This Week’s Report: Attracting Jobs

State and local governments seeking to attract jobs hand out as much as $70 billion in tax breaks and other incentives to business annually, and proponents say such incentives help localities prosper. But as staff writer Marcia Clemmitt notes in this week’s Researcher, many economists argue that subsides are poor investments of taxpayer dollars.

“Economists say many companies that receive perks fail to deliver promised jobs,” she writes. “And many also question whether the intense rivalry for jobs among states leads to little more than an economic shell game, with jobs moving from one place to another without a significant net national gain in employment.”

This report is ideal for classes and papers on economic policy, state and local governance, political science and labor relations.

--Thomas J. Billitteri, Managing Editor

Weekly Roundup 3/5/2012

Bearing Witness in Syria: A War Reporter’s Last Days
Tyler Hicks, The New York Times, March 4, 2012

      Synopsis: Climbing through the barbed wire fence separating Turkey from Syria, Times photographer Hicks and the Times’ two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Shadid embarked on a dangerous mission to bring back the story of the Syrian government’s brutal repression of Syrian anti-government rebels. One of the most celebrated war correspondents of his era, Shadid never made it back: he died of an acute asthma attack, touched off by an allergic reaction to the horses he and Hicks were supposed to ride back to safety.
      Hicks writes in his riveting account: “Our journey in took us to a group of men who would be our guides in Syria. They call themselves activists, and unlike the fighters, they're the civilian side of the revolution. They, too, are risking their lives to tell the world what is happening to their country.
      “It was clear that they understood the importance of having Anthony there. Foreign journalists are valuable for getting news out of Syria and into a wider world that might be able to help them (though that wider world seems uncertain about how to do so). His Arabic allowed him to speak directly to people without the buffer of an interpreter. As always, he conveyed a genuine interest that made people open up to him; everyone was equal, no story insignificant.”

      Takeaway: “What did the two journalists learn on their ill-fated trip? Hicks writes: “There are mixed emotions among the civilians living in these towns. Most say they favor the revolution and want Assad out of power. While hundreds of people gather daily to protest in some towns, with Friday gatherings for prayers swelling into the thousands, their rally to the cause is bittersweet. People know that the fighters, and the revolt, will draw the army to them, and some are not shy about saying they do not want to invite a crisis to their doorstep. They know what happened in Homs. The images on Arabic news channels are a constant stream of bloody scenes. They also know that they are probably next on the list as the Syrian army tries to crush the rebellion.”

      For related CQ Researcher coverage, see Tom Price, “Future of Journalism,” March 27, 2009 (updated Sept. 3, 2010) and in the CQ Global Researcher: Jennifer Koons, “Press Freedom,” November 2010, and Roland Flamini, “Turmoil in the Arab World,” May 3, 2011.

Thomas J. Colin, Contributing Editor

For America’s Least Fortunate, Poverty Spans Generations
Tom Zeller Jr., Huffington Post, March 1, 2012

      Synopsis: In this must-read piece of long-form journalism, Huffington Post senior writer Zeller explores at ground level the facts of, and reasons for, the persistence of poverty in the United States. Zeller, a former New York Times reporter and editor, introduces the reader to Brooklyn Davis, born into poverty and blocked from escaping it despite best efforts and resolute attitude. “Culture of poverty” sociologists, and many politicians, blame it all on bad character and bad behavior. But as Zeller shows, Davis is trapped by circumstance: even if he’s lucky enough to get a minimum-wage job that he’s applied for, he won’t be able to afford the daily bus fare and still pay child support, old debts, etc. And let’s be clear: poverty is increasing – with 20 million Americans (6.7 percent of population) living at less than half the poverty rate. No policy solutions here: just thorough reporting, insightful writing, and much to think about.

      Takeaway: Unsympathetic views of poverty ignore the more nuanced picture that Zeller says is recognized by social workers, activists, poverty researchers and the poor themselves: “From their view, the so-called safety-net, while effective in preventing atrocities of hunger familiar to other continents, can also act like a web, trapping its poorest patrons in a tangle of conditional services, conflicting requirements and punishing penalties that conspire to keep them poor -- often very poor.


