The Visible Hand - January/February 2013 A new breed of economist, Alvin Roth brings an engineering sensibility to fixing markets. On the first day of classes in September, most of the 18 people gathered for Al Roth's course in market design were doctoral students in economics or business. One was studying computer science. A visiting scholar from Beijing thought the class might help her understand problems in the nascent Chinese market for fine art. Roth, shirtsleeves rolled up and chalk in hand, took them through the algorithm he's deployed to redesign the processes by which medical students get matched with residency programs and children in large cities get assigned to public schools. At its essence, the algorithm systematizes courtship. Nonetheless, it seemed clear that Roth, MS '73, PhD '74, is nobody's caricature of a coldly calculating economist. The idea that markets need designing seems at odds with the widespread belief that markets develop best organically, without central planning. Photo: Linda A. Alex Nabaum
Watch Free Documentaries Online | Documentary Heaven Careers Guide 2013: The state of pay - 09 January 2013 Read full article Continue reading page |1|2|3 MONEY, money, money. But whether you're well compensated or hard done by, salary is still a thorny issue. In September, New Scientist, in association with recruitment consultants SRG, quizzed you, our readers and users of our jobs website, about your financial lives. Read on and find out where you fit in. What are you worth? Across all UK sectors employing scientists, a full-time professional takes home an average annual salary of £35,900, with those specialising in computer science or engineering earning the most. That doesn't sound too shabby until you realise that, in the UK at least, the cost of living has increased by 12 per cent during this time. Average salaries are higher in the US. Salaries tend to be higher in the US because workers there pay for healthcare out of their salary while in the UK it is paid via taxes. So how does the average wage break down? This disparity is well known. Looking for a job in science or technology?
How Many Minimum-Wage Hours Does It Take to Afford a Decent Life? - News So much of the talk surrounding the jobs crisis focuses on unemployment, but a huge portion of those who do have jobs are barely clinging to a decent lifestyle. In 2010, one in five American adults worked for poverty-level wages, 4.4 million of whom earned wages at or below the federal minimum. The infographic above, from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, makes painfully clear just how hard it is to make ends meet on these wages. Want a modest two-bedroom apartment in New York state for the standard 30 percent of your income? You're going to have to toil at a minimum-wage job for 136 hours a week. This makes clear why there isn't a mass movement to raise the minimum wage—people are too busy working their asses off. For an idea of what a fair minimum wage would look like, the NLIHC recalculated its two-bedroom, 30 percent of income premise for a normal, 40-hour work week (see full version [PDF]): Images via National Low Income Housing Coalition
Children and war During Sierra Leone's ten-year civil war, armed factions used thousands of children as soldiers. A Red Cross programme has been reintegrating former fighters for three years. But can young ex-combatants ever really go home? Sisqo(1), a slim 16-year-old, is consulting Red Cross workers about trouble at school. In the past Sisqo would have sorted the problem out with jungle justice — the brutality he learned when he was indeed a rebel fighting against Sierra Leone's government. Sisqo managed to escape from the RUF after four years. Child Advocacy and Rehabilitation (CAR) is a ten-month Red Cross programme, aimed at young people aged 10 to 18 who were harmed during the war. At the same time as working with the children, the Sierra Leone Red Cross goes into villages and uses drama, dance and discussions to encourage parents, neighbours and communities to accept and care for the children. "We tell them these kids are not the cause of the war. When asked about her future she nods uncertainly.
kid's tv IN HORRIFIED FACES of children cowering in a bomb shelter in Mostar or Vitez or Ilidza during one of the regular attacks carried out on these towns, the destruction and insensitivity of war seems irrational to Moslems, Croats or Serbians. Despite this heart-piercing picture of horror, however, it is likely that some of the same people who are staring at the horrified faces of their children will soon be entering the battlefield, voluntarily or involuntarily, to contribute to the horror. Sometimes the pressure of this realisation has been so great for not only the recruits, but also for their parents and partners that some have committed suicide. Most accounts of the war have attempted to portray the military competition with the civilians on the sidelines. Almost every child in Bosnia and Hercegovina carries with him or her a history of numerous problems and attempted solutions. protection The recognition that children should be protected from the effects of war is not new.
The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond Writing in these pages in early 2008, we put the total cost to the United States of the Iraq war at $3 trillion. This price tag dwarfed previous estimates, including the Bush administration's 2003 projections of a $50 billion to $60 billion war. But today, as the United States ends combat in Iraq, it appears that our $3 trillion estimate (which accounted for both government expenses and the war's broader impact on the U.S. economy) was, if anything, too low. For example, the cost of diagnosing, treating and compensating disabled veterans has proved higher than we expected. Moreover, two years on, it has become clear to us that our estimate did not capture what may have been the conflict's most sobering expenses: those in the category of "might have beens," or what economists call opportunity costs. The answer to all four of these questions is probably no. Afghanistan The Iraq invasion diverted our attention from the Afghan war, now entering its 10th year. Oil Federal debt Joseph E.
What Did the Iraq War Cost? More Than You Think. By its very definition, war spending—indeed, any government spending—improves GDP, as anyone who has ever taken an economics 101 course knows. Spending on World War II is credited with helping the U.S. decisively climb out of its depression slump. Likewise, the Iraq War helped the economy in some ways. As U.S. operations in Iraq end, tallying up the costs and benefits of a nine-year ordeal is a daunting task. But the long-term costs will well exceed this total, and the budgetary consequences are far-reaching. On the positive side, the Iraq War did bolster the economy in some ways. [Debate Club: Was the Iraq War Worth It?] "It reduced unemployment compared to what it otherwise would have been" both with military and contractor jobs, says Stan Collender, a senior partner at Qorvis Communications who has also worked on both the House and Senate Budget Committees. [Read analysis of the latest jobs report.] "The problem is not the impact on the GDP.
Economic Cost Summary | Costs of War Economic Costs Summary: $3.1 Trillion and Counting There are at least three ways to think about the economic costs of these wars: what has been spent already, what could or must be spent in the future, and the comparative economic effects of spending money on war instead of something else. Spending to Date: How much have the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan since 9/11 cost? The Costs of War economics research team used the most up-to-date publicly available figures at the time of their writing to calculate the spending on the wars from 2001 through fiscal year 2013. What was the Department of Defense allocated? War related spending is also found in the foreign assistance budget, known on Capitol Hill as "International Assistance" spending. How has the U.S. paid for the wars so far? The U.S. also increased spending on homeland security by more than $455 billion beyond the levels already in place. Obligations for Future Spending: The costs of war don't end when the fighting stops.