BACK • 
Let's Hear it for Gridlock
Webster defines gridlock as "a massive citywide traffic jam, in which streets are so clogged with vehicles that all intersections become blocked and traffic in all directions is stopped." I'm not sure the analogy fits perfectly, but more and more, you begin to hear people talk and write about the idea that the best thing for the American people right now would be "Washington gridlock." In fact, my partner, Ken Schimpf Jr., was recently in New York for a meeting with Pimco Funds, and they openly said that better than Bush and better than Gore, would be a situation where one party held the White House, and the other party held Congress. Then, you would have the so-called gridlock, and nobody could get carried away and bulldoze all sorts of legislation through, which undoubtedly would also include, in one way or another, the gobbling up of all those delicious surpluses.
And wouldn't that be something? After all the millions and millions of dollars that are going to be spent on presidential and Congressional elections, what the American people are really hoping for is gridlock, or a tie, in which neither party could go about doing as they wish. As mentioned in this space before, previous elections were really about the 20% of people in the middle. That's right; 40% of the people, by and large, in every presidential election will vote for the Democrat, no matter who it is. Remember, even George McGovern and Michael Dukakis got 40% of the vote. On the other side, even Barry Goldwater and Bob Dole got 40%. So, 40% for either party seems almost to be a "gimme." It is in the way the other 20% fall that makes all the difference. But now, judging by the conversation, it may actually be that that 20% is trying to figure out who looks like a winner either in Congress or at the White House, and go the other way with the rest of their vote to slow everything down.
Before this sounds too ridiculous, Tom Freidman, in his wonderful book, also mentioned before in this space, "The Lexus and the Olive Tree," makes the point that the politicians are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The Internet, individual people exercising their free will, and the world economies are now running world governments and forcing politicians to do not what they want, but what is right, not only for a country but for the world community. Maybe it isn't such a bad idea.
In other matters of interest, we've written repeatedly in this space over the years about the importance of education. Now, according to the census bureau, 83% of Americans polled that are 25 years of age and older have graduated from high school, and more than 25% have a college degree. The bureau says both figures represent record highs. The high school graduation rate was but 24.5% in 1940, and 77.6% in 1990. For college graduates the number in 1940 was 4.6%, while ten years ago, it was 21.3%.
Of course, all this translates into future jobs, and according to a new book entitled "Jobs Rated Almanac," by Lester Krantz, making lots of money and getting lots of time off are key factors in rating the best and worst jobs. In America, the best jobs according to the almanac are; Financial Planner, Website Manager, Computer Systems Analyst Actuary, and Computer Programmer. The worst jobs are; Iron worker, Cowboy, Lumberjack, Oil Field Roustabout and Fisherman. I guess fishing is fun when you do it as a sport or a hobby, but not so much fun if you have to do it for a living.
In the meantime, looking ahead for the best career paths in this new century, I would agree that financial planning, with the baby boomers nearing retirement, certainly should be a good field. Likewise, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that almost anything in the technical field will be important in the years ahead, and with the graying of America, the health care field has to be big as well. Unfortunately, the best jobs are the most sought after-no one seems to mention teaching, yet everyone continues to talk about how important it is for the population to be educated as we move to a more technological and complex society. Somehow, some way, that has to change.
(Tom Butenhoff is a First Vice President with J. E.
Liss & Company in Milwaukee. The views are his and not necessarily
those of Liss Financial Services or the Job Connection/Hiring
Network.)