richard from the --discusses the impact of drought on food prices. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. host: good morning. on today's washington journal program, we will be taking a look at aviation tracking and safety issues in the wake of that missing malaysian jet. we are talking about public libraries. it ain the research report showed how people engage with the libraries across the country. we want to hear from our viewers

about how you use your public library. specifically, we want no technology has changed how you engage with your library. give us a call. democrats can call (202) 585-3880. republicans can call (202) 585-3881. independents can call (202) 585-3882. you can also catch up with us on all of your favorite social media pages. a very good saturday morning to you. we have three weeks until national library week in the united states. last week, the pew research center issued a new report on americans and their engagement with libraries. it found that more than two thirds of americans are actively engaged with their public libraries.

here's the wrapup of that report from the allied l.a. times. public libraries are thriving things to a core group of devotees who have qualities we don't usually associate with look people. they are generally more sociable and active. the report surveyed more than 6000 people over 16. it paints a similar portrait of american library lovers. more than two thirds of americans are actively engaged the public libraries. most frequent and devoted library users, about 30% of the population, tend to be younger more educated and technologically savvy. the report notes that public library users consists of people who have embraced new technologies. the most highly engaged users are also big technology users.

we want to know how you engage with your library and how technology may have changed how you go ahead with that engagement and how you interact with your library system. a few of the surprising data samples from that report -- a common narrative is that americans are turning away from libraries because of newer technology. the data shows that the most highly engaged library users are also big technology users. there are people who have never visited a library who still value librarys' roles in their community. they were noted as distant admirers but have positive opinions about how valuable libraries are in the community. many distant admirers say that someone else in the household

does use the library and therefore may use libraries indirectly. we want to hear from you and how you engage with your library. the poll ranked people in different categories -- how they use their library and how they view the role of libraries in their communities. library lovers make up about 10% of the west population. members of this group report frequent personal use of public libraries, along with high levels of household the library use that includes many parents students and job seekers. members tend to be younger with higher levels of education. nine percent of the west population ranks as print traditionalists. this group contains the highest proportion of rural, southern or white respondents. its members live farther away from libraries.

we will continue taking you through the different categories in that report. but we would love to know i use your self. which category you think you would fall into in that report. give us a call or engage in the conversation on our facebook page. that conversation already happening on facebook this morning. here's a few of the comments. "we have no choice. most libraries have closed or are only open for a few days -- few hours a week." "technology has changed the way i know very few people who use public libraries since the internet to cold. it's a shame because children who read become adults that think."

we want to hear what you think. that conversation also happens on our twitter page. you can follow the twitter conversation using @cspanwj. we will get to that over the course of the segment on the washington journal. we will start with ryan from michigan on our line for independents. good morning to you. caller: good morning. i use my public library five out of seven days a week. the reason why i use it so much is that i'm a very small business owner of a professional wrestling federation. i use the public library as my office. we are starting a business and we don't have a lot of money. you can't pay rent. you can use the computers for

free and the copying machine. every single thing that i need to run my business is literally at the public library. host: how crowded is the sterling heights public library echo are you fighting for space in there? caller: monday through wednesday there is a steady traffic of people. a lot of college kids and high school kids are up there doing their homework. doing research to improve themselves. whatever i can get some idea. i can have interviews and business meetings. i can make flyers and stuff like that. host: how would you respond to "why would i go to a library if i can get all the information i want in less than a second on google?" caller: let's say you

want to fax someone or make copies. it's a great place to meet other people. when i do interviews come if i want to hire a wrestler, i have the meet me at the public library. i don't want to invite this guy into my house. it such a great place to work. it is by far the best library i've ever been to. host: praising his local library. we want to hear what you think about your local library and how technology has changed how you make use of the library. those numbers again -- democrats (202) 585-3880. republicans (202) 585-3881. independents (202) 585-3882. as our phone lines are open, a bit more from the pew research center report.

print books are still central to americans' library use. the more americans than ever are reading books. few have abandoned print entirely. just four percent of readers read e-books exclusively. many americans say they would be interested in exploring a range of technological services at public libraries, from personalized reading recommendations and online ask a librarian services to media kiosks and mobile apps. we would love to hear how you think your library could be upgraded. if you think there is new technology that would be helpful to you at your library. according to the federal institute of museum and library services 100 23,000 libraries across the country in the united states. -- 123,000 libraries across the country in the states.

phone lines are open. we will go to harold on our line for republicans. he is in wisconsin. how is technology changed how you engage with your library? caller: i'm so much to involved in the eye library. we have a carnegie library in our town. it has been run beautifully for years. we have computers in there and a full staff and magazines and newspapers people can't get. it is very well-run and very well used and we are very proud of it. host: what do you know about funding for your local library ? is it up to what you would like it to be?

