Is pandemic disease a national security threat?

Stephen Walt’s recent post describes one of the connections between healthcare and national security. He argues that our increasingly bleak fiscal situation, combined with the aging of the baby boomer generation, may put more pressure on dollars going to defense. He suggests that actors like the AARP might start to care just how many extra F-22s Congress will insist on purchasing above and beyond what the Pentagon says it wants and needs.

There are at least two other health and national security connections, and I’ve called healthcare a “formestic“ issue for this reason. First, pandemic disease, such as influenza, is one of only two outside threats (the other being a nuclear attack by terrorists) that could strike the U.S. at any time and that could potentially kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. It, plainly, is a national security threat. If a pandemic ever really blew up in this country, we would be much better off if everyone had health insurance. Global cooperation and the World Health Organization are critical to protecting us from this threat.

Another linkage has to do with America’s place in the world vis-a-vis rising powers. The fact is that one of the main reasons cited by businesses that decide to offshore jobs to places like China and India is the rising costs of healthcare in this country.

Moreover, an absolutely critical driver of U.S. success — particularly in a globalized economy — is our ability to innovate. I haven’t seen any real statistics, but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence out there to suggest that some would-be entrepreneurs opt to stay in corporate jobs because they cant give up their health insurance. We are crazy to hobble ourselves like this.

- Nina Hachigian

Photo courtesy of Flickr user hitthatswitch under a Creative Commons license.

A Liberian boy tackles a coconut.

As the second half of 2009 begins, global stock markets have rebounded. But this may mask much of the pain still being felt around the world, as unemployment remains a huge problem.

Japan’s 5.2 percent unemployment rate is one of its highest since the end of World War II, while in Spain, unemployment has surged past 18 percent. But these figures pale in comparison to those in Liberia, where the vast majority of people — up to 85 percent — are unemployed.

Worldfocus contributing blogger Myles Estey is in Monrovia, Liberia, and describes how people get by without formal employment.

Gettin’ By

As the United States and Canada start to freak out that their unemployment rates approach the double digits, officially, Liberia’s unemployment rate remains, on paper, as 85 percent. Almost, but not quite, making it an inverse relationship.

The CIA Factbook uses this 85 percent stat, and I think everyone else cites it and throws it around like its an iron-clad stat. Its not.

While Liberia certainly lacks locations for official, regulated employment, that only 15 percent of the population works is an absurd assumption, and one that would be practically unattainable. While severe poverty is rampant, Liberians are not starving to death. Reason being, that as in any society where basic infrastructure has been destroyed, people find a way to get by.

They fill in the gaps of people’s needs, finding small ways to deliver goods and services to the population at large. ‘Git my hustle on,’ as many say.

In this hustle, profit margins are wafer thin. Full days of work often produce just a few dollars, which in turn often gets spread out to family and friends in need.

During my eight months of living here, and poking around at all levels of society, I still remain fascinated by the micro-economy. So, I have been collecting info about how many people manage to ‘get their daily bread’ - another ism. [I will] feature some of the professions that interest me the most. [...]

Profession: Coconut Seller

Location: Roaming

How it works: Coconuts come to Monrovia packed into trucks and cars from villages all around the country. The outer husks have been hacked off with machetes, to reduce size and weight. Sellers are generally old women, who carry up to 25 or 30 on their head (which is psycho heavy), or young men who can carry up to 80 in wheelbarrows.

Every seller carries a machete, allowing them to split the coconuts for anyone who stops them as they walk through the streets. They wait patiently as buyers drink, split the coconut to access the meat, take the empty shell, and move on.

Cash: Street sellers buy them wholesale for around $10 LD ($0.14 US), or ‘2 for 15′ [$LD] at spots around the city. Coconuts generally retail for $20 LD. Meaning that to make a dollar, 7 coconuts must be sold - roughly 15 pounds of weight.

Variables and Dangers: Insanely sore neck, machete wounds.

Net Profit: For female sellers, they rarely earn $ 5 US /load. Some will take more than one load per day, but it is rare, as they often have families to tend to, and business can be slow.

Wheelbarrow men can earn over $10 US/day, but this kind of profit demands a 10 hour day.

Point of Reference: used T-shirt sold on the street costs $ 1 - 3 US

To read more job profiles, follow Myles Estey’s blog.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user usnico under a Creative Commons license.

Worldfocus special correspondent Martin Seemungal reports from Spain.

The pain is being felt well beyond the United States.

In Asia, in China, the urban unemployment rate officially stands at 4.2 percent. However, the Chinese Academy of Social Scientists says it is closer to 9.4 percent. In China, rural unemployment is not measured because of the difficulty of doing so.

Also in Asia, in Japan, unemployment hit 4.4 percent by the end of 2008, rising at its fastest rate in 42 years. Growing lines at food banks have been one result.

In India, unemployment officially stands at 8.2 percent. However, that number is thought to largely reflect unemployment in the organized sector of the economy, which comprises just 10 percent of the country’s workforce.

In Africa, in South Africa, economists expressed “surprise” as the unemployment rate fell to 21.9 percent at the end of last year, down from 23.2 percent several months earlier.

In Europe, unemployment in Germany stands at 8.5 percent, and in Britain, it is 6.1 percent, the highest in ten years.

