DOJ settles discrimination suit with Countrywide Financial for $335 Million

The Department of Justice settled a mortgage discrimination lawsuit with Countrywide Financial Corporation (now part of Bank of America for $335 million dollars. Here.

National Center on Family Homelessness

Reading stuff on the website of the national center on family homelessness. Here. One in 45 children was homeless for part of the year which is about 1.6 million children. The publish a homelessness report card for states. Here.

Low Black-on-Black Spending in Philly.

Ayana Jones writes in the Philadelphia Tribune about the low level of spending by Black Consumers with Black Businesses: Here. The original story on the event is featured: Here.

A Link to National Association of Market Developers - Philadelphia Chapter

Nielsen Media Reseach: State of the Black Consumer

Nielsen Media Research, which is best known for TV rating, has released a reseach report on the Black Consumers. You can get a copy here or read the on-line edition here.

A lot of the information comes from the census. Here are some highlights. While we are projected to spend more than a billion dollars by the year 2015, we remain relatively poor. The majority of us earn less than $50,000 as detailed in the income section, P.6. We are heavy smartphone users. (p.12). What Blacks buy is interesting on page 18. And the complete lack of influence of men on the spending process(p.18). And, we are above average consumers of charcoal.

Forbes: If I were a poor black kid

Forbes ran an opinion piece, by Gene Marks, a contributor, called: "If I was a Poor Black Kid," here. Basically, the author suggests using technology to help poor kids, but comes off as racist and condescending. We will try an tease out some good points in our other blog: The Evil Black Economist.

Forbes: If I were a poor Black kid

Forbes ran an opinion piece, by Gene Marks, a contributor, called: "If I was a Poor Black Kid" here. Basically, the author suggests using technology to help poor kids, but comes off as racist and condescending. We will try an tease out some good points in our other blog: The Evil Black Economist.

Support for inheritance taxes

A nice piece supporting inheritance taxes as a way to support equality, merit and innovation. Here. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/bring-on-the-death-tax/article2194710/

Past happiness and moving to Flourishing

Martin Seligman claims to have a better definition of happiness: Flourishing. You can read about the concept here.

We need more tax collectors in the UK.

An interesting story on increasing revenue through tax collection. Duh ! Here.

Hyatt threatening to cut of workers healthcare

Hyatt, which fired all the workers at it's Boston hotel, is threatening to cut off healthcare for it's Chicago employees during a labor dispute. Here.

How much does that Medical Procedure cost ?

In healthcare, Market mechanisms work very, very poorly. Most of us have only a rough idea what our healthcare costs. We have no idea if a price is a reasonable price. We cannot objectively evaluate the quality of the care we are receiving. There is no "consumer reports" of healthcare.


Dr. Leslie Ramirez is trying to fill the information gaps with a medical procedure price list called Leslie's List. Leslie's list is price list of many common procedure, tests, and drug prices. Her goal is to help people find more affordable healthcare.

A rival site is Healthcare Blue Book.

Here idea is so simple, I cannot understand why it has not been done before. The financial side of the healthcare industry must has some incredibly powerful incentives.

Healthcare price list

Here.

Newt Gingrich says "Poor people need jobs"

No, Newt Gingrich did not say something that smart. What he really said was something much more stupid, racist and degrading, but judge for yourself.

The story is here. Here.
and here.

Newt really said the wrong thing. He repeated the same old garbage about poor people not wanting to work. It just reinforces the same old sterotype that his audience loves. What his audience really hears hears: "Those people are lazy and don't WANT to work so I have no responsibility to help them. There plight is 100% their own fault, not mine, so don't use any of MY taxes to help them."

Hidden in all of this is a very good point about human development in the 21st century. In today's society, a job is an important experience required for full human development. Work is part of raising a fully developed child. The experience is need to develop happy, productive citizens.

v2

Super wealthy pay no taxes: NYT example of Ronald Lauder

New York Times ran a excellent piece on the tax avoidance strategies of Ronald Lauder. Mr. Lauder's fortune is worth $3.1 Billion. Here.

