Some people have been taking a look at the effects of the latest recession and subsequent recovery on both men and women and the differences between the two. It seems that men are doing better in the recovery, but also did worse during the recession. It’s an interesting topic to look at and can (and should) lead to questions as to why the differences exist in the first place. This article has some interesting data and charts.

Source: Economix Blog

It’s no secret that the U.S. is facing some terrible labor market conditions as the unemployment rate remains high, and many people are looking for a job with very little success. In these conditions, how much do you value a job offer? One organization seems to think that $2,500 is a good number, and if you are willing to pay it, they will guarantee you a job offer of $100,000/year or more! Sounds like quite a deal, right? Well, of course, there’s a catch. This organization, called TheLadders, is only opening this offer up to certain job applicants who meet their requirements. These requirements aren’t exactly clear, but it does involve a screening process. TheLadders is a job search company that targets high paying jobs and the type of workers that tend to occupy them. In this article, the question of, “Are these the people who really need help finding a job?” is raised, and the answer, based on the data, seems to be no. Nonetheless, if you happen to have a stellar resume, an extra $2,500 lying around, and are willing to jump through a few hoops to prepare you for the job search, then this offer may just be what you’re looking for.

Source: Slate Magazine

Does greater economic development lead to happiness? Justin Wolfers, blogging on Freakonomics, thinks so. It seems like “money doesn’t lead to happiness” has become a common belief for many people. Why is that? Well, Wolfers seems to believe that the rich believe this in an attempt to convince themselves that the money they spend for luxury items and services doesn’t make them feel guilty for not spending on those in need. Of course, this debate is probably more complex than what his blog post tries to break it down to (what is happiness after all?), and his explanation for why we hold our beliefs on the correlation between money and happiness could certainly be questioned, but it’s hard to deny the notion that greater economic development could only help the lives and happiness levels of those affected.

Source: Freakonomics Blog

Andrew Marantz at MotherJones spent his summer at an Indian Call Center and wrote about what he learnt. Some of the more interesting points include:

• Businesses in India don’t trust the public infrastructure and so they hire private cars to taxi their employees back and forth.
• Call center workers will earn 20,000 rupees per month. This translates to about $2 per hour and $5,000 per year in a country where the per capita income is about $900 per year.
• Call center workers undergo ‘culture training’ where they have to memorize things such as state capitals and must watch episodes of Seinfeld.
• One call center divides customers into seven categories: Eccentric, Arrogant, Bumpkin, Quarrelsome, Prudent, Assertive and Sweet-spoken.
• Workers at a call center can only succeed if they “de-Indianize” and lose or remake part of their identity. This might have adverse psychological effects.

Click here to read more and find out about the sociology of Australian, British and American people as taught by an Indian culture trainer. You can also read about the Indian Marxist telephone operator and the standard sleeping arrangements for workers.

Source: MotherJones

The Economist took a look at which emerging market economies appeared to be overheating. The countries with the greatest risk of out of control growth were:

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Turkey
• Vietnam

China which analysts have focused on over the past year or so as an economy in danger of crashing after decades of stunning growth does remarkably well in The Economist’s rankings. Concerns about the strength of the Chinese economy seem misplaced.

The ranking is composed of six measures that include: inflation, spare production capacity, unemployment, credit expansion, real interest rate and external balance. To read more about how other emerging market economies ranked in the index, and how the ranking was composed click here.

Source: The Economist

In a finding that has appeared to hold up remarkably well across populations and over time, it appears that people are for more likely to die in the immediate days after they are given their first pay checks. For those between the ages of 17 and 29 the cause of death is often “substance abuse and blunt force trauma from auto accidents.” Find out other risk factors and findings related to the research over here.

Source: Freakonomics

Reuters reports that the Pakistani Taliban is selling suicide bombers to militant networks for up to $93,000 per bomber. They are being purchased by groups operating in Afghanistan.

Source: Reuters

Via: Marginal Revolution

High unemployment has resulted from the past recession, and thus it should be no surprise that teens are having trouble finding summer jobs. As a matter of fact, they have been hit hardest in terms of job outlook by this latest recession. Many have blamed the government for cutting back on employment programs for teens, but in this article, it is argued that the government is not all that important in putting teens to work. The private sector is actually where most teens end up finding jobs, but with the current state of the economy, many of these businesses are not taking on as many workers as they used to, leaving many teens unemployed. It is later suggested that the government would be better off deregulating the labor force in order to provide more work for teens. There’s no doubt that this suggestion would be rather controversial, though. Read the rest of the article to see their full argument behind suggesting such a solution.

Source: Economix Blog

The airlines have consistently been losing money year after year. Many people have attributed this trend to a combination of high fuel costs and high taxes. However, this article maintains that this does not tell the entire story. Since the airlines were deregulated 30 years ago, they’ve lost a total of around $60 billion. However, in those years, high fuel costs only were a factor for the first few years and the last few years; the years in between, the cost of fuel was low and they still were not consistently posting profits. They also argue that taxes have not been the main cause of this, either. Rather, legacy airlines have higher operating costs than the low-cost carriers which has kept them from being very competitive. Read the entire article for the full explanation of this situation.

Source: Freakonomics Blog