Let's not be fooled by the contentiousness of the prefixes. Who can argue with the neo-liberals' "natural rate" or "non-accelerating inflation rate" of unemployment after conceding the self-evidence of the term "unemployment". And in case Doug Henwood thinks this is an attack on the stinking hyena bourgeois statistics from the BLS, it's not. It's just to say there is no way to get from those stinking hyena statistics to the qualitative differences between, say, varieties of employment and unemployment. To use a very U.S. example, is it a "good thing" that the unemployment rate is lower than it would be if so many black men were not imprisoned? Or, lets take two societies, each with 20 people in their labour forces. In one of the societies, 18 people are at work 35-40 hours a week at trades and professions and two people are receiving full pay while on temporary layoff: unemployment rate 10%. In the other society, three people are working 50-60 hours a week in trades and professions, another two are working that many hours in sweatshops, five people are working 35-40 hours a week in trades and profession, another three 35-40 hours in sweatshops, four are working 10-20 hours in convenience stores, three people work on call and their hours vary from week to week and two people have been out of work for the past two years and no longer qualify for unemployment benefits, some of the people working long hours would like to work less and some of the people working short hours would like to work more, there are also one or two people who used to be unemployed but have given up looking for work: unemployment rate 10%. "Obviously" the unemployment rate of the two societies is the "same" with or without theories relating unemployment to inflation. Of course, anyone can readily see that my second example greatly simplifies the picture of occupations and hours of work. So, what could a *RATE* of unemployment *possibly* mean, "natural" or otherwise? Compared with "the unemployment rate", measuring I.Q. is about as straight-forward as weighing a pound of butter. Regards, Tom Walker ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ knoW Ware Communications | Vancouver, B.C., CANADA | "Only in mediocre art [EMAIL PROTECTED] | does life unfold as fate." (604) 669-3286 | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The TimeWork Web: http://mindlink.net/knowware/worksite.htm