1 In US, 4 in 5 face near-poverty no work (San
Francisco Chronicle) Four out of 5 US adults struggle
with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of
their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive
American dream. Survey data exclusive to The Associated Press points to an
increasingly globalized US economy, the widening gap between rich and poor, and
the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend.
The findings come as President Barack
Obama tries to renew his
administration's emphasis on the economy, saying in recent speeches that his
highest priority is to "rebuild ladders of opportunity" and reverse
income inequality. Hardship is particularly growing among whites, based on
several measures. Pessimism among that racial group about their families'
economic futures has climbed to the highest point since at least 1987. In the
most recent AP-GfK poll, 63% of whites called the economy "poor."
While racial and ethnic minorities are
more likely to live in poverty, race disparities in the poverty rate have
narrowed substantially since the 1970s, census data show. Economic insecurity
among whites also is more pervasive than is shown in the government's poverty
data, engulfing more than 76% of white adults by the time they turn 60,
according to a new economic gauge being published next year by the Oxford
University Press.
Nationwide, the count of America's poor
remains stuck at a record number: 46.2 million, or 15% of the population, due
in part to lingering high unemployment following the recession. While poverty
rates for blacks and Hispanics are nearly three times higher, by absolute
numbers the predominant face of the poor is white. More than 19 million
whites fall below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four, accounting
for more than 41% of the nation's destitute, nearly double the number of
poor blacks.
2 America over the top (Jonathan Power in Khaleej
Times) What
is the rationale behind spying on half the world? Even taking into account the terrorist bomb
attack on the Boston marathon an American has had less chance this year of
being killed by a terrorist than killed falling off a ladder. Is it really
necessary to monitor the phone calls and emails of half the world in order to
combat such a small threat (including countries such as Brazil, which have
never had a terrorist incident)?
Why
not monitor the use of ladders? Or find a way of reducing car crashes in the
US, which claim 33,000 deaths a year to the Swedish level? According to the
widely respected Pew Research Centre, 70% of the membership of the New
York-based, elite, Council on Foreign Relations believe that the world is as
dangerous as it was during the Cold War. This is so wide of the mark as to be
unbelievable. The Cold War threatened mutual nuclear annihilation and the
number of wars has gone down sharply the last 20 years.
Of
course, there are challenges — the current ones are Iran, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, North Korea, Syria, Somalia, the Congo and Palestine/Israel.
Depending on the situation one or other of the existing tools of diplomacy,
economic sanctions or peacekeeping can do as good a job as can be done of
ameliorating them.
Threat
exaggeration is a tool of the military-industrial-academic complex in order to
enhance internal vested interests. Without its influence the US defence budget
would be cut sharply, as would the income of the arms suppliers. Could the US
ever have an honest discussion about supposed threats? If President Barack
Obama has not opened one who will?
3 Apple, Samsung domination is over (Eric Fanner in Sydney Morning
Herald) As Samsung and Apple slug it out for
domination of the smartphone market, new competition is stirring. The combined
share of the worldwide smartphone market controlled by Apple and Samsung
slipped to 43% in the second quarter from 49% a year earlier, research firm IDC
reported.
Some of the companies chipping away at the
leaders are familiar names that are trying comebacks, like Sony, Nokia and HTC.
Others are relative newcomers, like LG of South Korea and Lenovo, ZTE and
Huawei of China. ''The story is no longer Apple versus Samsung,'' Forrester
Research analyst Bryan Wang said. ''They will both face similar challenges.'' Analysts
say buyers are more willing to look at alternatives to Apple or Samsung because
the differences among smartphones are less pronounced nowadays.
Individually,
none of these companies pose a threat to the top two. Collectively, however,
the next three top players showed strong growth over the past year. No.3 LG's
share of worldwide smartphone sales rose from 3.7% a year earlier to 5.3% in
the second quarter, Strategy Analytics said. No.4 ZTE rose from 3.7% to 5% and
No.5 Huawei went from 4.2% to 4.8%. As recently as the first quarter of 2011,
three Western companies - Apple, Nokia and BlackBerry - had topped IDC's list.
4 Unemployed,
older and jobless for life (Alina Tugend in The New York Times) For those over 50 and unemployed, the statistics are grim.
While unemployment rates for Americans nearing retirement are lower than for
young people who are recently out of school, once out of a job, older workers
have a much harder time finding work. Over the last year, according to the
Labor Department, the average duration of unemployment for older people was 53
weeks, compared with 19 weeks for teenagers.
There are numerous reasons — older
workers have been hit both by the recession and globalization. They’re more
likely to have been laid off from industries that are downsizing, and since
their salaries tend to be higher than those of younger workers, they’re
attractive targets if layoffs are needed. Even as they do all the things
they’re told to do — network, improve those computer skills, find a new passion
and turn it into a job — many struggle with the question of whether their
working life as they once knew it is essentially over.
This is something professionals who work
with and research the older unemployed say needs to be addressed better than it
is now. Helping people figure out how to cope with a future that may not
include work, while at the same time encouraging them in their job searches, is
a difficult balance, said Nadya Fouad, a professor of educational psychology at
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
5 World’s biggest
ad firm (BBC) France’s Publicis and US firm Omnicon have announced a merger to
create the world’s biggest advertising company worth $35.1bn. Omnicom chief executive John Wren and Publicis Groupe
boss Maurice Levy are to become joint CEOs. Each firm's shareholders will hold
about 50% of the new Publicis Omnicom Group. The firm will be listed in Paris
and New York and will employ more than 130,000 people. Among the well-known
industry names that are in the combined company are BBDO, Saatchi &
Saatchi, and Leo Burnett.
"The
communication and marketing landscape has undergone dramatic changes in recent
years including the exponential development of new media giants, the explosion
of big data, blurring of the roles of all players and profound changes in
consumer behaviour," said Mr Levy.
The companies see
savings of $500m from the merger, and the deal is expected to be finalised by
the end of the March 2014. They say the merger should be "tax-free"
and the holding company based in the Netherlands. The new Publicis Omnicom
Group will overtake UK rival WPP in size.
No comments:
Post a Comment