caller: people donated their wills for library. we had an addition put on in 2001. two donors totaling $500,000. we have a library that is fantastic. i'm so proud -- i'm on the board. host: you think people still care about their libraries? caller: i imagine people use a computer a lot. not everybody is so fortunate. that is why our library is so popular. i discovered libraries in the big city when i was 18 years old. i found the library and i made a

fortune just reading the books. i read the letter every week when i came in the library and they got all my news and information on their. from then on i went into real estate and i took their advice and followed the path of growth that never knew about before. all through the library. host: bill king writes on our twitter page. since the advent of the digital reader with books under $10, i seldom visit the library but i still wanted to be there. he might fall into that distant admirer category. different categories of library users and library engagement. among the low engagement categories, seven percent of the u.s. population as the young and

restless. a relatively young group. few of its members have lived in a neighborhood for very long. their most striking feature is that only 15% of them know where the nearest public library is located. they are far less likely than most other groups to say public libraries are important to their community. four percent of the u.s. population according to the pew research center. we will ask a librarian about that. jackson, mississippi on our line for independents. caller: good morning. host: we're talking about these low engagement users at the library. the people that say that libraries are not important to the community. do you find that is growing? caller: it's hard to say.

i don't look at the statistics anymore because i'm retired. i was doing interlibrary loan, working with a lot of scholars and special researchers and students. it's hard to gauge. i don't use much electronic -- i have an electronic reader but i only use it for religious books. these traditional sources. host: what about this question from our twitter page. "libraries are largely pointless and have transformed into the public living room or business center. public funding? why?" caller: it's like medical services. maybe 10% of people are using

them at any time. but they are important because it is useful. it is useful to have it there. people are using it for small business. it's wonderful. host: thanks for the call. last tweet talk about public funding for libraries. we can run you through some of the numbers. this according to the american library association, having put out a recent chart that included the president's recent 2015 budget proposal among the main funding services. there is institute of museum and library services. funded at $227 million. that's down just slightly. in 2014, there is the library service and technology act. one of the key funding sources for libraries, funded at $181

million. the president looking to bring that down to $178 million. the library of congress funded in 2014 at 500 and $578 million. this cycle, $593 million of federal funds. james is the librarian of congress. when before congress this month to talk about the library's bug dget. in his proposal to federal funders, he said the library work force has been reduced by 1400 people in recent years. between 2010-2014, the library's budget dropped from $643 million down to that $580 million level.

that story from roll call newspaper. that is the federal funding numbers for different library programs. we want to know how technology has changed your use of public libraries. we will go to karen in michigan on our line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. the technology has changed the way i use the library a lot because now i have a little you ireader. i'm very low technology. i don't know how to use the stuff. it's a great go to source for people who have no money. a lot of people don't have internet access at their house. children go there and they have all kinds of services. i believe the library of congress, which i have been to

-- they should scale down. with all of these smaller libraries, we should help them because people actually use those. some of the bigger ones that just collect antique stuff, i personally think it's a waste. host: so the funding should get more to the community libraries? caller: yes. because they use them. people go to their little library and take their children to learn every week. every time i go, there's a lot people there. they have classes for people who don't know how to use their computers. they have the books that you can download on your tablet. my doctor goes to college and i take her there all the time. she goes there to do research. it's always so helpful. host: thanks for the call this

morning. on our facebook page, "technology sure has i can get a hold of any information that i want." the conversation continuing on our facebook and twitter page. we have that special line for librarians. (202) 585-38823. we will be discussing the subject for the next 20 minutes or so. let's go to paul in florida on our line for republicans. caller: the changing technology has meant a lot to me. he's the local library to get language tapes to learn pharsi. my father gets books on cds, which he listens to since he can

no longer read it all. for a long time i was sour on public libraries. in the 1990's i went and found that my efforts to access a website was blocked but there was no blockage put on the policy center's advertisements to help us stop the ira. when i questioned that librarian, i was told, that is the way the filters come from the people who set up the system. they did a survey and half of the libraries i went to had the same filters. the political bias of set me. host: was it a local government or state government? we did you trace itwhere did you trace it to? caller: the people who offered it. they excluded the ira and

certain sites like that. i can give you the technology company. they're quite big in silicon valley. host: you mentioned your father uses some of the services for the blind. we are talking about funding for libraries in fiscal 2014. the library of congress funded services for the blind, funded at $47 million. host: you are showing that on the screen. i realized i should bring that up. libraries you ball that societies evolve. books were rare in homes and libraries were a necessity for a culture. now anybody can find a book.

anybody wants to go online except for the very poor can certainly do that. that is why every time i go to a public library, i'm amazed with these changes in culture and technology. how people are there using them. the public library is always a near capacity. i know there are people who have computers and books at home. there is something going on there. host: thanks for the call. we will keep taking calls and looking at our twitter and facebook pages. mark williams right in "communities need to invest or they will disappear." "what is not to like about a library? free books, online books movies music less programs for kids." we will go on for the next 20

minutes or so on this subject. we want to read a few of the other headlines from around the country. our phone lines remain open for folks to call in about public libraries. you are viewing how technology has changed. we want to take you to the detroit news. a story that broke last night from the detroit news. "gay marriage ban struck down. some could went today." a judge has overturned michigan's ban on gay marriage and same-sex adoption. aligning with the growing number of states where are the vision has been overturned. the attorney general filed a challenge with the court of appeals in cincinnati. michigan joins states of kentucky and ohio, which also have gay marriage cases pending before the sixth circuit court. the constitutional amendment

