BLS

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, as Atrios points out (and as Kevin ... also discussed in Harper's), keeps an array of data of unemployment.  For some reason, which I'll say is probably political expediency,  the "U3," which is basically all those who are out of work AND seeking work, is our official rate.  But the U3 does not count people who have given up after months of trying and who still want to work.  The U6, " Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.." Has a different and more comprehensive look at unemployment.  Click on the graph to see full size.  You'll note that U3 is 5.7 and U6 is 10.3.

As Kevin Phillips points out, the "truth," or at least a better picture of the various truths that one can glean about an economy, could set us free for some real discussion:

"The corruption has tainted the very measures that most shape public perception of the economy—the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI), which serves as the chief bellwether of inflation; the quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which tracks the U.S. economy’s overall growth; and the monthly unemployment figure, which for the general public is perhaps the most vivid indicator of economic health or infirmity. Not only do governments, businesses, and individuals use these yardsticks in their decision-making but minor revisions in the data can mean major changes in household circumstances—inflation measurements help determine interest rates, federal interest payments on the national debt, and cost-of-living increases for wages, pensions, and Social Security benefits. And, of course, our statistics have political consequences too. An administration is helped when it can mouth banalities about price levels being “anchored” as food and energy costs begin to soar.

The truth, though it would not exactly set Americans free, would at least open a window to wider economic and political understanding. Readers should ask themselves how much angrier the electorate might be if the media, over the past five years, had been citing 8 percent unemployment (instead of 5 percent), 5 percent inflation (instead of 2 percent), and average annual growth in the 1 percent range (instead of the 3–4 percent range). We might ponder as well who profits from a low-growth U.S. economy hidden under statistical camouflage. Might it be Washington politicos and affluent elites, anxious to mislead voters, coddle the financial markets, and tamp down expensive cost-of-living increases for wages and pensions?" [Number's Racket, Harpers, May 2008]

Cognitive Heat Sinks...

Here's Shirky elaborating on his ideas in "Here Comes Everybody."



Gin, television, cognitive heat sinks... It's worth a viewing, even if you've already checked out his work.

Adult Workers Have a Lot to Learn...Online

The Financial Times has an interesting article up today about life-long learning.

Improving returns on that asset requires neither great sums of money nor greater flights of imagination. The key is to rethink and reorganise how busy but anxious adults can benefit from education and training opportunities. Technology makes meeting that challenge far more affordable, entrepreneurial and compelling. Adult education is a market ripe for rapid global transformation.

The internet is a paradise for auto­didacts. The intellectually curious can find doctoral dissertations on virtually any subject in any language, download seminars podcast from the world’s great universities and leading professional societies and view YouTube lectures by Nobel laureates ranging from the physicist, Richard Feynman, to economists such as Milton Friedman and Muhammad Yunus.

You need no creativity to picture how this growing wealth of multimedia material may be repackaged and customised for adult education courses . Organisations of all sizes can bundle their own blogs, webcasts and digital simulations as training tools to serve employees and job applicants. Why not invite candidates to participate in online training sessions to see how well they learn? Follow up the next day by texting them “pop quizzes” to test retention.

While I am somewhat immune to claims that technology is "changing everything," especially when such claims are meant to create fear, the above article strikes me as mostly true and pertinent. Indeed, the internet is a paradise for autodidacts--AND WE SHOULD ALL BE AUTODIDACTS. Of course, the FT mentions Milton Friedman, but one can also read Dean Baker, Max Sawicky and others. The internet, in contrast to our MSM, offers a plethora of choices to challenge and inspire.

If teaching in a liberal arts college has taught me anything, it is that learning never stops, nor should it. The last 10 years or so have been revolutionary for me as a teacher, colleague and as an engaged citizen, and much of my personal "revolution" has come thanks to technology. Who would have thought that cultural realia from France or Africa would be at my fingertips 24 hours a day? Who would have thought I would be teaching myself languages online? Who would have thought I would be blogging against X or Y or Z and for A or B or C on a regular basis? Who would have thought my students could see world changing events happening in almost in real time on youtube, or that such video would have a more democratic nature than CNN? (Yes, I know, a lot of people thought about and predicted these things. My questions are a reflection of my own constant amazement at the amount of information available.)

As imperfect as the world is (including the internet), there is much to learn. May the open source--and by that I mean open distribution of creative materials--revolution continue.

More police: It can be a good thing sometimes

How many times have I written about the dangers of a police state? I don't know, but quite a lot. With all the caveats that go along with the subject, I am happy to report for once an instance where policing is good.

Le Monde is reporting today on the return of "police de quartier" in Saint-Denis, a banlieue (suburb) just on the edge of Paris. They write:

Quarante-huit policiers formant les trois premières unités territoriales de quartier (UTEQ) ont pris leur poste dans trois communes de Seine-Saint-Denis, lundi 14 avril. Les fonctionnaires, déployés en unités de quinze à dix-huit agents, seront chargés de couvrir les quartiers du Chêne-Pointu, du Bois du Temple et des Bosquets à Clichy-Montfermeil, le Franc-Moisin-Bel Air à Saint-Denis, et la cité des 4 000 à La Courneuve.

A terme, une soixantaine de policiers volontaires, possédant au minimum deux ans d'ancienneté, seront rattachés à ces trois UTEQ. En annonçant leur création, le 14 janvier, la ministre de l'intérieur Michèle Alliot-Marie avait ainsi défini leur mission : dissuasion, renseignement, contrôles d'identité et interpellations des auteurs d'infraction. Le premier ministre François Fillon a quant à lui prévenu que la police de quartier n'avait "rien à voir avec la conception du policier copain, animateur, assistante sociale".

UNE "DIFFÉRENCE DE PHILOSOPHIE"

Pour Frédéric Péchenard, directeur général de la police nationale, la "différence de philosophie" avec la police de proximité, créée par la gauche et supprimée par M. Sarkozy alors qu'il était ministre de l'intérieur, tient au fait que la mission de ces nouveaux policiers sera "plus axée sur le côté répressif". La "philosophie" des UTEQ reste toutefois, comme c'était le cas pour la police de proximité, d'établir "un lien de confiance" avec la population.

Les policiers ont suivi deux semaines de formation spécifique et appris les "techniques de communication dans la relation police-population", "la gestion des publics difficiles", "la connaissance du territoire, de la population, des problématiques et des populations étrangères", indique un document officiel.

Le deuxième département à tenter l'expérience des UTEQ, après la Seine–Saint-Denis, devrait être la Haute-Garonne.

Why is this a good thing? Reducing the number of police units in the troubled suburbs only creates more problems. The officers don't know the area as well and don't develop long-term relationships with the inhabitants. This causes them to swoop in, make arrests and leave. This lack of local knowledge and understanding works to the detriment of the inhabitants and the police since it undermines natural affinities and mutual respect.

Now, I'm the first one to admit that I have an inherent distrust of authoritarian measures, in particular when they come from the police. But here's an occasion where study after study has shown that policing is most effective not because of armor, weapons and surveillance, but because of community relations and communication. Given this, I hope that they put the right people on the job and that this "experiment" is given a chance to succeed. Of course, without similar investments in jobs, schools and public spaces, the police and the "troubled youth" will both fail.