      For CQ Researcher coverage, see Thomas J. Billitteri, “Domestic Poverty,” Sept. 7, 2007 (updated April 27, 2011), and Peter Katel, “Child Poverty,” Oct. 28, 2011.

--Kenneth Jost, Associate Editor

Why an MRI costs $1,080 in America and $280 in France
Ezra Klein, The Washington Post, March 3, 2012

      Synopsis: Economic-policy blogger Klein reviews the evidence -- which is strong -- that high prices are the key driver of U.S. health-care costs, which far outstrip costs elsewhere in the world. Other developed nations budget to cover basic care for all with taxpayer funding. And the consolidated funding serves a second, important purpose. With taxpayers footing the bill for everyone's care, the government has a strong incentive to bargain hard over prices. In the U.S. system, fragmented among many payers, no payer, public or private, has had the market power to keep prices in check.

      Takeaway: As a result, "two of the five most profitable industries in the United States” are "the pharmaceuticals industry and the medical device industry....With margins of almost 20 percent, they beat out even the financial sector for sheer profitability. The players sitting across the table from them — the health insurers — are not so profitable. In 2009, their profit margins were a mere 2.2 percent. That’s a signal that the sellers have the upper hand over the buyers."


      For CQ Researcher coverage of this topic, see my June 11, 2010, report, “Health Care Reform” (updated May 24, 2011), and my April 7, 2005 report, “Rising Health Costs.”

Marcia Clemmitt, Staff Writer

Weekly Roundup 2/27/2012

No one is ‘playing politics’ on Solyndra or birth control. This is politics.
Alec McGillis, The Washington Post, Feb. 26, 2012

Synopsis: Politics has become a dirty word, according to New Republic senior editor Alec McGillis, and that’s too bad. Politics “is the art of government, of ordering life among a people,” he writes. And it’s a necessary component of decisions on such issues as government funding of solar energy initiatives (Solyndra), teenagers’ access to contraception (Plan B) or approving job-creating, environmentally risky energy projects (Keystone XL pipeline)

Takeaway: “Americans have long professed disdain for [politics’] grubbier aspects,” McGillis writes. But “who would we rather have making these decisions – our elected representatives, acting with the input of experts . . . . but also with an ear to their constituents, or the experts alone?

For CQ Researcher coverage of recent political trends, see Peter Katel, “Occupy Movement,” Jan. 13, 2012, and “Tea Party Movement,” March 19, 2010 (updated May 23, 2011). For coverage of some of the issues mentioned, see Jennifer Weeks, “Energy Policy,” May 20, 2011; David Hosansky, “Wind Power,” April 1, 2011; and Marcia Clemmitt, “Teen Pregnancy,” March 26, 2010.

--Kenneth Jost, Associate Editor

Cost Doesn't Spell Success for Colorado Schools Using Consultants to Improve Achievement
Jennifer Brown, The Denver Post, Feb. 19, 2012.

Synopsis: The first report in a three-part investigative series by The Denver Post finds that Colorado, like most states, has not closely tracked the approximately one-third of new federal education funding that's going to consultants. The money, intended to help rescue troubled schools, pays for services such as coaching for principals, data analysis and seminars on changing school culture. But the paper finds that achievement still lags at many schools that have paid hefty consultant fees.

Takeaway: "Pueblo City Schools has a three-year, $7.4 million contract with a New York-based school-turnaround company to fix six failing schools. After the first year, school performance scores went down at five of the six schools; the sixth school's performance score didn't change. Out of $8 million in federal turnaround funds the district has received the past two years, $4.2 million has gone to its contracted partner."

For related material, see my April 29, 2011, report, “School Reform.”