known as the michigan marriage act was unconstitutional because of the 90 days and lesbians equal protection under the law. voters passed the amendment because they wanted to keep marriage only between a man and a woman. that is the detroit news. a story that will certainly continue on. a few stories on the foreign-policy front, going to russia, ukraine and crimea. here is the front page of the new york times today. russia shifting. u.s. worries. thousands of troops on the border of southeastern ukraine involved in training exercises. deepening fears that russian aggression will not end and crimea. it is not clear what the signals -- obviously, given their past

practices and the gaps between what they said and what they have done, we are watching it with skepticism. that story in the new york times . one of the several stories about relations with russia. here's the lead story in today's washington post. nuclear accord on her by crisis. president obama announced sanctions against russia on monday. a group of russian officials arrived in san francisco for a surprise inspection of the west or tj can nuclear arsenal. the inspections are part of the process agreed to under the 2010 weapons reduction treatedy. russia and the united states have cooperated on efforts to keep nuclear materials out of terrorist hands and they are joining negotiations limiting iran's nuclear program.

if you want to read more on that story, is the lead story in today's washington post. we're talking about libraries this morning. we've been hearing from callers about how they use libraries and how technology has changed that. we have a special line for librarians this morning. that is (202) 585-38823. we will go to our independent line. charles is waiting in ohio. thanks for calling. caller: thank you for taking my call. i believe that the libraries are a great thing. the internet is a great thing also. libraries are our backup. imagine that the internet went down for some reason. how would you read that book? host: how often do you go to the library? how often do you walk in the door? caller: not very often anymore

but i read a lot. i like having hard copies of books. occasionally i do go to the library and i will browse. i will use the computers at the library because i don't have one at home anymore. i have the feeling -- i really like the idea of our library being there. just like i like our postal service being there also. host: do you think libraries are still seen as a trusted place to go to for research and information? caller: sure. when i do go to the library, there is usually quite a few people there. with the internet, more people are on the internet. but they are still using the library. host: thanks for the call this

morning from ohio. we will go to cleveland, ohio as well. on our line for independents. caller: good morning. thank you for the opportunity to talk to guys. i use the library extensively. i'm a researcher and all of my work i did through library books. i go to my library and locate the books and they get me books from any place in ohio. i got a book from cincinnati dayton miami. it's an excellent place. without that, i would not have done my work in a short time. it took three months to write

the book. there is also the passport service. i got my past work from them. -- passport from them. holding a book on your hands and reading that, you can go back and forth. you can reference from page to page. these my library extensively -- i use my library extensively. it host: "in miami, libraries are great. there is plenty of money for stadiums. ." here is benjamin writing a north american libraries from february 20. this is a column in the winnipeg free press. "be it information or physical products, the way humans share and connect is profoundly different today than it was a decade ago.

libraries should remain places that offer a love of reading and a wealth of books, both physical and digital. that will always be their foundation. by additionally carving out a niche of centers offering cutting-edge tools of collaboration, they can remain relevant within these shifting realities. no longer just providing citizens with knowledge. they will hold the resources needed to apply that knowledge in new and meaningful ways." one recent piece on libraries and where they will go in the future. national library week coming up in three weeks here. we have about 15 minutes left. we want to continue taking your calls on the subject. greg is an north carolina on her life for independents. good morning. -- greg is in north carolina on our line for independents. caller: you're talking about the

source of problems. patriot act, homeland security national state registry -- symptoms of problems. just like cutting grass. if you get rid of the weeds fine. if you don't, you just cut the grass. the weeds are going to come back. it looks like you have the symptoms of the problem taking care of but is not the problem. but if you get the weeds at the root, the problem is over with. that is what libraries do, just like hospitals. they treat the real problems. host: if you this morning coming in from the ap.

chinese satellites find an object in the ocean. the defense minister says a chinese satellite has spotted a large object a long a broad stretch of ocean where officials hope to find the malaysian airlines plane that has been missing for more than two weeks. he had been informed by the chinese that an object 22.5 meters have been spotted. they will be sending ships to verify. we will be talking about aviation safety and tracking with our next guest. that will be an hour-long segment. we will talk about that missing plane and get your comments and questions with professor kenneth button from george mason university. on newsmakers this week, our newsmaker shows the president

and ceo of the insurance industries trade and lobbying organization joining c-span's karen ignagni. when she would change in the affordable character she had the chance. >> i would create a lower tier so that people could gradually get into the program. so they could be part of the risk pool so we don't pull the healthier peeople outside so the process can work how it was designed. doing it gradually from a human nature perspective on it makes more sense. >> wouldn't all the healthiest people congregate in that lower tier? guest: we are>> we're not seeing that now. people have chosen more silver level.

