By Charles Whalen Americans hoped to toast the end of the Great Recession during the recent Independence Day weekend, but the economy has again proven uncooperative. Celebrations were instead backlit by news that many jobless are throwing in the towel after a fruitless search for work. In fact, the situation is even worse. Some say [...]

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Written November 20, 2008 Best Options for the Auto Industry Crisis Executive Summary This memo builds on evidence and knowledge gained from 20 years of research and active involvement in the auto industry, much of it carried out under auspices of the International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP), a research network headquartered at MIT and funded [...]

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By Charles J. Whalen December 18th, 2008 President-elect Barack Obama won last month’s election partly by addressing the anxieties and aspirations of America’s working families. Since then, some observers have expressed concern that a nominee for Secretary of Labor was not announced as part of his economic team. Indeed, Labor Secretary could be the last [...]

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Introduction With the likelihood of major infra structure programs coming on stream in the near future the attention of many participants at the recent meetings of LERA focused on the question: How can we be sure that the relevant stakeholders are involved in the process as one way of insuring that good jobs and good [...]

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