rate. Rising...

Competitiveness: It has become fashionable to assert that the United States is slipping from its position as the world's top economy. But a new report on productivity suggests the declinists' obits are premature. Those who see America's vibrant economy starting to fade no doubt feel vindicated by the recent slump in housing and our topsy-turvy stock market. And yes, these developments are worrisome. But when you look at what really matters — long-term wealth creation through gains in output per worker — it's clear the doubters are all wet. Indeed, the U.S. still stands head and shoulders above the competition....

GENEVA — American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year. They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity." The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Organization said in its report. Ireland comes in second at $55,986, followed by Luxembourg...

GENEVA — American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year. They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity." The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries (SNIP) America's increased productivity "has to do with the ICT (information and communication technologies) revolution, with the...

GENEVA - American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year. They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity." The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Organization said in its report. Ireland comes in second at $55,986, followed by Luxembourg...

WASHINGTON - The productivity of American workers slowed sharply in the first three months of this year but wage pressures eased as well, providing evidence that inflation is being restrained. ADVERTISEMENT The Labor Department reported that the amount of output per hour of work for nonfarm businesses rose at annual rate of 1 percent in the January-March quarter. . .

Norwegians have the highest job loyalty in Europe, and all of the Nordic countries are happy at work. The European Employee Index (EEI) survey carried out by Danish consultancy Ennova, covered 20 European nations. The EEI showed that besides being loyal, in terms of job enjoyment Norwegians were second only to Danes. "We are part of a Nordic tradition of cooperative relations in the work place that is completely unique in an international context," said *Even Bolstad, head of HR Norway, Ennova's cooperative partner in the survey. "The five Nordic nations are all in the top ten in all categories...

The job market has remained strong even as the economy has weakened. Put the two trends together, and one conclusion is that companies can't squeeze as much blood, sweat and tears from workers as before, so they keep hiring additional ones. ...The Labor Department reports April jobs figures today, and economists think it was another month of good news on the employment front, even though economic growth seems weak. Economists estimate businesses added 110,000 nonfarm jobs to U.S. payrolls, the 27th month in a row of job growth in excess of 100,000. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to...

The U.S. economy continues to bang out new products and more efficient methods for making goods and services. Little good evidence has been offered to explain why the process of accelerated innovation that began in the 1990s should dissipate now. Productivity will continue to surge in the months ahead. Coupled with a one percent annual growth in the labor force, the economy can grow 3 percent a year with the right mix of fiscal and monetary policies. Overall, corporate profits in 2007 will be better than expected, and the stock market should soon regain its footing. The recent shocks from...

People have a harder time coming up with alternative solutions to a problem when they are part of a group, new research suggests. Scientists exposed study participants to one brand of soft drink then asked them to think of alternative brands. Alone, they came up with significantly more products than when they were grouped with two others. < snip > “When a group gets together, they can miss out on good options,” study team member H. Shanker Krishnan told LiveScience. This could mean ordering from a pizza place advertised on television even if there’s a better option, or making a...

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a hater. This world is full of things I HATE! I hate SUVs. I hate cell phones. I hate Blackberrys! Not the sweet and juicy kind that grow on vines. No, I'm referring to the ubiquitous annoying kind that are attached to the hands of self-important biz nerds. These are people SO critical to the success of their respective enterprises they can't be out of communication range for even one second. Curiously, this phenomenon is most evident among the job descriptions whose decisions are the least vital and the most subjective. Are you listening all...

The median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2 percent since 2003, after factoring in inflation. The drop has been especially notable, economists say, because productivity -- the amount that an average worker produces in an hour and the basic wellspring of a nation's living standard -- has risen steadily over the same period. -- "Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity" by Steven Greenhouse and David Leonhardt, The New York Times, August 28th, 2006 We decreased the size of our workforce, beginning last summer, by approximately 200 positions. In September, we announced the elimination of another...

WASHINGTON - Even though he's not running for re-election this year, President Bush knows just what he would focus on if he were: the economy and taxes. As Republicans face an increasingly tough political outlook, in part because of Bush's sagging approval ratings, the president offered some advice Monday to GOP candidates in the midterm elections. "If I were a candidate ... I'd say, 'Look at what the economy has done. It's strong. We've created a lot of jobs. ... I'd be telling people that the Democrats will raise your taxes. That's what they said. I'd be reminding people that...

The Committee of 100 survey that I have mentioned here in the past asked the question of American opinion leaders - What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear "China?" 4. Human/religious/civil rights - 16% (This is the percentage of the US population that are treehuggers and activists.) 3. Communism - 16% (They think this means everyone eating off of the same table and sharing the car.) 2. Population - 40% (Finally someone realizes that China has something the rest of the world doesn't - the largest population in the world) and.... 1. Economic growth -...

Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has struck a $2bn deal to buy about 100,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Russia until the end of the year. Venezuela has been forced to turn to an outside source to avoid defaulting on contracts with "clients" and "third parties" as it faces a shortfall in production, ... --- SNIP--- Under President Hugo Chávez, PDVSA's oil output has declined by about 60 per cent, a trend analysts say has accelerated in the past year because of poor technical management.

by Edward Hudgins ehudgins@objectivistcenter.org Governments often get their wealth-destroying, morally depraved ideas from our often misnamed institutes of "higher learning." The latest that's popping up in bulletins, newsletters, and probably soon in legislation is from a 2005 study on "The Economics of Workaholism," co-authored by Joel Slemrod of the University of Michigan and Daniel Hammermesh of the University of Texas in Austin. The study starts by stating that "Economists have recently re-considered whether a range of individual behaviors are self-destructive, and possibly addictive, and have proposed that it may be Pareto-superior to tax them in order to induce people to...

There are many things to like about work — the collegiality, the productivity, the paycheck — but few people would include meetings in the list. Monotonous, time-consuming, often pointless, meetings can be to workdays what speed bumps are to main thoroughfares: annoying, well-intentioned impediments to progress. Now researchers have examined how an endless series of meetings can affect employees' sense of well-being and job satisfaction. In a report published recently in the Journal of Applied Psychology, researchers found that more people acknowledge meetings as a positive part of their days at work than they would ever publicly admit. The results...