In Latin America, Mexico’s unemployment rate is 4.3 percent. However, anyone in Mexico who is 14 years or older and who has worked one hour a week is considered “employed.”

Telis Demos, a reporter with Fortune magazine, joins Martin Savidge to discuss global unemployment, the German auto industry, China’s role in the global economy and when the downward spiral might end. 

Wal-Mart may expand its presence in Russia.

Europe has been hard-hit in the world financial crisis, and unemployment is rising.

But Russia may see more growth than other European countries in the coming months, and some retail giants are looking to Moscow — including Wal-Mart, which plans to expand its overseas presence.

Blogger “Sean” is a graduate student studying history at the University of California, Los Angeles. He writes at “Sean’s Russia Blog” about what Wal-Mart’s presence might mean for Russian jobs.

Russian Unemployment Rising, Fast

Russian unemployment is growing fast, especially in Moscow. Mikhail Nagaitsev, the chairman of the Moscow Federation of Labor Unions, reported on Ekho Moskvy that during the holiday period the number of people registering for unemployment doubled.

Now there are about 290,000 unemployed in Moscow compared to 56,500 a year ago.

Some statisticians are saying that unemployment is perhaps higher that the official 6.6 percent.  According to a survey conduced by FOM, only one percent of Russians register as unemployed when the lose their job making the overall figure probably closer to 7.5 percent.  If correct, that would put the number of unemployed in Russia at 6 million out of 76 million people of working age.  Experts believe that social unrest tends to occur when unemployed surpasses the 10 percent mark.  With officials admitting that joblessness in Russia might increase by 2.1 to 2.2 million people in 2009, that 10 percent mark is inching closer and closer. Couple this with another FOM survey which finds that every fifth Russian not only expects an increase in labor strikes, but are also willing to participate in them and the situation is looking more ominous.

Unemployed, disgruntled Russians might not need to worry too much longer. Walmart has made some serious steps for entering the Russian market.  It’s cheap goods, enormous stores, and abundant service jobs will certain ally the frustrations of any downtrodden public.  But as anyone from small town America knows that box store on the hill is a temple of false gods.  Walmart is cancer to small businesses, acid to the idyllic downtown Main Street, and a snake oil cure for disparity.  Walmart may have branded itself as that blue vested, smiley faced cornucopia of consumerism, but its real face is a low wage and viciously anti-union substitute for the loss of well paid jobs.  I urge Russians to beware.

But Walmart’s penetration into the Russian sales and labor market is still a while off.  In the meantime something is needed to get a grip on any future public disorder.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user racineur under a Creative Commons license.

As operating in India has become more expensive, companies like Quattro, an Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) company, have opened offices in countries like Singapore or Mexico.

So when a U.S. company outsources work to an Indian BPO, that same BPO could in turn outsource the job to workers from Mexico.

Worldfocus correspondent Daljit Dhaliwal and producers Mary Lockhart and Ara Ayer report from India, where Quattro executive Raman Roy talks about his company’s ambitions.

Below, bloggers discuss India’s role in the global workforce.

A guest blogger at the “Vikas Rikhye” blog writes about the effect of the global financial crisis on BPOs in India.

The “Outsourcing BlogShots” blog writes that outsourcing is going beyond India as world economies decline, and that Chinese and Latin American markets are getting more attention.

American blogger and IT assistant “Rita Cartwright” outlines some disadvantages to outsourcing.

The Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire” blog takes a look at the Indian outsourcing industry’s thoughts about Barack Obama, who criticized outsourcing during the 2008 U.S. election campaign.

Virgin Media plans to cut 15 percent of its workforce by 2012 — 2,200 jobs.

In October, U.K. unemployment rose at the fastest rate in 16 years — with the number of people receiving jobless benefits rising from 36,500 to 980,900. About 1.82 million British people are now out of work, and earlier this week, businesses cut another 5,000 jobs.

On Tuesday, Britain and the EU called for coordinated global efforts to stem an impending recession.

Blogger “Nicolae Sfetcu” outlines how the financial crisis has impacted several different European countries.

On a British conservative blog, users respond to a post about the unemployment rate. User “Torymory” writes about losing his/her job and blames the government for the “mess,” while user “Tony Makara” bemoans the British economy’s dependence on the world.

From Iceland, blogger “Simmi” writes about his personal experience in the recession, speaking of growing resentment in the country. Iceland was hard-hit after three major banks collapsed within one week in October.

The crisis may have far-reaching effects, from financial institutions to more minute aspects of daily life. “Finding Dulcinea” writes that French culinary tastes may shift in response to the financial upheaval.

Ireland faces a recession for the first time in 25 years. The “Notes on the Front” blog looks at the future of recession, unemployment and economic policy in the country.

Blogger “Dirk Ehnts” criticizes European response to the financial crisis, calling for massive and coordinated action and saying that policy thus far has been driven by “dogma instead of pragmatism.”

An article in the Los Angeles Times compares the economies of Italy and Spain, which have faced a lower level of financial panic than the rest of Europe.

For more on global unemployment, read our previous Blogwatch: Unemployment claims reach historic highs.

Photo courtesy of wallyg under a Creative Commons license.