Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: employment

2002-10-12 Thread lisa stolarski
Oh, I have followed this thread a bit, sorry, there is so much email. Melvin makes a fabulous analysis because he points out the opening of a positive space in which opposition to capital can occupy, both in theory and in reality. He has identified fertile ground on which an alternative economy

Re: RE: Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-10 Thread topp8564
On 10/10/2002 1:54 AM, Devine, James [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thiago Oppermann: Wouldn't the quality of unemployment also be relevant? A rate of 1% where the unemployed end up indentured to credit companies might be a lot worse than 5% if they are free to enjoy productive unemployment.

Re: Re: RE: employment

2002-10-10 Thread topp8564
I suppose that what interests me in this discussion is not the question of the political significance of the third digit right of the point, but rather that of the social role of different kinds of unemployment and near-unemployment. This fine-grain sociological picture is, in my decidedly

Re: Re: RE: employment

2002-10-10 Thread lisa stolarski
Actually Carrol, I think in Melvin's theory the technically unemployed and under employed play a significant role in revolution. It was really fascinating, you should read it if you have not already. LS on 10/10/2002 7:34 PM, Carrol Cox at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Devine, James wrote:

Re: Re: Re: RE: employment

2002-10-10 Thread Carrol Cox
lisa stolarski wrote: Actually Carrol, I think in Melvin's theory the technically unemployed and under employed play a significant role in revolution. It was really fascinating, you should read it if you have not already. Many sectors of the working class play (will play) a significant

Re: Re: Re: RE: employment

2002-10-10 Thread Carrol Cox
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I suppose that what interests me in this discussion is not the question of the political significance of the third digit right of the point, but rather that of the social role of different kinds of unemployment and near-unemployment. Correct! But that is

Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-09 Thread Charles Jannuzi
DD writes: CJ: I know some people are probably sick of the topic, but reading through all those posts, I can't help but think at least two individuals mucked it up more than added to it (not Daniel's recent post, which did add considerably). DD: Thanks, but hang on a minute. If by two

RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-09 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31147] Re: Re: employment Michael Perelman wrote: I thought Daniel did an excellent job of responding to this note. I don't think any one or two people mucked anything up but the discussion just got ugly step by step. Hey, just yesterday a Zionist professor told me

RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-09 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31127] Re: Re: employment Michael: Several times in the past, I mentioned that the unemployment rate should include something to adjust for the quality of available jobs. My idea never resonated. I am sure that it could not be calculated with any exactitude, but I

RE: Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-09 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31131] Re: Re: Re: employment Thiago Oppermann: Wouldn't the quality of unemployment also be relevant? A rate of 1% where the unemployed end up indentured to credit companies might be a lot worse than 5% if they are free to enjoy productive unemployment. ... there's

Re: RE: Re: employment (apologies: long)

2002-10-09 Thread Paul Phillips
On 9 Oct 02, at 16:14, Davies, Daniel wrote: -Original Message- From: Charles Jannuzi [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 09 October 2002 15:13 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:31148] Re: employment best you could say it was an argument from previously established

RE: RE: Re: employment (apologies: long)

2002-10-09 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31157] RE: Re: employment (apologies: long) Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine -Original Message- Daniel Davies writes: ... My understanding of what the BLS unemployment rate is meant to measure is

Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-09 Thread Louis Proyect
Michael Perelman wrote: As usual, Michael H. is correct. I tried to say something similar a couple days ago when Doug suggested that the left had a tendency to root out heretics. I cryptically suggested that it was not some political tendency but rather it reflected powerlessness. I guess

Re: Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-09 Thread Michael Perelman
Nice post, Lou, except for the personal dig at the end. I remember when the New Republic was my fave. Kopkind and Ridgeway were great. On Wed, Oct 09, 2002 at 06:26:18PM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote: Michael Perelman wrote: I guess that a different kind of left is being described here than

RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31033] Re: Re: employment OK fellas, I am going to imagine what Sabri could have meant. JD's are not the the only perspectives on how we can treat statistics, government or otherwise. Yes, even statistics are subject to perspective, numbers may be objective but their

Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Louis Proyect
The US unemployment rate appeared steady earlier this year, despite the slowing economy and mounting job cuts, but it eventually climbed well above last October's 30-year low of 3.9 per cent. Many economists expect the rate to rise to more than 6 per cent next year. The Labor Department

Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread ravi
Devine, James wrote: Please don't tell me what I think. did you hear the one about the two behaviourists who were having sex? at the end of the steamy session, one of them said to the other it was good for you. was it good for me?. most of the time i couldn't even tell what you write,

RE: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31048] Re: RE: Re: Re: employment ravi: did you hear the one about the two behaviourists who were having sex? at the end of the steamy session, one of them said to the other it was good for you. was it good for me?. -- no, one would say: my behavior clearly reinforced

Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Devine, James wrote: OK fellas, I am going to imagine what Sabri could have meant. JD's are not the the only perspectives on how we can treat statistics, government or otherwise. Yes, even statistics are subject to perspective, numbers may be objective but their presentation has its purposes.

RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31054] Re: Re: employment Paul, can you name a participant of pen-l who is fixated on a single number measuring the reserve army of the unemployed? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine -Original Message-

Re: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Michael Perelman
Don't we see the same thing in every anti-war statement? X is a very bad person. I don't support X, but . On Tue, Oct 08, 2002 at 11:23:05AM -0400, Doug Henwood wrote: There's this extremely annoying habit in left discourse (cue to Carrol Cox to say that the left doesn't exist) that

Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Michael Perelman wrote: Don't we see the same thing in every anti-war statement? X is a very bad person. I don't support X, but . No, it's not the same. X (= Saddam, Slobo, etc.) generally is a very bad person. I was at an antiwar demo - a very good, inspiring one - in NYC just the

Re: Re: re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Christian Gregory wrote: You don't really start getting numbers substantially higher than this until you add workers on part-time basis for economic reasons, which suggests that the marginally employed, as a fraction of the labor force, is pretty small. Don't forget forced overtime and multiple

Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Louis Proyect
Look at the shit Marc Cooper takes from people busily policing left ideological boundaries. There are American leftists - I won't name names, for the sake of amity - who spend more time denouncing him and The Nation magazine than they do actually engaging with American politics. It's

Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Devine, James wrote: Paul, can you name a participant of pen-l who is fixated on a single number measuring the reserve army of the unemployed? See - we didn't invoke the standard litany, therefore we're either ignorant, insensitive, or on the verge of heresy. I'd laugh, but I care about this

Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Doug Henwood
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I think I understand a little of what Sabri is getting at -- the intellectual and accepting way we look at the statistics -- seeing them as economic factorum and not as poor, suffering people. And who the hell isn't saying that? Is this is the best progressive

Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Devine, James wrote: I _do_ acknowledge these limits, as does Doug (in my experience). Who is this we you refer to? I really hate being a straw man. Using statistics intelligently (or scientifically) always involves two different things: (1) actually using them and (2) being aware of the

Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread phillp2
From: Devine, James [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:[PEN-L:31057] RE: Re: Re: employment Date sent: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 09:06:30 -0700 Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Paul, can you name

RE: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31084] Re: RE: Re: Re: employment I wrote: Paul, can you name a participant of pen-l who is fixated on a single number measuring the reserve army of the unemployed? Paul responded: Well, I sure read a lot this past day on the list about THE unemployment rate

Re: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread phillp2
: Doug Henwood [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:[PEN-L:31077] Re: RE: Re: Re: employment Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Devine, James wrote: Paul, can you name a participant of pen-l who is fixated on a single number measuring the reserve army

Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread phillp2
:[PEN-L:31088] RE: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment Date sent: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 12:05:55 -0700 Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I wrote: Paul, can you name a participant of pen-l who is fixated on a single number measuring the reserve army of the unemployed? Paul