Business Week also had an a piece on tax avoidance in the April 11th, 2011 issue.

UK to discuss racism in bank loans

Nick Clegg of the liberal democreats will discuss racism in banking. Here.

Walmart has pre-paid debit cards

Walmart is offering $3 dollars a month pre-paid debit cards. Here. They offer an alternative to check cashing businesses as well as electronic payments.

Union work force training programs in Philadelphia

A short story abut union sponsored training program from philly.com. Here. The union trainer complains about the lack of jobs which is reducing apprenticeships positions.

Living wage bill hearing in New York City

New York City council held a second hearing on a "living" wage bill. The bill requires developers who receive government subsidies to pay $10 dollars per hour with benefit or $11.50 without benefits to employees.

Mayor Bloomberg opposes the bill. San Francisco and Santa Fe, NM are the largest US city's with living wage laws.

NY Times piece

The good, old Daily News is here.

Update on the NYC Black firefighters suit

Coming back to a popular story with some updates.

Judge Garaufus continues to press forward with our full support. The city continues to waste tax money fighting the lawsuit at every step.

Mark S. Cohen, former federal prosecutor, has been appointed monitor for FDNY by Judge Nicholas Garaufis. Daily News Here.

Judge Garaufus also approved a delay in the firefighter exam from January to late february or March. NY Post is Here.

However, the leader of the FDNY Hispanic society, Lt. George Ricco Diaz says the exam is not racists. Instead he blames recruiting policies, education, desire and poor quality residency checking. Here.

Over paid firefighters compensation tactics

I have said before that fire-fighter have one of the best jobs in the world. They also have some of the best pay relative to actual work-effort. Here is another story from the oft-conservative site, Library of Economics and Liberty, regarding tactics fire-fighters use to increase compensation (pay, benefits, retirement, shorter hours or schedule flexibility or reduce total years of service). Here.

I just wish there were more Black and Hispanic fire-fighters. Share the wealth.

Lobby firm's offer to conduct anti-Occupy Wall Street research

Here is a nice piece of reporting by MSNBC.

Thanks to Occupy Wall Street and other columnists and the movie "inside job", the public is starting to understand who is responsible for the Wall Street Financial Crisis: Banks, Lobbyists and Politicians who acted in their own self interest not the public's.

However, we don't often see the sausage being made. Now someone has leaked an offer from a well connected republican lobby firm, Clark, Lytle, Geduldig and Cranford, that offers to do opposition research on the Occupy Wall Street movement. The letter asks for $850,000 from the American Banks Association for "opposition" research.

Here is the memo.
Here is the MSNBC article that broke the story.
Here is website for Clark, Lytle, Geduldig and Cranford.


When you read the memo, there are lot's some of the activities are a little creepy ("ethically suspect"). The activities include "social media monitoring, opposition reseach and message testing".

Bar rescue on Spike TV

I like bar rescue on Spike TV. Here.

Inside Job: The story of the Wall Street Financial Crisis

We recommend everyone watch: "Inside Job", the story of the wall street crisis. The story, which is narrated by Matt Damon, is seriously dry, uninteresting and sometimes boring, which is why they got a way with it. The director tries to spice it up.

You can find a version on the internet to watch for free.

Here are some references:

Inside Job Website
Wikipedia

On The Issues

Here is a web site where you can quickly find out where politicians stand on the issues.

OnTheIssues

One of the best summaries of Wall Street Financial Crisis

From Barry Ritholtz's Big Picture Blog. Here. The details are near the end.

Basically regulatory oversite facilitated by congress and lobbyists.

Intrade prediction market

As an economist you have to be interested in gambling, predictions and markets. SO check out the Intrade site.

Newsweek ranks the most environmentally friendly companies

Newsweek has a list of the so-called most environmentally friendly companies here.

CBO on US income inequality

Thank goodness for the CBO (Congressional Budget Office). At least someone on capital hill can take a reasoned, professional and objective look at a pressing issue: US income inequality. Read the report here: Trends in the distribution of household income between 1979 and 2007.

Bounce TV

I am looking at the website for bounce TV. A new TV network targetting African Americans. Here.