they are willing to pay a bit more per month for a lower dockable. what i would do is give people more choices. human nature suggests that people like that. they are in control if they have more choices. host: that was the ceo of the insurance lobbying organization. that interview is available online on c-span.org, talking by the affordable character. if you opinion pieces in today's wall street journal. if you want to read those, here's a picture of the president signing the affordable care act into law march 23, 2010. tomorrow will mark the fourth anniversary of obama care. the wall street journal today, the front page story, our

business is entitled to the same religious protectionist people? they challenged the health law brought by david green. the arts and crafts stores -- that challenge finding its way to this in court. a landmark religious freedom case. hobby lobby covers most form of contraception and its health plan including the pill and sterilization. it to requirements that include serving emergency contraceptives. at that argument in that case will happen on tuesday. we will be talking on tuesday with the supreme court reporter and a panel to discuss the hobby lobby case. on that same subject, rick warren writes a piece in today's washington post. america's first freedom in practice. as our constitution guarantee freedom of religion or allow a limited freedom to worship? do americans have the right to

place our police and ethics at the center of our business practices or must we nor them when we form a company? any religion allows the practice inside a home but not in the day-to-day business of life. you want read more, the piece in today's washington post. we have time for a few more comments come asking how technology has changed your use of public libraries. we will go to kyle waiting in north vernon indiana an airline for independents. caller: it's nice -- technology has helped me in my ways of life of living. when i went to the library as a

kid, it helped me start to get the fundamental foundations of understanding words and meanings and things like that. being able to take a book on with me -- things have changed now. it's all sorts of different ways where people can access the internet. do we needed there? online is going to be a way of making it more available for people. i did send a copy of my book to all 50 state capital libraries. it's a big venture that i got myself into, becoming -- host: we will keep it to libraries and not specific books that you have written. but we appreciate the call. going back to the library of congress, we talked about the

funding for the library of congress. here's the budget proposal. what they sent to capitol hill earlier this month. james billington appeared before lawmakers to ask for 593 million dollars in funding this year for the library of congress. despite the challenge in the budget environment, the library continues to look to the future. our task now for the tumultuous 21st century is to demonstrate that the nation's oldest federal cultural institution has the unique resources and people to become one of america's most innovative. the library launched a futures program that is drawing on its own multitalented staff. to address some of the key issues facing the library and developing better ways to fill the libraries historic service mission in a rapidly changing, unpredictable time.

a bit from the budget proposal from james billington on the library of congress. we have a few minutes left. where do you fall in this pew research center report? the report notes that there are about 69% of americans that are highly engaged with their libraries. 10% of the west population ranked as library lovers, nine percent of the population as prejudicial lists. for those that have never used a public library, 10% of those are distant admirers. those who don't use it but see it as unimportant institution -- as an important institution. we want to run through a few more headlines this morning before we and the segment. the front page of the business and finance section of today's

wall street journal. gm regulators facing pressure on recall decision. transportation secretary anthony called for a review of whether safety regulators acted quickly enough on complaints of potentially deadly defects in certain general motors cars that were recalled years later over ignition switch problems. the move comes ahead of congressional hearings scheduled to begin on april 1 at which time the automaker and the national highway traffic safety administration officials could face tough questions about why neither responded more aggressively to complaints about the cars. on tuesday, the automaker must turn over documents on the troubled recall. investigators -- the gm executive appears before a panel.

we will keep you up-to-date on that story. one of story from the associated press. an update to a story we have been following here. lawyers for to ask kristy aides call for immunity -- christie aides call for immunity. they said in separate court filings on friday that the legislative committee should be able to offer their clients immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing information for the investigation of possible political payback. campaign manager was highly critical of the court filings from the lawmakers earlier this week, questioning their motives for releasing e-mails involving their clients and their legal positions. the issue before a state court judge will decide whether they

can force them to comply with subpoenas. the judge has asked both sides to write reads on the issue of immunity. that will do it for this first segment of the washington journal. stick around. george mason university professor kenneth button joins us to talk aviation tracking and safety in the wake of the search for the missing malaysian airline jet. heidi hartmann from the institute of women's policy research discusses a new study on the gender wage gap. we will be right back. ♪ >> at the end of the day, the economy will continue to need

enormous monetary stimulus. at think the fed will not be raising rates for quite some time. it i am a optimistic that the u.s. economy is going to accelerate. one of the core dimensions is the fact that last year, the u.s. economy grew 1.9% with fiscal drag from higher taxes and government spending cuts reducing growth by 1.3 percentage points. without that fiscal tightening the u.s. would have been growing over three percent. >> cbo does not make policy recommendations. policy choices depended not just on analysis of the consequences of different courses of action but how one ways those consequences. -- weighs those consequences. it's up to elected leaders. our job is to help congress understands the consequences. >> news on the west economy with

the cbo director and experts from td bank, m.i.t. and the university maryland. that is followed by the first press conference by new fed chair janet ellen. on book tv, live coverage from the virginia festival of the book. a panel on african-american history all of by laura on the impact of foreclosures and evictions in the african-american community. that starts today at noon on c-span two. on american history tv, who might have been time magazine's person of the year in 1864? at 1:00, join us to talk about the pick. live on c-span t3. >> washington journal continues. host: amid the ongoing search for that missing malaysian airlines plane, we turn to

professor kenneth button. we will discuss aviation tracking and safety. ask for being here. the side with the aircraft tracking side of this equation. how rare is it with today's technology for a plane to go missing like this? guest: a plane the sizis size is unique. smaller planes can be missing in reference. this is unique. efren'the air france flight that went down in the atlantic was found in 4-5 days. it took a while to get the location. it was pinpointed pretty quickly. in this case, we're talking an

