By John Temple LigonCollege graduates see strong hiring prospects

Even though 60% of college graduates this spring are expected to come home, at least temporarily, those in the US with a bachelor’s degree or higher are experiencing a jobless rate of just 2.4%. Business graduates should have the best prospects, especially in fields like finance and marketing.

Greenspan promotes tax on spending

Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan advocated taxing consumption instead of income, which should help promote economic growth. Shifting from taxing income to taxing spending, as in a national sales tax, suffers from transition costs. Once there, though, taxing spending instead of taxing saving encourages saving, which finances growth. President Bush’s tax–reform commission, the nine–member Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, was warned against an outright repeal of the income tax as too pure and too quick.

Boeing Boeing

Peter Teets, acting US Air Force Secretary, announced last week Boeing was returning to good standing after an 18–month business suspension due to ethics charges. Roughly the next day the CEO of Boeing had to resign due to morals matters. He admitted to an affair with a female executive at Boeing, a woman who did not answer directly to the CEO. The French would have given the guy a raise, and the Clinton administration would have asked for the woman’s cell number, but all the CEO got was a positive nod from Teets the day before he resigned.

You can get one share of stock for the price of a

bungalow in Melrose Heights

Berkshire Hathaway rose above $90,000 a share last week.

Concord Park plan in Charleston one for CanalSide

Between East Bay Street and the Dockside condominium overlooking the Cooper River, Concord Park is up for development. The park itself is planned to remain at five acres, leaving 3.7 acres for development. The City of Charleston expects the 3.7 acres to hold 250 units of housing, 100 hotel rooms, shops, offices, and a 50,000 square–foot culinary school. With that kind of density, Columbia’s CanalSide could hope for more in its sale price and also hope for losses less than the pending $5 million.

Former defense secretary Cohen to speak at USC

William Cohen will speak at 7 pm, March 23, at the Koger Center. The event is free for all faculty, staff, and students. The general public can attend for $5 per person. Call 777.7130 or visit www.cp.sc.edu.

You think you’re in debt?

Consumer credit in the US expanded by $11.5 billion in January to $2.12 trillion.

Jobs

The US unemployment rate ticked up to 5.4% in February from 5.2% the month before. Hiring in February was 262,000 new jobs were created in February, more than expected. The unemployment rate went up because more people joined the work force.

Glass ceiling

The median pay of black men in the US is $30,409 a year, and the median pay for a white man is $38,869. Black men make 78% of what white men earn. Blacks fill fewer than 5% of executive positions nationwide, while 13% of the US population is black.

Charlotte has overruns, too

ImaginOn, Charlotte’s new children’s library and theater, opens this fall at a construction cost overrun of $10 million, twice what Columbia City Council is about to lose on CanalSide. It happens.

Who paid for the driveway improvements at the Koger?

Tied to the $284 billion House highway bill in Washington are two expenditures for the fine arts. Along comes $500,000 for sidewalks outside Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art and $400,000 for sidewalks outside Springfield (MA) Symphony Hall.