Topic Category: Labor

Every American should be sickened by the news that Detroit is bankrupt. What was once the envy of the world for its pioneering automobile industry has become a showcase of empty buildings, abandoned neighborhoods, and high crime.

What went wrong? In one word: unions.

(UPDATED) Before slightly rising in May, the U.S. unemployment rate consecutively declined from 7.9 percent in January to 7.5 percent in April. Good news, right? Unfortunately, the overall declining trend does not capture what’s actually happening. For example, the unemployment rate does not count those who become frustrated and stop looking for work, or account for those whose hours have been cut back to make way for more part-timers not receiving benefits.

The senior members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family have avoided taking any overt steps to begin grooming princes from the third generation of the Al Saud dynasty to eventually rule the kingdom. Once initiated, this move could potentially trigger a destabilizing power struggle among the dozens of grandsons of Ibn Saud, the country’s founding monarch, who for whatever reason perceive themselves to have a legitimate claim on the throne.

After thirty years in the leadership business, first as an executive and then as a leadership consultant, I am frequently asked ‘What makes a leader great?’ I’ve had years to observe and correlate competencies and behaviors to leadership effectiveness. While many competencies are essential, one that comes before all others is self-awareness.

One of the hottest topics among people interested in either international trade or manufacturing is the apparent trend in backshoring: moving manufacturing back to the United States from abroad. This is exactly the opposite of the offshoring trend that took hold more than 20 years ago and resulted in the movement of production of many familiar products  from the United States to lower-cost countries.

By April 1st, the U.S. government began accepting   applications for the H-1B highly skilled worker visa program. This year’s 85,000 H-1B slots were expected to be filled by April 5th. If industry experts, immigration attorneys, and government spokesmen are right and the annual H-1B cap is hit within a week of applications being made available, it will be the first time that has happened since 2008.

President Barack Obama wants to give low-wage Americans a raise. Actually, he wants to force other people to give them a raise. It’s a bad idea. In his State of the Union speech President Obama proposed hiking the minimum wage to $9 an hour, a 24 percent jump.

China continues to suffer a labor shortage in its key coastal manufacturing regions. This, no doubt, is impacting U.S. and other foreign companies operating in China. But the labor shortage is not due to a lack of available workers. Instead, it is prompted by Chinese government policies, as well as prevailing work and living conditions in affected regions.

Most Americans have recognized the valuable contributions of veterans and members of our military services ever since the founding of the Republic. What’s surprising to many is this: veteran entrepreneurial accomplishments also create tremendous economic value not only for themselves, but also for American cities and towns. Their leadership in the re-newel of American communities needs to be recognized and supported.