The big political challenge around economic globalization concerns how best to assist and support those whose livelihoods are adversely affected by economic competition. Observers from all sides of the political spectrum agree that the US government does a poor job on this front, and lots of interesting new ideas are bubbling up about how best to assist dislocated workers. The Financial Services Forum has recently presented a new approach crafted by alumni of both the Bush and Clinton Administrations. The authors propose a new Adjustment Assistance Program (AAP) that would commit $22 billion annually to provide a wider menu of benefit options for workers affected by globalization and technological change. The AAP would provide, among other things, wage loss insurance to workers struggling to find new jobs at wages comparable to their previous employment, continued health insurance while unemployed, and enhanced eligibility for various training programs. The proposed program will help ease the transition for affected workers by providing them with a stronger safety net as well as incentives to retrain and build a prosperous new career in alternative fields.

Download the July 2008 Financial Services Forum White Paper, "Succeeding in the Global Economy: An Adjustment Assistance Program for American Workers," by Grant D. Aldonas, Robert Z. Lawrence, and Matthew J. Slaughter.

A new report from the Massachusetts-based American Academy of Arts and Sciences identifies investment in early-career scientists and encouragement of high-risk, high-reward research as important priorities in preserving U.S. leadership in science and engineering.
Full story at: http://nationalacademies.org/headlines/20080603.html

The declining value of the U.S. dollar and other business cost considerations are giving the U.S. a favorable cost advantage compared to other industrialized nations in Europe, Japan and Australia, according to a new biennial report from KPMG. The 2008 Edition of KPMG’s Competitive Alternatives collects data over a range of industries, such as precision manufacturing and biomedical R&D, to compare 136 metro areas in 10 countries. When looking at aggregate national business costs across various sectors, Japan and Germany are 14.3 percent and 16.8 percent higher, respectively, than the U.S. Canada’s overall business costs are 0.6 percent lower than the U.S., and Mexico’s costs are 20.5 percent lower than those of the U.S.
 

Science and Engineering Indicators, published by the National Science Board, provides a broad base of quantitative information on the U.S. and international science and engineering enterprise. Content includes chapters on:

·         Elementary and Secondary Education

·         Higher Education in Science and Engineering

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has named Nina Fedoroff to be her new science and technology adviser. Fedoroff is the Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and Evan Pugh Professor of Biology in the Hugh Institutes of the Life Sciences at Pennsylvania State University. She will begin her new position at the State Department on Aug. 6.  FULL STORY

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has published its latest update on the real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of each state. The update includes advance estimates for 2006 data, as well as revisions to data from 2003-2005. SSTI has prepared a table showing every state’s real GDP per capita from 2003 to 2006. Besides these values, the table also includes:

• Ranking for 2006 state GDP per capita
• Comparison of 2006 GDP per capita to the national average
• Four-year percent change in state GDP per capita
• Ranking of percent change

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez has selected Kauffman Foundation President and CEO Carl Schramm to chair a new Department of Commerce advisory panel on innovation. The panel is designed to better understand how innovation contributes to American economic prosperity and high living standards. The Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy Advisory Committee will help develop ways to measure innovation so that the public and policy makers can better understand its impact on economic growth and productivity.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez identified Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, as the chairman of a new advisory committee of business and academic leaders that will seek ways to measure the effects of innovation on the economy. The Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy Advisory Committee is comprised of 10 CEOs and five academics, including Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano, 3M CEO George Buckley and Wal-Mart Vice Chairman John Menzer.Â

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released the 2005 statistics for science and engineering (S&E) doctorate awards. Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2005 details trends in doctorate awards by S&E field and recipient characteristics, institutions awarding doctorates, and postgraduation plans of recipients.

This report compiles data about the top 1250 global companies as measured by R&D investment. Within the five largest sectors, the pharmaceutical and software industries continue to enjoy a steady increase, gaining on technology hardware in the top spot.