Banking Black in BET

BET has a nice story about using Black Banks. Here.

The story has great references. Here is an FDIC study of households without access to a bank. Here.

Here is a list of Minority Owned banks from the Federal Reserve. Here.

I, myself, use a credit union. The staff is about half Black and Spanish but the managers are mostly White. No sure of what there lending record is. Guess I need to check huh ?

Chinese National Heavy Machinery Corporation

It looks like the Chinese model of economic development works best in Africa. The US could learn some development lessons, from China's close public / private companies. And the willingness of entreprenuers with connections to China to pack up and move to Africa.

There is even a magizine: Chinafrique

CMHC is building a giant 120 MW electrical plant in Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are added my China National Electric Engineering Company


CMHC is here.
CNEEC is here.
The China Non-ferous Metals Mining Group is also a big player in Africa. Here.

Martin Lindstrom: Another funny(sad) story about companies manipulating shoppers

Martin Lindstrom has an article in time about some of the tricks companies use to manipulate consumers. Of course it is also a plug for his book, but it is interesting.

In TIME magazine here.

Lindstroms web site is here. Lindstrom has published "Buyology" and "Brandwashed"

Lindstroms has some great articles as well. Here.

March for Jobs in Washington

"Non-Profit" Columbia University earns 17% return for endowment

Yes, the supposely non-profit Columbia university, earned a 17% return on endowment investments last year. Columbia's endowment was $6.5 Billion dollars in assets. Harvard has the largest endowment with $27.4 billion in Assets.

Here is the story on Bloomberg.

Ex-BET CEO Robert Johnson wants to change corporate hiring practices

Robert Johnson, Ex-BET CEO wants corporate america to consider minorities for high level corporate jobs. Bob Johnson idea is that a minority candidate should be considered for every job opening at the vice president level or above. The rule is similar to the "Rooney Rule" in the NFL which calls teams to interview minority candidates for all head coaching and senior operations positions.


Here is the Miami Herald.

The Root has a story here.

Huffington Post Story.

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage by US Census Bureau

Sept. 13, 2011 -- The census Bureau released it annual report on income, poverty and health insurance in the US during the year 2010. The report has loads of bad news.

Median household income dropped 2.3% from XXX in 2009 to $49,445 in 2010. Median income for Blacks dropped -3.2% from $33,122 to $32,068.

The poverty rate increased to 15.1 percent of the population from 14.3% 2009. 46.2 million people earned below the poverty line. 22% of kids were in poverty. 27% of Blacks were in poverty.

The number of people without health insurance rose to 49.9 million.

The only good news is the relative large press coverage of the results.

There line to the US Census report is here.

Try before you buy: Unpaid internships part of Georgia unemployment program

Interesting write-up on Georgia employment program with unpaid internships: Here.

The web-site is the typical state job website. However this one has a skills certification program. You cannot tell is they a solved the critical unemployment office issues: 1) Do they list every job available, and 2) are they actively placing workers.

Their are two differences I can see. One, they administer tests for reading, math and reasoning skills. They give grades such as bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Then they grade job categories to skills to help employers pick among low and medium skilled workers.

Second, they also sponsor employees at selected companies for up to 24 hour per week for 8 weeks. The employer pays nothing and the trainee is given a stipend of up to $240 dollars per week. The employer can train and access the employee with no risk.

They have the typical problem of southern states, except for VA and MD, that of being under resourced and underfunded.

The current unemployment rate in Georgia is 10.1%

Here is the official website. Here.

Mitt Romney's Economic Plan seems like a conservative grab bag

Mitt Romney's economic plan is a collection of standard middle ground Republican proposal. Not much new but definitely nothing too right-wing either.

1) Reduce the corporate income tax to 25%
2) Sign free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea
3) Expanding US energy production and off shore drilling
4) Cut domestic and non-security spending
5) Try to stop Obama's health care legislation
6) Sanction China for unfair trading practices.

Only the proposal to go after China is new or interesting. The Evil Black Economist is a proponent of "fair" trade not free trade.

