Day 140 - 22 Jun 95 - Page 20

     
     1        inflation, at least in part, they have risen from about the
     2        minimum wage that Ms. Steel put to you as from January 1981
     3        to about what the report suggested would be in
     4        November 1982, namely, around 4.79, over a period of about
     5        nine and a half years?
     6        A.  I agree with your statement, my Lord.
     7
     8   Q.   I am not drawing any conclusion from it.
     9        A.  And I am not looking for any conclusions.  I accept
    10        your point.
    11
    12   Q.   There are all sorts of factors apart from inflation.
    13        A.  Exactly; and I do not know if how they determined
    14        inflation is correct.  I have no way of knowing what they
    15        took into consideration.  My Lord, I am not an economist.
    16
    17   Q.   It is quite right, one would have to know what kind of
    18        index the PUP Report was taking to judge inflation,
    19        anyway?
    20        A.  Yes.
    21
    22   Q.   I see that the minimum wage stayed the same for nine
    23        consecutive years, and then rose in the next year and rose
    24        again in the year following that?
    25        A.  Yes, my Lord.  That was because they did not want to do
    26        it all in one year, for inflationary reasons, my Lord.
    27
    28   MS. STEEL:  Now, you have criticised this Philadelphia
    29        Unemployment Project Report.  You said, when you take a
    30        look at the methodology and trace behind what they have
    31        done, what they had done was randomly contacted people in
    32        the stores -- they could be crew people, they could be
    33        managers -- and would ask a question to get an answer.
    34        Where did you get that from?
    35        A.  Stores reporting back to us that they had had visitors
    36        and that they had randomly spoken to a variety of different
    37        people.
    38
    39   Q.   So that was what you were told by store managers?
    40        A.  Yes, that is correct.
    41
    42   Q.   Because if you look at their methodology on page 1437, the
    43        third paragraph says: "All information on wage levels was
    44        obtained from managers.  Wage levels reported are always
    45        starting rates."
    46        A.  I would like to ask the person who wrote this where
    47        they got their information.
    48
    49   Q.   Well, we have got a statement from Mr. William Davidson.
    50        A.  Who is he? 
    51 
    52   Q.   He says: "I was a staff person with the Philadelphia 
    53        Unemployment Project in Philadelphia."
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That is the short statement that you read
    56        yesterday morning.  Just read it very slowly.
    57
    58   MR. RAMPTON:  Perhaps Mr. Stein ought to have a copy?
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  I do not know where it was put.