area the size of america. host: it pinpointed the location pretty quickly. can he run through the different technology and equivalent that is being used to get to this current search location? guest: i can go through it ontologically. let's start with radar reporting. this is standard practice. aircraft is currently radar to buyed by it. the plane is routed through. the plane was passing into vietnamese airspace. before that, he turned off his transponder equipment which relayed information to satellites. this is information which is useful for a lot of purposes. it's not designed to track. it is designed to get information about weather

conditions, which is useful for flight activities in general. information from the engine for servicing reasons and so on. that information stopped around the time of that message. the plane flew on and was picked up again by military radar later and again flew handshakes. the plane was trying to make contact with the satellite but cannot. it's like a cell phone try to make a contact and can make that call. he doesn't give much information but it gives a bit of information of where the plane is. it took time to get a pretty good idea of the certain point. host: does this lead to increased use of these other systems? more satellite tracking? what happens as a result of the 14 days that we don't know where it is? guest: all go back to the air

france disaster in the atlantic. the french panel was looking into it and recommended that all planes should have some form of locator technology on board. the cost is not prohibitive. it is the cost of operating a cell phone. $15 for a flight across the atlantic. once the plane is equipped, the operational side is quite cheap. i imagine they will move on to try to encourage this. host: you talked about the radar systems being the primary system here. how old are the systems used here? guest: these are military radar. i have no idea.

not only are you reading information about the radar but confidentiality involved. host: this is a technology that dates back to world war ii that we are still employing in our tracking for planes. guest: exactly. it sends a beam out and it bounces back and tells you where the plane is. it's not that accurate. it wasn't designed to be this accurate for civilization. after the air france crash technology did not change. people believed it could occur again. host: if you want to talk with professor kenneth button, he is here to take questions and comments as we talked for about the next 45 minutes about the malaysian airlines plane and its

disappearance and what changes that might mean in the future for airline travel. phone numbers. democrats can call (202) 585-3880. republicans (202) 585-3881. independents (202) 585-3882. outside the u.s., (202) 585-3882 3. we look for your questions on twitter and facebook. or you can e-mail us as well. professor button of george mason university, the black box system, how old is that technology? guest: old. it's dated around 30 years. it gets updated periodically. the problem is on the plane. it sits on the plane -- the moment there is difficulty because it sends out a message for location reasons, that lasts for 2.5 weeks depending on

conditions and circumstances. this plane is down in the south indian ocean down 9000 feet. use winter waterthis is like swimming through molasses. it's an old technology. you need to get planes equipped with it and to move forward. host: we are concerned about the black box battery life running out. we have about 13 days left. has there been efforts to expand the battery life beyond that? guest: it's longer than it used to be. they have extended it. it canwhen air france went down, it took two years to find the plane itself. it was not bound by any

communication with the black box. host: with the black box technology, there is breakaways as a possible option. are any airlines including breakaway black boxes? guest: not that i know of. host: he is here to take your questions and comments. we would love to hear whether this incident on the malaysian airlines flight has changed the way that you travel. and how you look at airline flights. we are here for the next 45 minutes. phone lines are open. before we get to calls come in the advancemen the advancement of wi-fi and cell phone use on planes, will this change the way tracking is used in the future? guest: the airlines will move into a cell phone and stop using satellite communications to direct and monitor where

aircraft are. this 1940's technology we use. at the moment, the u.s. government is moving to a new system here for next gen, a satellite-based system as opposed to radar-based. it is expensive and takes time. the european union is also more gradually moving towards the same sort of system. there are changes taking place. host: when does this changeover start? will we be the first to do it? guest: some airlines can use it for long-distance flights because you are on your own once you get out of radar range. you want to know where other aircraft are around you. it is not used within domestic airspace because you still have the air traffic control system. host: on twitter -- "when an airplane has trouble, a video

feed doesn't automatically go on in the cockpit." is there anything like that in the works? guest: i don't know. some may have that. the voice recording is usually what is important. the current equipment on the plane provides a plethora of data and information which is what technical people want. the video camera approach is dramatic when not always helpful. host: this go to alan on our line for democrats. in durham, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a quick question. i was wondering about putting air marshals on the plane. it seems this whole situation could have been avoided had there been some type of leasing on the plane. what is your thought on that? guest: i don't know whether there was any policing on the plane.

air marshals can serve a purpose and have served a purpose in one or two occasions in the past. this was a cockpit incident. they are isolated from the cabin. the air marshal can do very little. if there is mechanical failure the air marshal is not very useful. there is context for what we are talking mud. host: the director of george mason's center for transportation policy operations and logistics. talking a bit about the work that you do their. guest: we have several centers. we specialize in the policy side of transportation. aviation, shipping service and transport. how policies succeed and fail. we are not driven in any sense

whatsoever. we're straight down the middle. we do academic work for the government for private companies, agencies. it needs to be done. host: also the author of more than 80 books come including airplane deregulation. air transport networks. he will take your comments as we discussed the missing malaysian flight. we want to hear how it has affected your view on the airline industry. let's go to joann in illinois on our line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. i have traveled several times overseas. i have really watched this and been real concerned about the people on the plane. i was wondering, when 9/11 happened, a lot of people got on

their phones and called and made phone calls. if this plane -- not everybody will be afraid. if this plane is doing a nosedive and going down come a was there anybody that tried to make a phone call from the plane? i have thought about this over and over. i sure hope they find this plane that landed someplace. guest: i certainly hope they do as well. we don't know if anybody made any efforts to use a cell phone. the point about september 11 was the plane was flying very low. 3000 feet or so. therefore he could contact with the towers trade -- it could contact with the towers. the further up you go, the less efficient telephones are.