Buy Black Wednesday in San Francisco

The San Francisco bat view is promoting "Buy Black Wednesday" here.

OCED PISA: Program for International Student Assessment

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the European Development Organization) has released it's international student assessment results. Here. The United States if fairly middle of the pack: Above average in reading, in the middle in math and below average in science.

However, I must say the quality of publication, reseach, writing and statistical analysis is outstanding. If you really want to understand the drivers of student performance you have to read some of this stuff.

Warren Buffet calls for higher taxes on the rich

Warren Buffet's NY Times editorial

Here

Postal service tries to cut 120,000 jobs

The US postal service, which lost $8 billion dollars in 2010, has asked congressional to cut 120,000 jobs during the recession.

Associated Press has the story here via ABC News. Unfortunately, the proposal also includes pulling out of federal health and retirements plans.

Washington Post has the source document here.

I have not been on vacation. Other people have.

Sorry, I have not posted in a while. I have not been on vacation, other people have, and I have to cover for them. Two have returned so I am free to write again.

Thanks

Chris

US income inequality chart

Just want to keep this link to US income inequality from Mother Jones Magazine.

Black/Hispanic vs. Wealth Gap Takes Huge Jump

The Pew Research Center has publish a report that show the asset ratio between Whites as compared to Blacks and Hispanics has has jumped from 7:1 in 1995 to 20:1 in 2010. An increase of nearly 300%. The primary reason is the increase in Black unemployment and the number of sub-prime foreclosures.

The summary is here and the full study is here.

Discrimination against the long term unemployed

An excellent story about discrimination against the unemployed. In the New York Times, July 26th, 2011 edition. Employers want currently employed or recently laid off workers.

SF considers banning discrimination against ex-cons

San Franciso's council on human right is considering a long over due step: banning discrimination again ex-convicts. I am glad someone is recognizing the problems ex-criminals have re0intergrating into society. Get a job is one of the keys to success in society. Ex-convicts can have a positive impact on society when they are given half a chance. Many southern states have measures reduce ex-convict rights, including the right to vote, long after they are released. This type of law is need against a group of people who are constantly discriminated against. The story is here.

Dropouts: The high cost to society of dropping out

NPR is about to start a series on people who drop out of high school. Dropouts have an enormous total cost on society. The series is here.

The issue is a perfect microcosm for US society. You can just as easily switch dropout, poor person or Black person. I must congradulate Claudio Sanchez for find a way to discuss what the majority do not want to discuss: The US underclass and inequality in society. Education is the one workable lever in the US for reducing inequality in society. Everyone is pulling on it; Obama, Bill Gates, Congress, Bloomberg; but no one knows what to do.

Mr. Sanchez explores the true cost to society of the lost potential of a dropout.

White Man's Burden

Ever wonder where the phrase "White Mans Burden" came from. It came from a poem by Rudyard Kipling. Wikipedia has a reference.

Year Up: Warning website has a picture of a Black Man at a Computer

Year Up is a company that runs workforce development programs. Their curriculum is focus on computer skills and business polish. I have got to admire them for trying. The program looks good.

Warning: Web-site features Black man at a computer. As though getting a job was as simple as looking at a computer.

Leo Hindery: Liberal ex-CEO

Leo Hindery, ex-ceo of TCI, Yes Network and ATT broadband, is one of the few corporate executive that will discuss unemployment, labor rights, CEO pay and outsourcing. He say US CEOs are being short-sighted in Business Week. Here.


He is also Chairman of the Economic Growth/Smart Globalization Initiative at the New America Foundation. Here.

Monster Employment Index: MEI

Monster, the job search bulletin board also publishes an index of on-line job advertisements on monster web sites. The index called the MEI, Monster Employment Index. You can read the press release here.

DOE data show major differences in educational opportunities

The US Department of Education released the 2009-2010 Civil Rights Data Collection which show disparities in educational resources and opportunities. The results are from 7,000 school districts and 72,000 schools.

You can read the press release here.

Shrinking Black Middle Class from AP via CST

Another story on the shrinking Black Middle Class from Jesse Washington of the A/P via the Chicago Sun Times. Here.

