On 5/6/05, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> Ed Hyman, Wall Street's favorite economist (whose skill is producing
> tomorrow's conventional wisdom today) writes in today's commentary:
>
> >LABOR COULD GET TAGGED IN 2005
> >
> >There are a number of reasons 2005 could be a negative year for
> >labor, similar to Reagan's air-traffic controllers firings in 1981.
> >
> >1) Assuming the economy slows, airlines and autos, two cyclical
> >industries, will come under more intense pressure to obtain labor
> >concessions.
> >
> >2) Like today, the 1995 mid-cycle slowdown was preceded by a jobless
> >recovery, ie, labor was relatively weak going into the slowdown, and
> >this could perhaps explain why the ECI [employment cost index - DH]
> >slowed sharply.
> >
> >3) If the economy slows, layoffs could accelerate - IBM's 13,000
> >announcement yesterday could be the start of a string of trophy
> >layoffs.
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-- Among medieval and modern philosophers, anxious to establish the religious significance of God, an unfortunate habit has prevailed of paying to Him metaphysical compliments.
- Alfred North Whitehead