there was evidence from the september 11 incident particularly the flight in pennsylvania, where people tried and could not get through. when you're on a plane at night, you have the blinds down and you are flying and you don't have a clue where you are. the turnoff the maps. the passenger does not know where they are. they don't really understand what's going on. the captain turns on the seatbelt sign and says it's a little bumpy and you sit there and wait. you can keep going on for quite a long time without letting anything is going on. i'm not surprised that no phone messages were made. that could've been because of the location of the plane. host: 10 of the headlines on this topic is technology track s every move, how can an entire plane to missing?

on output page -- "perhaps some immediacy ite safeguards are needed." guest: clearly, you can't have a transponder on the entire time because these planes are just use for commercial use but military use in this country. in the united states, we have the civil reserve air fleet. about 512 commercial aircraft which are given over to the military or the government in t four times of emergency. these planes need to move troops and the government. we don't want people knowing where they are. it has to be a happy balance between the ability to collect information and to be able to

turn up host: can you assess the response of the malaysian government? guest: first of all, i think the authorities are reticent to give out information. all would have to look at flight twa 800 in the united states per the fbi said it was a terrorist attack immediately. host: guest: this is the one right afte 9/11? guest: the malaysians have done it cautiously. they have cooperated and corroborated the information they get and cross checked it. the distances involved are huge. to send everyone in the wrong direction of every little piece of information available is fruitless. you've got to substantiate what

information you've got and you've got to think what happened. the plane went missing, there is a time lag between the last communication and when the report of the missing aircraft came out, not unusual. these planes fly a long time without information being given. the information from the plane to the satellite is sent back roughly once an hour. there is 30 or 40 minutes between the conversation with the copilot and ground control and the let -- and the next electronic single. then we see images of debris off the coast where they expected the plane was flying. then information came from the military. the military will not give out that information and milk -- immediately, obviously. there's a whole chain of events that takes time. more recently, the last set of photographs which appeared in

the south indian ocean of floating debris, those pictures took forward five days to interpret. this is not something like a tv program or a detective program were someone in the background presses a few buttons and gets the information. it takes time to collective and.coordinated and interpreted host: we have asked our viewers if this incident has impacted how they feel about flying. we are happy to take your thoughts and comments. we will go to cleveland, ohio, on our line for independents. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i'm an avid c-span viewer and first-time caller. first of all i have reference

and sympathy for the people now missing. however, i like how the caller before my talked about 9/11. this malaysia flight 370, in my personal opinion, this has seemed to turn into one big media diversion. in your experience like with the korean flight 007 or the polish airliner that had the polish dignitaries on it that got shot down over poland, does this seem like a diversion or a vertically integrated sy-op. guest: i am flying to florence this afternoon. it has not impacted my travel behavior. i think there is a little bit of a feeding frenzy around this incident. flying is incredibly safe, much

safer than driving, for example. we have an incident which involves a large group of people. it's got a lot of intrigue for people. it's a mystery when -- and people like looking at mr. he's. it is a macabre rubbernecking in aviation. it's human nature. there is nothing sinister about this as far as i can tell. the conspiracy theories about planes that have come down a bound. i'm not so sure there is a big sinister sy-op or anything else involved. i think this is a human tragedy and we don't know the answer yet and people worry about things they don't know the answer to as well as taking the human interest. host: there was a bit of a focus yesterday on the argo hold and the lithium ion batteries on the plane.

what are the international rules on what is allowed to be transported in a cargo hold and who sets those rules? guest: there are also many handheld computers on the plane. most planes are equipped with specialized equipment to put out fires in laptops on planes. there clearly is a concern about this and we have had some incidents, cargo planes going down as a result of these batteries. by and large, they are allowed to be carried but not in large quantities. we've got lithium batteries on the 787 as part of the energy system and that has caused trouble with the number of fires or overheating. there are concerns about them. my suspicion is that given the nature of those batteries and given the fact that the combustion is quite rapid and

serious, if you had a fire in the hold, the plane would have come down quickly. i think it is as simple as that. it would rapidly engulfed the cargo hold and associated equipment. host: what are the international bodies and the u.s. bodies that sets rules on what can or cannot be transported in a cargo hold? guest: there is a civil aviatio organization started in 1944. there are large manuals which set down general regulations for safety and security and engineering standards and so on. they monitor these and provide information for countries to conform with. it is a large body with a well-established record. beyond that, each country has its own rights. under the 1944 chicago convention, each country controls its own airspace and what happens with airplanes coming in and out of that airspace. in this country, the combination

of the faa linked with security people. host: how often does that change? the cargo hold was a focus of the flight that crashed in miami in the everglades and what was being transported there. guest: that crash was tragic. what was being transported there were oxygen cylinders. that is incorrect -- not oxygen cylinders, cylinders full of chemical which create oxygen. when it dropped from the overhead compartment -- when the mask drops from the overhead compartment, this creates oxygen. a chemical reaction takes place and what happened there was they had a cargo hold full of these and they shouldn't have. they were going back to be reconditioned and some caught fire. i have not heard much about the

