Rudiger Dornbusch, in The World Economy (June
Debt Crisis 1984), Basil Blackwell Publisher Ltd, 108 Cowley Rd., Oxford OX4 lJF, United Kingdom.
In August 1982, Mexico declared itself unable to pay its foreign debts, and in quick succession, Brazil and several other Third World countries followed suit. Wall Street and Washington were shaken; the over- extended international banking system would be acutely threatened if any single debtor nation actually defaulted.
As Dornbusch, an MIT economist,...
slashing government spending and im- ports, look good on paper but diminish long-term prospects for eco- nomic growth.
"Muddling through" will not suffice during the next phase of the debt crisis. Dornbusch warns. U.S. officials should 1) lower barriers to Latin imports; 2) get US. banks to write off some Latin debt in return for agreements South American leaders to devalue national currencies in order to promote exports. That would leave the Latin nations poorer "but with employment...
IODICALS
ECONOMICS, LABOR, & BUSINESS
plants in the United States, employing some 73,000 workers.
The company's recipe for the LaVergne plant is light on cheerleading and group calisthenics, heavy on the basics: "tighter quality standards, new equipment, and a stricter management approach." Bridgestone met union wage demands but also won concessions on work rules (e.g., top production jobs are now assigned on the basis of worker merit, not seniority). It has retrained American m...
IODICALS
ECONOMICS, LABOR, & BUSINESS
they must fight factory-by-factory for new members against sometimes fierce employer resistance. No such difficulties hamper European labor unions. custom (and often by governmental edict), labor unions en- joy industry-wide recognition. They negotiate not with individual com- panies but with national employer associations. "There are virtually no important industries on the continent to which union recognition does not extend," Kassalow reports.
The f...
Joshua Meyrowitz, in Daedalus
6~~i-k~ (Summer 1984), American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, P.O. Box 515, Canton,
Mass. 0202 1.
Until recently, middle-class American children and adults lived in two different worlds, each with its distinct sphere of knowledge, language, behavior, and dress. Through their control over playmates, books, and conversation, parents and schoolteachers shaped what youngsters knew about life's "nastier realities."
No longer. "Childhood as a protected...
Russell W. Rumberger, in
The Journal of Higher Education (July-
Go to College? Aug. 1984), Ohio State University Press, 1050 Carmack Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43210.
"It doesn't pay to go to college anymore" is a charge heard frequently since the late 1970s. Not true, writes Rumberger, a Stanford University researcher, although there are reasons to believe that a college degree earned today is not "worth" what it was 20 years ago.
In 1960, he notes, new graduates of four-year col...
Russell W. Rumberger, in
The Journal of Higher Education (July-
Go to College? Aug. 1984), Ohio State University Press, 1050 Carmack Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43210.
"It doesn't pay to go to college anymore" is a charge heard frequently since the late 1970s. Not true, writes Rumberger, a Stanford University researcher, although there are reasons to believe that a college degree earned today is not "worth" what it was 20 years ago.
In 1960, he notes, new graduates of four-year col...
acting as a buffer between them and readers. James Gannon of the Des Moines Register adds that only top editors have enough authority to keep newsmen on their toes.
Not all of today's ombudsmen write columns in their newspapers (eight work strictly behind the scenes), and, according to Tate, few of those who do write say very much that is important. Too often, she con- tends, columns explore such "cosmic" questions as the relative merits of "Peanuts" as opposed to "Li'l...
the same token, the "constant drumbeat of TV news" hampered Carter administration attempts to win the release of the American dip- lomats held hostage in Iran through "quiet diplomacy."
Two-thirds of all Americans report that TV news is their chief source of information, adds Cutler. That means that whatever is on the tube is also on the minds of White House policy-makers, distracting their attention from problems that are often more important. Cutler is not optimistic about...
Michael Philips, in Ethicshat Is (July 1984), University of Chicago Press, Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chi-
Bribery? cago, 111.60637.
Suppose a policeman stops you for speeding, and you fold a $20 bill around your driver's license before handing it over. Also suppose he takes it and lets you drive off with only a warning. Is that bribery? The answer is not so obvious, according to Philips, of Portland State University.
The American public, easily angered malfeasance in government and business,...