At least author Washington and A/P continue to cover the unreported story of unemployment and the effect on the Black Middle Class.

Tax cuts and two wars caused the deficit

Basically, the current debt crisis was caused by several huge tax cuts (2 large by Bush and 1 medium sized by Obama), additional spending on two wars and the military, and additional prescription drug coverage.

Washington Post is here.

Black Speakers Bureau

Yes, there is a Black Speakers Bureau where you can find top Black personality, scholars and athletes that will speak at your event for a fee.

Black Speakers Bureau.

Race unspoken in unemployment discussion

Here is a really great summary of the current Black unemployment situation with some comment from top flight social policy experts.

Race is left out of the discussion of jobs and unemployment. CBS News.

Munson Steed named director of Sharpton's Madison Ave. Initiative

Munson Stead and Al Sharpton aim to bring dollars back to Black Ad agencies. Here. Steed rightly points out that Black consumer are completely unaware of how few Black works for the big ad companies.

Educational report on Black Boys

Here is another gem from the Rainbow Push convention. The session on education mentions the Schott Foundation for public education report on Black Make Education in the 50 states.

The report on the education of Black Boys is here and the Schott Foundation for Public Education is here.

Rainbow Push Concludes 40th Annual Conference

The Rainbow Push coalition just completed its 40th conference. Congratulations to the Rainbow Push team.

The Rainbow Push web site is here.

The conference agenda is here.

Chicago Sun-Times is here.

Bill Clinton's Job Plan

Bill Clinton is still focused on the Economy. You can read his jobs plan here.

What is Black America ?

Radio One media network and the Yankelovich market reseach firm have release a study on "Black America". You can read the website here.

US Alcohol Consumption Background

Here is the backgound material for the story about Conjure Cognac by Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges. So, here is some background material on the US Beer, Wine and Spirit industry.

Gallup Survey on Alcohol consumption preferences of the US population. Here.

Wikipedia on Cognac.

Conjure Cognac on Twitter is here.

Conjure: Ludacris's Cognac

Just like many celebrities, Ludacris (Christopher Bridges)has his own brand of Cognac. It is call Conjure and is made in France. The Cognac has received favorable reviews in the press. The Cognac is also featured frequently in in PR, Video and public photos of Mr. Bridges.

Conjure Cognac recently has some management changes. Here. And Here.

Another reorganization story is here. It has a local angle.

Hip Hop Weekly has a story from January here.

Snoop Dogg is here in the NY Daily News.

Jay-Z, Sean Combs, Calvin Brodus and TI all promote different liquors.

A 750ml bottle of Conjure Cognac cost about $35.00.

Here is a link to a press release from Mintel, a market research firm, that has some more concrete data about consumption. Here.

Eddie Brown: Brown Capital Management

Eddie Brown has published his memoir. He has his own investment firm in Baltimore and has just published a book. BCM has more than $6 Billion under management. You may have seen him on PBS.

Book: Beating the Odds

Brown Capital Management

Collateral Costs: Incarceration's effect on economic mobility

The Pew Center for Research on the States published this research report last year. It is called "Collateral Costs: Incarceration's effect on economic mobility". Here. The report states that prison dooms the entire family of the prisoner, especially the kids, to a life of poverty.

Peter Diamond's 1st interview since withdrawal

Peter Diamond, MIT professor and nobel prize winner, who was nominated for the Federal Reserve Bank Board of Governors, recently withdrew his name from senate consideration. The Republicans threaten to filibuster his nomination.

He gave his first post withdrawl interview here. NPR's On Point.

Here is his sad editorial in the NY times. Here.

Gotta keep an eye on Germany

China and Germany, two large export oriented economies, seem to have weathered, the recession the best.

New York Times.

Urban Entrepreneur Summit in Newark, NJ

The white house sponsored a conference on Urban Entrepreneurship at Rutgers University Business School in Newark, NJ. The conference was focus on Black Small Businesses and featured Russell Simmons and John Hope Bryant (Operation Hope). Several members of the white house staff were also present. Michael Blake or the Whitehouse Office of Public Engagement, Derek Douglas, Whitehouse Domestic Policy Council and Marisa Lee or the Small Business Administration.

