A Tale of 2 Employments

In July, the number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged at 8.2 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. Contrast this to 2004 when The Heritage Foundation estimated that only one in five part-timers preferred a full-time job. Look where we’ve come in nine years. The term “involuntary part-time workers” was not even in use. Most people working part time in 2004 wanted to work part time. Today, workers are forced to work part-time because there aren’t enough full-time jobs or because their hours were cut by employers drowning in regulations and out-of-control healthcare... Read More

An Economy Ruled By Corruption Cannot Survive

Transparency International just released its Global Corruption Barometer 2013, which draws on a survey of more than 114,000 respondents in 107 countries. It addresses people’s direct experiences with bribery and details their views on corruption in the main institutions in their countries. It also provides insights into people’s willingness to stop corruption. The survey found that the three most corrupt nations were Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia. No surprises here. China ranked 80th as the world’s least corrupt whereas the United States ranked 19th. This means there were 79 countries where the perception of corruption was less than in China and 18 countries where the perception of corruption was less than in the United States. But before we celebrate, the... Read More

Is Caroline Kennedy the Best Choice for U.S. Ambassador to Japan?

President Obama recently announced the appointment of a completely unqualified Caroline Kennedy as U.S. ambassador to Japan. This is a mistake. If there ever was a time to have an experienced ambassador with solid credentials, it is now. The increasingly important Japanese market, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is the largest free-trade agreement in history, challenges posed by China, and a dangerous North Korea are a few of the issues Ms. Kennedy would face. Just as the U.S.-led effort to create the multilateral TPP is gaining traction, which would open Asia for U.S. exports and create millions of jobs, U.S. union autoworkers have started delivering to Washington petitions demanding trade concessions. This on the very day that Japan formally announced it will join the... Read More

We Ignore Japan at Our Peril

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the deepening rift between the United States and Japan, and the folly of appointing a completely unqualified Caroline Kennedy as the U.S. ambassador to Japan. If there ever was a time to have an experienced ambassador with solid credentials, it is now. Just as the U.S.-led effort to create the multi-lateral Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — the largest free-trade agreement in history — is gaining traction, which would open Asia for U.S. exports and create millions of jobs, U.S. union autoworkers have started delivering to Washington petitions demanding trade concessions. This on the very day that Japan formally announced it will join the TPP initiative, which would cover 40 percent of the global economy. Writing for The Wall Street Journal, William... Read More

Time to Disable Social Security Disability Insurance

The Academy Awards are presented to the best acting performances of the year. A very select group has claimed this award. But millions of people receive acting awards each day pretending that they are disabled and can no longer work. These people don’t get a little statuette, but they can earn $1,111 per month and $300,000 over the course of a lifetime from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). In addition, after a 24-month waiting period, SSDI beneficiaries qualify for Medicare benefits. The Heritage Foundation’s Foundry newsletter reported that the Social Security Administration (SSA) distributed $175 billion in disability benefits to about 15 million recipients in 2011. The report noted that about 15 percent, or $21 billion, of those benefits are improperly awarded... Read More

Disability Insurance Fraud Skyrocketing

The Academy Awards are presented to the best acting performances of the year. A very select group has claimed this award. But millions of people receive acting awards each day pretending that they are disabled and can no longer work. These people don’t get a little statuette, but they can earn $1,111 per month and $300,000 over the course of a lifetime from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). In addition, after a 24-month waiting period, SSDI beneficiaries qualify for Medicare benefits. The Heritage Foundation’s Foundry newsletter reported that the Social Security Administration (SSA) distributed $175 billion in disability benefits to about 15 million recipients in 2011. The report noted that about 15 percent, or $21 billion, of those benefits are improperly awarded... Read More

Our Bundled Ambassadors

The way President Obama is handing out ambassadorships to big donors and bundlers, it’s like he’s channeling Oprah Winfrey. “And you get an ambassadorship, and you get an ambassadorship and you get an ambassadorship.” There certainly is a precedent for presidents bestowing ambassadorships on supporters, but they usually had some basic qualifications. Caroline Kennedy was recently named ambassador to Japan. Does she have any experience in international relations? No. Does she speak Japanese? No. Does she have any experience in trade relations, especially with a country like Japan, which is a key trading partner? No. As The Washington Post notes: “Japan is the world’s third-largest economy, an important U.S. ally that’s only getting more important... Read More

Detroit Really Needs Another Henry Ford

Every American should be sickened by the news that Detroit is bankrupt. What was once the envy of the world for its pioneering automobile industry has become a showcase of empty buildings, abandoned neighborhoods, and high crime. What went wrong? In one word: unions. At the start of the 20th century, Henry Ford recognized that innovation and a productive work force was a winning combination. According to Ford Motor Co.’s own overview: “Early on, Ford had shocked his business and industrial contemporaries by creating the $5 workday, and then he instituted programs to teach his employees how to spend their new high wages responsibly, cut an hour off the standard workday and provided on-the-job educational facilities. He also insisted on stringently high standards of cleanliness... Read More

Could Henry Ford Have Saved Detroit?

Every American should be sickened by the news that Detroit is bankrupt. What was once the envy of the world for its pioneering automobile industry has become an also-ran on the world stage. What went wrong? In one word: unions. At the start of the 20th century, Henry Ford recognized that innovation and a productive work force was a winning combination. According to Ford Motor Co.’s own overview: “Early on, Ford had shocked his business and industrial contemporaries by creating the $5 workday, and then he instituted programs to teach his employees how to spend their new high wages responsibly, cut an hour off the standard workday and provided on-the-job educational facilities. He also insisted on stringently high standards of cleanliness and safety, especially for the time,... Read More

Economic Fiction

Suppose you sat down at a blackjack table and were dealt the ace and jack of spades. You turn over the cards and proclaim that you’ve got blackjack. But the dealer announces that from now on, the winning hand is 30, and you’ve lost. You’d be mighty confused. So imagine how confusing it is that the gross domestic product (GDP) — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — is running at an annual growth rate of 1.8 percent, but suddenly rises to 3 percent at the end of July, with no improvement in the economy. How does that slight of hand occur? The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) simply recalculates the GDP and announces that it officially grew 3 percent due to a few additions to the statistics, ignoring the standard that... Read More