What drugs are the Tea Party-ers on?

Colorado Candidate Warns of Bicycle Plot - Green Blog - NYTimes.com: "The front-runner for the Republican nomination in the Colorado governor’s race is causing a stir with claims that his likely Democratic opponent, Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver, is bringing the city under United Nations control by promoting bike riding and other sustainability measures."

Pension Tension

As predicted in this blog a few years ago the benefits enjoyed by the "middle class" at the expense of cheap labor elsewhere are slowly getting squeezed.

Increasing the retirement age for workers is directionally negative for young people wanting to join the workforce, thus a directional negative for employment. On the flip side states can reduce taxes because the expenses are lower. States could reduce borrowing but the need for continuous redistribution of wealth- issuing debt (and putting the burden on all), and distributing it to a few at the top will make debt reduction a pipe dream.

Politicians and bureaucrats are making all-out efforts to hack the benefits of workers, but there are no efforts to curb or reduce the benefits of politicians.

Stressed States Are Forcing Workers to Retire Later - WSJ.com: "In Illinois, where state lawmakers voted in March to increase the retirement age for most new hires to 67 from 60, 'it had everything to do with the financial straits the state is in,' said Tim Blair, the executive secretary of the State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois. 'The scales have tipped.'

The states are taking aim at long-held and sometimes controversial pension plans. In Utah, new fire and public safety employees as of July 1, 2011, must work 25 years, up from 20, before getting a full pension. Most other state employees must now work 35 years instead of 30 before receiving their pension.

In Illinois, teachers can retire as early as age 55 with 35 years of service. But starting Jan. 1, 2011, new hires must reach age 67 with 10 years of service.

In June, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reached a tentative contract agreement with six public-employee unions to bump up the retirement age by five years for new hires. The governor's office and six other unions remain in negotiations, with one of the sticking points a proposed increase in the retirement age.

The changes could add momentum to raise the age at which Americans receive payments from Social Security, say industry experts."

Jobs gushing at Capgemini

Capgemini India hires 10,000 people in 2010, to recruit 7,000 more-Jobs-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times: "Bullish on strong growth prospects in India, global IT consultancy Capgemini has hired 10,000 people so far in 2010 and plans to recruit another 7,000 by the year-end.

'We have already hired more than 10,000 people as of July. We plan to recruit further 7,000 within this year,' Capgemini India Executive Chairman Salil Parekh said.

Placing emphasis on the importance of the Indian market in the group's growth strategy, Parekh said,'Capgemini India is an important resource centre to drive Capgemini's Rightshore model and is also the main innovation hub for the group.'"

New Equation in Education GS+C/P = E A/B

GS (Google Search) + C/P (Copy & Paste) = Easy A or B

Interesting article in the NYT

Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age - NYTimes.com

My comment:

"Combining this article with 'Want a Higher G.P.A.? Go to a Private College' (http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/want-a-higher-g-p-a-go-to-a-private-college/) where the author Ms. Rampell writes 'The study, by Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy, uses historical data from 80 four-year colleges and universities. It finds that G.P.A.’s have risen from a national average of 2.52 in the 1950s to about 3.11 by the middle of the last decade.' yields a revealing picture. Ms. Rampell also writes that 'Based on contemporary grading data the authors collected from 160 schools, the average G.P.A. at private colleges and universities today is 3.3. At public schools, it is 3.0.' I have some students who are highly ethical, work hard, and graduate with honors- but their performance is almost indistinguishable from that of others who take the easier way out. An economic argument can be proposed for downloading (music or movies or books or anything else) illegally. Failure to cite is an indication of laziness or trying to pass off another person's work as one's own, or both.
In the larger picture, it is hard to punish the plagiarism violations when society rewards the much bigger misdeeds of the leaders of Wall Street and other industries with big bailouts and bigger compensation. Before we come down too hard on the students, let's first point the finger at the adults in society. Teachers and professors are expected to demonstrate high ideals and set good models of behavior and conduct. When they succumb to parents' pressure or an administration's push for leniency we should not expect much better from our students. Unfortunately the widespread and increasing use of adjunct faculty and other non-tenure track faculty creates an economic incentive to let plagiarism and other misdeeds slide.