Tag: national economy

Climate change is really about prosperity, peace, public health and posterity – not saving the environment

The story of climate change is one that people have struggled to tell convincingly for more than two decades. But it’s not for lack of trying.

The problem is emphatically not a lack of facts and figures. The world’s best scientific minds have produced blockbuster report after blockbuster report, setting out in ever more terrifying detail just how much of an impact we humans have had on the Earth since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Many people believe anthropogenic climate change – rapid and far-reaching shifts in the climate caused by human activity – is now the story that will define the 21st century, whether anyone’s good at telling it or not.

Nor is it merely a problem of delivery. The past decade has witnessed an explosion of climate change communication efforts spanning nearly every conceivable medium, channel and messenger. Documentaries, popular books and articles, interactive websites, immersive virtual reality, community events — all are being used in increasingly creative ways to communicate the story of climate change. Many of these efforts are beautifully designed and executed, visually and narratively engaging and careful to avoid common traps and shortcomings that have tripped up previous efforts.

View the complete September 27 article by Ezra Markowitz, Associate PRofessor of Environmental Decision-Making at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Adam Corner, Research Director at Climate Outreach & Honorary Research Fellow in Psychology, Cardiff University, on the Conversation website.

Inflation hits 6-year high, wiping out wage gains for the average American

The following article by Heather Long was posted on the Chicago Tribune website July 13, 2018:

Shoppers pay for their purchases at a Chicago Target store. Credit: Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune

Prices rose at their highest clip since 2012 over the past year, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The 2.9 percent inflation for the 12-month period ending in June is a sign of a growing economy, but it’s also a painful development for workers, whose tepid wage gains have failed to keep pace with the rising prices.

The cost of food, shelter and gas have all risen significantly in the past year. Gas skyrocketed more than 24 percent, rent for a primary residence jumped 3.6 percent and meals at restaurants and cafeterias rose 2.8 percent.

View the complete article here.

A Day in the U.S. Economy Without Women

The following article by Kate Bahn and Annie McGrew was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 7, 2017:

On March 8, International Women’s Day, women worldwide are planning to strike in the name of equal rights. Dubbed “A Day Without A Woman,” the strike encourages women to take a day off from both paid and unpaid labor. Women comprise almost half of the U.S. workforce and thus could make a large economic impact by taking off work.

How exactly would a day without women affect the economy? According to the Center for American Progress’ calculations based on the labor share of the gross domestic product, or GDP, and women’s relative pay and hours of work, women’s labor contributes $7.6 trillion to the nation’s GDP each year. In one year, women working for pay in the United States earn more than Japan’s entire GDP of $5.2 trillion. If all paid working women in the United States took a day off, it would cost the country almost $21 billion in terms of GDP. Moreover, women contribute many millions of dollars to their state’s GDP each day, making their work crucial to the health of their local economies as well. (see Methodology for more detail) Continue reading “A Day in the U.S. Economy Without Women”