777 record of safety. it is one of the safest aircraft in the world are only three have been destroyed. one was due to an engine icing at heathrow, one last year at san francisco when it landed prematurely, probably due to pilot error, and the third was was due to a cockpit fire in cairo. this was never established would cause that. there is a linkage between the oxygen system and the electronic system but which caused which we don't know. i'm surprised no one has called that issue up. there have been issues of these kind before in a777. an additional actions were taken in terms of additional insulation it surprising no one host: has actually mentioned this. host:we mentioned earlier some of the latest news about this search for the plane. chinese officials say that satellite had spotted an object about 74 feet long by about 43

feet wide floating in the ocean and efforts to verify that -- from twitter -- can you talk about the floating debris? guest: i'm not a maritime engineer but i know they float for quite a while. i know nothing about this report from china. i don't know whether it is in real time or photographs were taken a few days ago. the previous ones, it was clear the debris -- it was not a container because it has a maximum length of 40 feet. it will not be a container. they've got oxygen in them. you have fuel tanks in the wing. they may not have been empty. they were completely filled because of the range of was going.

they don't float typically. they are semi submerged just below the surface. the waves break over them and that was a comment made on the previous sighting of debris. they can float and they do have air inside of them but how long they float i don't know. yes, they can float for quite a while. they have done in other crashes. host: todd is waiting in north carolina on our lives for republicans, good morning. caller: good morning. during this time. period, this plane was allegedly flying off course for five hours -- was there any record of any of the passengers utilizing their cell phones or internet on their computers? guest: norecord.

if it was flying in that area, there are not many towers to pick up the signals and the altitudes these planes fly would probably be too high anyway. there is no record as far as i know. host: did you have a follow-up? caller: because of the track that the plane turned on, it went back into malaysian airspace. they would have some cell phone coverage. i thought perhaps the passengers might have utilized their cell phones or internet to work on stuff. every flight i am on, there is someone in the back. you will see the glow of the laptops or the cell phones on every flight i have been on. guest: i fly about a quarter of a million miles per year and there is always someone with electronic toys. they are usually turned off

because they don't be met or receive signals. it's a freestanding electronic piece of equipment. the people would not have been aware of what was going on with a plane flying at night time, they would have no idea where they were. i'm not sure why they would send a signal. also, the altitude -- it was high enough that you may have towers below but you don't necessarily get coverage. the planes you can use your cell phone have dedicated equipment to allow you to do that. host: our lines are open so if you have a comment or question -- you made a comment earlier about the use of satellites to search for debris for this plane. can you tell us more about the

limits of using satellites in the search? guest: there are several types of satellites. there is the commercial satellite which are up there and a lot of the initial information came from british commercial satellite companies. then there is the civilian public satellites, government satellites which are up there for communications, military satellites. they are not designed primarily for search-and-rescue operations. they are designed primarily for looking for minerals, tracking weather, military defenses. in march, an agreement was reached by about 15 countries that they would share information from that satellite when there is an emergency. that was quite recent. the chinese invoked this in this case. this brought in satellite technologies from other countries.

there is a lot of hardware up there drifting around and it has been galvanized in a way to help the search. these are relatively recent agreements. host: some news on that from earlier this week in "the washington post." can you talk about the countries coming together to join in the search? have we seen anything like this before in a missing plane incident? guest: not that i have seen. this is unique in so many different ways. international cooperation is amazing.

we see chinese aircraft landing in australia so it can go to the search area which you would not normally see under the circumstances. it is unique and reflects a certain underlying human nature that we try to help each other in emergencies. it is quite encouraging in many ways. it's not the ideal way to bring about cooperation but there is much international cooperation. host: let's go to new haven connecticut, on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. first of all just a quick best of everything to c-span after all these years providing those of us out here with the best show ever concerning news and issues that we want to know about. host: thanks for that, what do

you want to know about when it comes to this missing malaysian airline? caller: first of all, this is just my opinion but i think professor button is just wonderful with the information he has. my theory is that this plane is not in the indian ocean. my theory is that this plane somehow was programmed in malaysia and there might have been a passenger on board that different countries were interested in. i think this plane went off that program somehow it did not work. and it crashed somewhere on land. i think it is close to malaysia. i just want to say this,too -

it's astounding to me that the passports from malaysia evidently give you get on a plane in malaysia, your passport is not verified through an international database. how anyone can buy a ticket to go on a plane not having that knowledge is beyond me. i think all of us, all of the information has not been disclosed. there is much information here that has not and disclosed and so, therefore, we are going on bits and pieces that various governments are willing to let the people know about. this plane is definitely, in my opinion, not in the indian