You can read the summit agenda here.

John Hope Bryant's website is here.

And Russell Simmons Editorial on Entrepreneurship is here.

Earnings by College Degree, Race, Gender

Here is a fascinating study on which college degrees are the best earning career choices right now. They also look at data by race and gender. Really interesting stuff. Here.

Self Pay Health Insurance Skyrockets

The NY Daily news reported that people who pay for their own health insurance saw rates soar. A so-called upward spiral in rates has taken hold as fewer people can afford the costs and leave the program making the pool even smaller and prices higher.

Here.

Social Security to be Exhausted by 2036; Medicare by 2024

The Trustees of the Social Security System and the Medicare Funds released May 13, 2011 report on the status of the SS trust fund and the Medicare trust fund. The headlines were that social security insurance trust fund would be exhausted by 2036. After which the collected taxes would pay for 75% of the cost of the program. The medicare trust fund balance would hit zero in the year 2024. However, taxes cover 90% of that programs cost. Due to the economy and the aging population, the SSI date is one year sooner and and the medicare date five years sooner.

The trustee's report is here.

Don Barden, entrepreneur, dies at 67

Don Barden, the first Black Casino owner and life long entrepreneur, pass away in Detroit at 67. He was the first African-American to own a casino and a major cable tv franchise. He was the owner of Barden Companies Inc., the Majestic Star and Fitzgerald's casinos and Waycor Development Co.. Barden's companies were said to be worth $500 million at one time but several are currently in bankruptcy.

Mr. Barden was born in Inkster, MI, a suburb of Detroit. We was educated at Central State University of Ohio and operated a record store in Loraine, OH. He later became a city councilman, a news anchor and a TV talk show host. He also owned real estate in Ohio.

Mayor Coleman Young gave him the first cable TV franchise in Detroit. He later sold the franchise to comcast. With the proceeds, he built casino's in Las Vegas, Colorado, Indiana and Tunica, Mississippi. However, Detroit, his home town, denied him one of the seven license to operate a casino.

Here is the Michigan Citizen on Don Barden.

Don Barden in the Detroit Free Press.

Detroit News Article

NYtimes Obituary

"The new Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of Colorblindness"

Michelle Alexander covers one of the primary economic issues in the Black Community in the US: Mass Incarceration of Black Males in the US. She has written a new book, "The new Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of Colorblindness" which as web-site here.

Here is a link to part one of a two part interview from Democracy Now: Here.

She writes that the "war on drugs" focused only on Black communities resulting a large number of non-violent, felony arrests results in a permanent incarcerated population. Second, there are rewards and incentives, for increasing the number of drug arrests. Arrests for possession account for 80% of all arrests and 4/5 of those are for Marijuana.

Corporate Consolidation is killing jobs in the US

It looks like we are starting to see an answer on job creation. The over consolidation and monopolization are behind the missing jobs. Here.

WSJ Blog: Multi-National overseas hiring

A very nice piece on US multi-national overseas hiring from WSJ Blogs. Here. The issue is more complicated of course. The US is growing at 2% and overseas is growing at 5%. No one would hire a cook or a driver from the US and send them overseas. Also, the overseas jobs support a lot of US jobs.

WSJ: $1.2 Trillion spent on stuff they don't need.

People in the US spend $1.2 Trillion on stuff they don't according to Commerce Department data analyzed by the Wall Street Journal. Categories include luxury goods like Jewelry, Alcohol. Gambling and Candy.

British Experiment in deficit reduction

Economists are watching closely the "British Experiment" in deficit reduction. Britain is proposing to eliminate it's deficit in 5 years though sharp cuts in the government.

Here is a discussion in the NYT.

Wachovia admits laundering mexican drug money

Just another story of corporate greed and lack of ethics. Wachovia did not scrutinize $378 Billion dollars for money laundering activity. In addition, during the financial crisis in 2008, a UN official said, "Drug money was the only liquid capital available. There were signs some banks were rescued that way." The article also reports that Wachovia had 6000 or 7000 subpoenas related to possible money laundering transactions.

