The Century Foundation to Hold Policy Forum on 'The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age'

12/1/2003

From: Christy Hicks of The Century Foundation, 212-535-4441 or 212-452-7723; e-mail: hicks@tcf.org

News Advisory:

WHAT: "The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age" -- A Century Foundation Policy Forum

WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 10, 8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: The Century Foundation, 41 East 70th Street, NYC, NY

PARTICIPANTS:

-- Simon Head, author, "The New Ruthless Economy"; former correspondent for the Financial Times and The New Statesman

-- Former Sen. Bill Bradley (N.J.)

-- Louis Uchitelle, columnist, New York Times

RSVP: Laurie Ahlrich, ahlrich@tcf.org or 212-452-7722

The state of the economy is, as always, shaping up to be a central issue of next year's presidential campaign. But economic indicators can obscure a growing problem in this country - the state of workers in the work place. Many experts predicted that IT would empower workers, bringing self-managed work teams and decentralized decision-making. However, in The Ruthless Economy, Simon Head argues that the opposite has happened. The book examines how many American companies have used information technology not to liberate workers from drudgery, but to further their regimentation at every level from high skill professions such as medicine to lower-skill jobs such as in the telemarketing industry. The panel will discuss Head's findings and what they mean for the future of work and labor relations.

For further information or to set up an interview with Simon Head, contact Christy Hicks at 212-452-7723 or hicks@tcf.org.

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The Century Foundation is a research foundation that undertakes timely, critical, and analytical studies of major economic, political, and social institutions and issues. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, TCF was founded in 1919 and endowed by Edward A. Filene.