A number of building materials are experiencing shortages; from lumber to low-grade steel. Now, as a Monitor article describes, another shorfall is the subject of concern: cement.

There are several reasons for this. Cement is used in just about every type of construction, which is increasing. The economy is picking up, so there aren't enough ships to move it on time. Trucking it over great distances adds to freight weight, higher costs, and longer construction schedules. This may contribute to higher real estate prices in some high-growth areas, such as California and Florida. The Portland Cement Association has a good Q & A on many of these issues.

This prompts the obvious question: why can't they just mix more?

Demand outstrips supply, both here and in countries such as China, currently experiencing a construction boom and rapidly growing economy. And yet; The New York Times reported on Sunday that quite a few of these buildings in China are empty; that some developers simply stop making payments on the buildings if they cannot find a lessor. Banks there are reluctant to foreclose; not only due to legal entanglements but there is speculation that some of these developers are politically connected, the article says.

In short; it is because we are consuming more than we can produce - concrete is but one commodity where this is the case.

A peace institute that tracks arms production and military expenditures has just released its global report on military spending for this past year. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, commonly known as SIPRI, reports a dramatic increase in spending due to the war in Iraq. The United States was the largest spender, as it has been in recent years, at 47% of the $956 billion in world military expenditures.

This could make one wistfully think of the old bumper sticker about the day when schools have all the funding they need, and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber. But speaking of the bake sale, it has become a form of grassroots activism recently. The Democratic political action committee, MoveOn.org, held a series of these sales across the United States in April, allegedly raising $750,000. On the other side of the political spectrum, conservatives held a series of bake sales at campuses and other locations last year to protest affirmative action.

But back to spending for bombers vs. schools. Clearly, a lot is spent on education. But a look at page 37 of the Military Almanac for 2002, released by the Center for Defense Information, a military watchdog group, has a very easy to read graph: The largest category of discretionary spending - the funds requested by the adminstration that must be approved by Congress - is military spending, at $343 billion dollars. Second to that, is education, at $45 billion. Heathcare, Justice, Housing Assistance, and a host of others trail behind. But half of total spending is reflected in military-related expenditures.

A trade gap is increasing in high-tech industries as the United States imports more computers and peripherals, airplane parts, and other electronic and communications devices, according to a recent Monitor article. This is the latest news prompting concern about US competitiveness in these important sectors.

The Department of Commerce's press release on International Trade in Goods and Services reflects import increases in such items as automotive parts, industrial machinery, and advanced technology products.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, a labor-oriented, progressive think tank, much of this is due to increases in foreign production - mainly from China - of electronics and office equipment. The EPI, while describing their mission as providing research and ideas for working people, portray China's progression from producing low- to high-tech goods as negative, that it is taking jobs from Americans.

An excellent description of the global economy can be found in the newly-released essay: Job Anxiety - It's Real and It's Global, by Sandra Polaski of the Carnegie Endowment. Polaski reminds the reader that there is a labor surplus at present, that economies such as China and India, as well as former Communist countries, are now competing in the global labor market, instead of being restricted for working for the state.

While this contributes to 'job churn,' it will be better in the long run, as production will lift living standards in other countries and integrate workers and nations into the global economy. Also mentioned: the US consumes more than it produces. Coordination of local economic policies is called for, as well as elimination of incentives for American companies to locate their operations on foreign shores.

Another country is experiencing a backlash against increasing hours spent at work, this time it is Britain's "long hours culture," as described in a Monitor article Tuesday.

For more information about international comparisons of average workweek hours, try this release about the Key Indicators of the Labor Market report from the International Labor Organization (ILO). This report illustrates this issue with colorful charts and lots of data as well.

South Korea remains atop the list of the longest workweeks in the world, the subject of a Monitor article two years ago, when they agreed to reduce it by a mandate. For further research on working hours and other work-life issues, consult the Families and Work Institute site.

The dream of owning a small business is often tangled in red tape, at least in the beginning, according to an article in today's Monitor. "How to be your own boss - in 215 highly regulated days" details the findings of a World Bank report on barriers to business ownership around the world. Yet, even with these regulatory hurdles, we're still a nation of shopkeepers in the twenty-first century: according to the Census Bureau, the number of 'Mom & Pop' shops keeps growing. And two-thirds of those started as a small business are still in operation after two years, according to statistics at the Small Business Administration. The majority of these businesses have less than 20 employees, as well. In fact, the average small or independent business employs less than 5 people, and grosses $350,000 in sales, according to a page at the National Federation of Independent Businesses.