Posted in economy, politics, technology, tagged $2 dollar a day, 2012, 47 percent, accusations, American Dream, American way, Arab Spring, Australia, backbiting, badmouth, candidate, character defect, cohesion, community, competitive, Comptroller, consumer price index, consumers, country, crisis, culprits, David Walker, debt, deficit, democracy, Democrats, dialog, direction, division, Dong Tao, easy target, economy, efficient, election, emerging power, entitlement class, Europe, family, finance, financial aid, First World, free trade, fundraiser, future, gina rinehart, have nots, haves, help, incomes, individualism, insolvency, jobs, labor, lazy, living standards, low pay, middle class, minimum wage, Mitt Romney, money, nation, partisans, policy, political will, president, profits, pundits, questions, race to the bottom, raise all boats, real inflation, recession, Reform, regulations, Republicans, resentment, scapegoat, solution, stand together, sustainable, technology, Third World, threaten, trade for a new century, unemployment, unsustainable, USA, voters, wage loss, Wall Street, welfare state, West, whining, work, workforce, world markets on September 20, 2012 |
Leave a Comment »
She’s the world’s wealthiest woman you’ve never heard of and she’s saying something you probably wish you hadn’t: “Gina Rinehart, world’s richest woman, makes case for $2-a-day pay“,the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Australian mining heiress has a problem. The cost of running a mining operation in Australia cannot compete with Africans willing to work a continent away for $2 per day.
There’s a certain elementary logic to Rinehart’s argument. If the two nations are selling raw materials at vastly different prices because of vastly different costs of labor, her operation loses. In a worse-case scenario, it might not even make sense to go on operating. From Rinehart’s perspective, profit is the objective and benevolence is a job — never mind if the jobs she creates fails to compensate workers well enough to keep the lights on. She’s precariously positioned on that slippery slope so common to today’s political and trade debates: It could be worse: no jobs.
The world’s richest woman has a point. But it doesn’t pass the sustainable-future test.
(more…)
Read Full Post »
Posted in economy, tagged ad, advice, agency, applicant, apply, candidate, career, career coach, company, decision, do, don't, economy, email, employers market, employment, guide, hiring manager, hiring practices, history, HR, human resources, interview, job boards, job descriptions, job search, manager, opening, organization, pay, personnel, phone, position, post, recession, recruiter, requirements, salary, screening, social networking, staffing, vacancy on July 2, 2011 |
1 Comment »
Job hunting in a down economy can feel like running a marathon in the dark. How do you market yourself for optimal impact? What’s gimmicky vs. eye-catching? After completing the application and/or the interview, do you call or not?
The typical career-seeker guide emphasizes custom cover letters, asking a friend to help proofread your resume and networking both online and off to keep your word-of-mouth employment prospects fresh. But what should you do once you begin to receive those initial nibbles from a prospective employer or personnel agency?
In two words: Get savvy. (more…)
Read Full Post »
Posted in economy, politics, tagged 80 percent, A380, accountable for, airliner, Americans spend less, baby formula, barriers, bioregionalism, car, Carnival, chain, China, Chinese spend more, CNN, consumers, contractor, cost cutting, crankcase, Credit Suisse, cruise, currency war, cut corners, defects, devaluation, doctrine, dogma, Dollar, Dong Tao, downsides, drugs, eco-friendly, economic engine, ecoregionalism, electronics, emergency, emerging power, engine, failure, fake, fakes, faulty, FDA, Federal Reserve, fire, flimsy, food, G-20, G20, globalisation, globalization, going broke, Green Revolution, grounded, hazards, imitation, improved, jet, job losses, knockoff, landing, leading economy by 2012, leveling the playing field, liberalization, lifestyle realignment, lost income, lower, manufacturers, market, medications, melamine, military gear, mineral, natural resources, news, out of luck, parts, passenger, pets, port, post-American, produce, production, productivity, protectionism, protectionist, protest, Qantas, quality assurance, quantitative easing, rebalance, recalls, recession, recession here to stay, replicas, responsibility, risk, Rolls-Royce, runs out, safety, salaries, scarcity, shady, ship, shocking, shoddy, shortage, Splendor, supplier, sustainability movement, tariffs, tensions, track record, trade liberalization, trade war, treason, treasury bills, troops, turnover, U.S., unemployment, Veteran's Day, wages, way of life, who is to blame for, workmanship, world economy on November 12, 2010 |
1 Comment »
Last week: A late-model Qantas A380 jet engine disintegrates mid-air, with passengers lucky to have survived the ensuing in-flight trauma. This week: A two-year-old Carnival cruise ship is towed into a San Diego, California port after an engine crankcase spontaneously splits open, erupting in fire. Passengers in this case, too, were lucky that the worst they suffered was cold food, limited electrical power and non-operable toilets. And in what would have been shocking 10 years ago, news of contaminated meat, recalled produce and unsafe drugs are now so routine that most of us shrug it off.
In such situations, the finger-pointing tends to be brand, manufacturer or supplier-specific. Indeed, it is tempting to chalk up such news to a series of unfortunate flukes. But is that the best and brightest lesson we can draw — or does our mainstream news media tend to downplay or disregard the Big Picture?
(more…)
Read Full Post »