You can read the full story here that was ignored by the US Media.

Respect the Black Consumer Dollar

Munson Steed discuss respecting the Black Consumer Dollar in RollingOut.Com.

"Fire the rich", income inequality, and class differences

Lot's of stories about the rich doing really well in the past 30 years while everyone else is flat.

Here is Altantic Magazine's piece on 12 different types on communities and the effect of income equality. Atlantic.

National Urban League State of Black America and 12 point Jobs Plan

The 12-point jobs plan is here.

The Big Story: GE paid NO taxes for the last four years

This story really captures it all. You just cannot ignore it. Everyone has an opinion or slant on the story. GE files a 24,000 page tax return and their tax department employs 975 people. Corporate tax revenue has fallen from 30% of federal tax revenue to 6% of tax revenue in 2009.


The NY times reported that General Electric (GE) paid no taxes for the last four years. You can read the story here.

And here.

and Working Asset the website is here.

Manning Marable Dies

Noted Black Scholar Manning Marable died on April 1st, 2011 at age 60.

Baltimore / Washington Afro-American is here.

College educated need not apply

MYT's Paul Krugman thinks computer will eat white collar jobs. Since I have helped outsource others, been outsourced and helped to eliminate other jobs, I tend to agree. Here. Looks like a pretty dismal future.

College may be as waste of money if there are no jobs

College may be a waste of money. Here is the story.

Black businesses cut out of Miami-Dade school contracts

Black and Minority Businesses cut out of Miami-Dade School Contracts

As reported in the Miami Herald Here.

Black business receive 4.5% of contracts, hispanic businesses got 15% and women owned business got 3%.

Make-Work and Featherbedding

I just want to drop a subject called "Featherbedding" which is a make work program and a way of extracting extra rents from management. Here is: wikipedia.

Anti-Soda tax Lobbyist spent the most in NY State:

They spent $12.9 million.

In the daily news. Here.

Report: Few Florida school contracts awarded to minorities

Miami Herald Here.

Help Wanted: Projections for Jobs and Educational Requirements through 2018

The Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce has published a report on where the jobs will be in the future.

Help Wanted: Projections for Jobs and Educational Requirements through 2018

Here

Harvard Study Says College is not for Everyone

The Harvard University Graduate School of Education released a report calling for more attention on non-college bound high school students. The report suggest college may not be the best path for everyone.

Harvard Report is Here.

Christian Science Monitor's story is here.

PSED: Panel Study for Entrepreneurial Dynamics

Here is a great site for the raw data on entrepreneurs. The University of Michigan has been studying entrepreneurs for many years. All of the data are publically available.


Here.

Mother who lied about school district residence is convicted of felony

There is a very interesting story regarding educational policy transpiring in Ohio, USA. A Black woman was convicted of lying about her residence in an Akron suburb so her kids could attend a better school district. Several stories are listed below.

Here. NPR - Tell me more.

A Rosa Parks moment for education. A provovative headline for a "What would you do ?" editorial.

Atlantic: Global Super Elite

The Alantic magazine has a story on the super-rich. Here.

NYT: Is Law school as waste of Money ?

Is Law school a waste of money ?? An by implication are many other professions ?? In many fields the cost of education can exceeds the long term return from salary and benefits. Many liberal arts professions are under water such as art, education, social service. College costs are too high. And employers are cutting back on subsidizing education.

New York Times report's that law school may have a negative return on investment. Here.

Law school is just a very "reportable" example.

NYT: For Blacks, progress in happiness

NYTs Article on the giant improvement in Black Happiness. The article is here.

The original paper is called "Subjective and Objective indicators of racial progress".

ADP December jobs report

Link to ADP December Jobs Report is here.

The general ADP employment report site is here.

Reverse 90 Campaign by Philly African-American Chamber of Commerce

We are keeping an eye on the Reverse90 Campaign, a program design to help Black Businesses. Here.