Re: Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread lisa stolarski
Doug, don't be mad, just say yes, yes, perhaps I took that point for granted when I made this other point. Sometime people just want to point the qualitative stuff out. We are all on the same side here, there is so much work to do. I hope the list won't crumble over this. Lisa S on

Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Michael Perelman
I have been teaching all day and I am bit groggy. How the hell does a simple discussion about data evoke such nastiness? I see that Doug has already left. Why can't we just communicate? If you want to get angry, direct it towad the war mongers. On Tue, Oct 08, 2002 at 04:27:44PM -0400,

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Michael Perelman
Doug is only gone temoporarily.I don't think attacking him or Liza is appropriate here. I wish that Doug had not brought up Cooper. I agree with Lou that the policing does no good. On Tue, Oct 08, 2002 at 01:58:02PM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote: Look at the shit Marc Cooper takes from

RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Mark Jones
ravi wrote: i hope doug does not find me in the list of those he finds unreasonable. whether it be my general responses to his posts, or to the particular issue of marc cooper (and i agree that we should avoid discussing personalities), i have tried to be honest and friendly. if that

Re: RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Michael Perelman
Come on, let's cool it with the personalities. On Wed, Oct 09, 2002 at 12:37:06AM +0100, Mark Jones wrote: ravi wrote: i hope doug does not find me in the list of those he finds unreasonable. whether it be my general responses to his posts, or to the particular issue of marc cooper

Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread topp8564
On 9/10/2002 12:49 PM, Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Several times in the past, I mentioned that the unemployment rate should include something to adjust for the quality of available jobs. My idea never resonated. I am sure that it could not be calculated with any exactitude,

Re: Re: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-08 Thread Michael Perelman
makes sense to me. On Wed, Oct 09, 2002 at 01:41:25PM +1000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 9/10/2002 12:49 PM, Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Several times in the past, I mentioned that the unemployment rate should include something to adjust for the quality of available jobs.

Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-07 Thread Doug Henwood
Devine, James wrote: Even though pension numbers are iffy, the employment numbers are calculated using a relatively simple sample survey. And, fevered claims to the contrary, they're not cooked by Enron-style accountancy. The people who collect and process the U.S. jobs data are honest,

Re: Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-07 Thread Louis Proyect
And, fevered claims to the contrary, they're not cooked by Enron-style accountancy. The people who collect and process the U.S. jobs data are honest, competent professionals. If anything, the political sympathies of BLS employees are slightly to the left of center. Doug I don't have time to

Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-07 Thread Michael Perelman
I don't think that there is a contradiction between Doug and Lou. There are criticism's about the method of calculating unemployment -- the discouraged workers being excluded. But such matters are transparent, not the result of skulduggery. On Mon, Oct 07, 2002 at 05:21:30PM -0400, Louis

Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-07 Thread Doug Henwood
Michael Perelman wrote: I don't think that there is a contradiction between Doug and Lou. There are criticism's about the method of calculating unemployment -- the discouraged workers being excluded. But such matters are transparent, not the result of skulduggery. On Mon, Oct 07, 2002 at

RE: Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-07 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31008] Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: employment Michael Perelman: I don't think that there is a contradiction between Doug and Lou. There are criticism's about the method of calculating unemployment -- the discouraged workers being excluded. The BLS currently calculates

Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-07 Thread phillp2
, Economics, University of Manitoba Date sent: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 14:39:46 -0700 From: Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:31008] Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: employment Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > I don't

RE: Re: Re: employment

2002-10-07 Thread Devine, James
Title: RE: [PEN-L:31015] Re: Re: employment Tom Walker writes: There isn't really a contradiction between saying the methodology is flawed and the numbers are misleading yet recognizing that the people who collect the data are honest and well-intentioned. Tom, could you explain,

Re: RE: Re: employment

2002-10-07 Thread Ian Murray
RE: [PEN-L:31029] Re: employment - Original Message - From: Devine, James There's Western rationality and there's Western rationality. The main -- hegemonic -- form is the capitalist rationality that wants to reduce everything -- and all people -- to things that can be manipulated to