[lbo-talk] rightwing dividing on labor markets?

Tom Roche Tom_Roche at pobox.com
Wed Oct 15 18:47:44 PDT 2003


An interesting article from a usually right-wing journal:

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?



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