http://www.thepublicinterest.com/current/article2.html (rearranged)
> Do we need more scientists?
> By Michael S. Teitelbaum
> Copyright of The Public Interest, No. 153 (Fall 2003), pp. 40-53 ©
> 2003 by National Affairs, Inc.
> Michael S. Teitelbaum is program director at the Alfred P. Sloan
> Foundation and co-author of Political Demography, Demographic
> Engineering (Berghahn Books, 2001).
<big snip>
> There are energetic claims of "shortages" of engineers, while
> unemployment rates are high and mid-career engineers face increasing
> job instability. There are reprises of earlier "shortage" claims
> about scientists, while undergraduates demonstrating high potential
> in science and math increasingly seem to be attracted to other
> careers. Some emphasize the need for K-12 reform, even though very
> large numbers of entering college freshmen intend to major in
> science or engineering but later choose otherwise. The NIH research
> budget has doubled within only a few years, but the average age at
> which scientists win their first research grants is rising. Why are
> shortage claims so persistent despite so much evidence to the
> contrary?
> On this issue, where one stands depends upon where one sits. Most of
> the assertions of current or impending shortages, gaps, or
> shortfalls have originated from four sources: university
> administrators and associations; government agencies that finance
> basic and applied research; corporate employers of scientists and
> engineers and their associations; and immigration lawyers and their
> associations.
<snip>
> a broad commonality of interests exists among these disparate groups
> in propagating the idea of a "shortage" of native-born scientists
> and engineers. Moreover, claims of shortages in these fields are
> attractive because they have proven to be effective tools to gain
> support from American politicians and corporate leaders, few of whom
> would claim to be experts on labor markets.
<snip>
> Claims of impending shortages can easily become self-fulfilling
> prophecies if, as in the past, government responds by subsidizing
> education or increasing visas for foreign workers without seriously
> considering the effects such actions may have upon the
> attractiveness and sustainability of career paths for such
> professionals. Action along these lines could create an even larger
> surfeit of scientists and engineers—one that drives down the number
> of Americans willing to enter these professions and, paradoxically,
> creates the very problem it seeks to address.
Makes me wonder:
* Why would a right-wing organ defect from a policy line that has been
so effective in driving down wages and work conditions? One wonders
what their corporate masters will say.
* What will be the new corporate line given to folks considering
re/entering labor markets, e.g. high schoolers and the
newly-unemployed? The previous pitch has been, you need more/better
education, you can always get a good job if you study science/
technology. If that's out, what next?
Another sign of internal division:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=184360
> At a private reception attended by eight Indian Americans in
> Jackson, Mississippi, Bush vehemently expressed his opposition to
> House Resolution 2688, a bill introduced by Republican Congressman
> Tom Tancredo of Colorado, according to those attending the meeting.
<big snip>
> The private reception was in honour of the Mississippi Republican
> gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour and netted $1.2 million for
> his campaign.
> Besides Bush, other noted luminaries at the reception included
> former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, as well as
> Karl Rove, the President's Chief Campaign advisor. Sampath Shivangi
> of Mississippi organised the exclusive Indian American delegation.
<snip>
> Currently, there are some estimated 900,000 H1-B employees in the
> US, 35-45 per cent of whom are from India, according to [the
> American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that presented its
> counter proposal on the H1-B visa reduction programme to the
> president at the gathering]
So Bush is siding with the labor importers, but perhaps the Reps back home are starting to feel the heat?