Marcia Clemmitt, staff writer

The Greatness of Ike
Ross Douthat, The New York Times, Feb. 26, 2012

Synopsis: Most students today, I fear, know precious little about Ike. But they should. Unfortunately, says columnist Douthat, they won’t learn much from the monument to President Dwight D. (Ike) Eisenhower planned for the National Mall. The proposed Frank Gehry design fails on a fundamental level, he says. Aside from being an aesthetic disaster, he says, the monument fails to capture the greatness of the man (Supreme Allied Commander, actually) who led the nation – and the world – to victory in World War II.

Takeaway: “Eisenhower deserves a monument that puts him where he belongs — in the very first rank of American leaders — because the nation needs to be reminded of where true presidential greatness lies,” Douthat says. “Plenty of politicians combine inspiring rhetoric with grand ambitions. Far fewer have the gifts required to steer the ship of state away from every rock and reef, and bring it, eight long years later, undamaged into port.”

For current political background, see these CQ Researcher reports: Marcia Clemmitt, “Gridlock in Washington,” April 30, 2010; and Alan Greenblatt, “Future of the GOP,” March 20, 2009. The CQ Researcher Archive contains numerous reports on Eisenhower and presidential politics in the 1950s.

Thomas J. Colin, contributing editor

This Week's Report: Space Program

Fifty years ago this month, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, a milestone in NASA’s storied history that also includes moon landings, the space shuttle and numerous scientific forays into deep space. But the U.S. space program is at a crossroads, torn by disagreements over the next destination for human spaceflight and squeezed by budget cuts and shifting space priorities.

Journalist John Felton covers the full range of issues surrounding NASA’s future in this week’s report. It provides ideal background for classes and papers on science policy, federal budget priorities and, of course, space exploration.

--Thomas J. Billitteri, Managing Editor

Weekly Roundup 2/21/2012

Which was the most important U.S. election ever?
David R. Mayhew, The Washington Post, Feb. 19, 2012

Synopsis: With some Republican candidates using superlatives to describe the 2012 election (“most important . . . in my lifetime,” Gingrich says), the well-known Yale political scientist David Mayhew suggests some criteria for assessing the importance of a presidential contest. Among the questions he thinks to be considered: How important was the election considered at the time? Was the election associated with a major change in voter coalitions? What if the other candidate had won? Did the campaign itself have an independent impact apart from the outcome? Did the election set an important national precedent? On these criteria, Mayhew counts 1860 and 1932 as the nation’s most important presidential elections; recent elections don’t rank very high.

Takeaway: As for 2012, Mayhew takes a wait-and-see attitude: “So far in this campaign, we don’t seem to have witnessed big, energizing events, a new mood that invests the public in the outcome or signs of a clear voter mandate.” But he does not count that as a problem: “In most elections, deft management of the economy and smart, prudent foreign policy are enough to ask for.”

For CQ Researcher coverage, see Bob Benenson, “Presidential Election,” Feb. 3, 2012.

--Kenneth Jost, Associate Editor

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The Volcker Rule and the Costs of Good Intentions
Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times blogs, DealB%k, Feb. 13, 2012

The Volcker Rule and Wall Street's Pliant Media Plant
Raymond J. Learsy, The Huffington Post, Feb. 15, 2012

Synopsis: The so-called Volcker Rule in the Dodd-Frank financial-markets bill -- which forbids banks from speculating with their own money, rather than only with clients' funds at their behest -- will cost Wall-Street jobs and raise costs for bank customers, a troubling downside, writes New York Times financial-columnist Sorkin. But by stressing bankers' complaints about the rule, which former Federal Reserve chair Paul Volcker proposed to limit over-risky financial-industry behavior, Sorkin shows his hand as a reporter who's too much a captive of the businesses he covers, writes former commodities trader Learsy.

Takeaway: Sorkin "cites that paragon of banking virtue..., Jamie Dimon, chairman of JPMorgan Chase...., the very epitome of the type of banker the Volcker rule is meant to protect us, the public, from," noted Learsy.

For more, see Kenneth Jost's Jan. 20 report on “Financial Misconduct” and his May 9, 2008, report, “Financial Crisis,” and my July 30, 2010, report, “Financial Industry Overhaul.”

--Marcia Clemmitt, Staff Writer