ocean. host: i want to let you know that tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., we will have an entire segment talking about passports and the role of interpol and looking into stolen passports. i will let for faster button comment on your question. guest: the passport situation is obviously valid but to check passports take time and given computer technology, i think the general public would be upset if we spent hours on each passport. it's clearly a problem but it's one which i think needs to be looked at carefully. i don't think it is germane in this case. you are right about where this plane may be because if you just extrapolate the information we have, we see it could have either flown south are taken around over laos, china up into that neck of the woods which is pretty rough country. at the moment, the malaysians

are trying to negotiate -- what i probably have the wrong country -- whose pakistan --uzbekistan. host: there is a map in "the washington post" that shows the northern corridors and down into the southern search corridors which are the focus right now. guest: did i get the right - stan? host: i will get back to you. there is a possibility it may well be on land. guest: as for programming, the way programming is done on the plane is when the pilot gets on board and its preprogrammed for the route. the pilot can then reprogram it to a certain extent on en route. what many pilots do and which is under suspicion is when the pilot of this plane got on board, he put in a secondary

program which would take the plane to the nearest airport where it could land because most accidents happen on takeoff and landings. there have a problem with the plane taking off, you clearly want a fallback airport you can maneuver to. it could well be he programmed into the computer a secondary route he could take by pressing a couple of options and the plan would automatically divert in case of mechanical failure. many pilots are suggesting this may be the case if you look at the path the plane talk. there is a runway which indicated a new route the plane took. the difficulty is that it kept going. there are so all sorts of problems out there. i don't think any one would have have programmed it before hand of the pilot would've noticed it so he would have to be involved. there are many things yet to be understood.

there is information we don't know because this involves a certain amount of military radar and knowledge. countries are simply not going to reveal that. i'm pretty sure the united states would not divulge the full information. host: you talked about transponders earlier and why they would shut off on the ground. edwin writes in - guest: that's quite reasonable. in the u.s. case, it might be diverted for military use but that's one possibility. the other one could be it turns out without human contact. there are technical ways it can be done. i don't think that's an issue. technology is not an issue in this case. it's a willingness to do it and the willingness to pay to do it. and the need to get everyone to do it. host: i want to show our viewers

a picture from the associated press, and image provided by the china state administration for national defense showing the floating object that was the focus of wire reports earlier today from the associated press and other news outlets. we have heard a bit about the turf battle in this search. why isn't there an international body that can respond in the sort of incidents? guest: there is no turf battle. this is under international agreements. the malaysian responsibility of the search has taken place in international waters because of the our agent of the plane and the nationality is a malaysian responsibility. they can delegate but it comes to that there is an agreement. host: what about sharing information from the different groups? guest: we don't know about the

sharing of information. a lot of it goes on behind the scenes. there is a difficulty there. it comes back to the strategic nature of aviation. countries are reticent to give out full information in many cases. the thai military authorities said they had information but they had to be asked. they did not volunteer. people are not willing to say exactly what their response systems are or what their technologies are. we are dealing with emergencies as we are dealing with anything else in the airspace. i can understand that. the international civil aviation organization, the u.n. body has difficulty getting together to do this because it has to be based on voting procedures in different countries have got different views. host: on the international front, kiki says - is that true? guest: certainly not, israel and

other countries do as well. host: she says maybe there should be international air marshals? guest: who would they be? would it be an american company that would be willing to have syrian air marshals on their plane? it's not that simple. host: robert is waiting in daytona, florida, on our live for republicans. caller: good morning, gentlemen. briefly, i am a retired airline pilot. i was a 727 737 757 captain and a check pilot on the 777. my comments are multiple. i will try to go fast. i am amazed at the lack of knowledge that our media is fomenting.

misspeaking, misquoting misunderstanding our technology and it's mind-boggling. for example, the professor had many good points but a couple that i vehemently disagree with -- at one moment the professor said, speaking about satellite tracking, said the pilots may want to know where you are when you cross an ocean. with all due respect, we have known where we were over every single ocean for the last six decades at least. we do know. the people on the ground don't know where we are or were. we had to tell them. we had high-frequency radios and still do and a lot of the traffic is monitored and directed in that way. we now have, in some parts of the world, we have what's called - host: are you still there? go ahead.

you went out for a second. did you have a question for the professor? caller: actually, i didn't. there is a misquote on oxygen bottles in the 777. the cockpit has dedicated oxygen bottles, not generators. let's see -- traffic control agencies -- they have multiple radars or lack of radar. guest: first of all, i did not mean the pilots did not know what -- where they were. guest: first of all, i did not mean the pilots did not know what -- where they were. clearly, ground control does not know where they are. the 777 does have oxygen bottles in the cockpit but it could be there was a failure in that system on the 777. in general, there are a lot of technical issues here. i am clearly simplifying as i go along. there's the problem of trying to

communicate technical issues to a general public who has a large interest. i have a certain amount of the sympathy with the media were not specialize. also some of the spokespeople in malaysia are trying to explain things not in a native language and often they are bureaucrats were not technicians. there is a certain amount of minor technical misunderstandings. nevertheless the full picture seems to be pretty well set out by the media and people who talk about it. we don't know and won't until the plane is recovered and let's hope it is. i take the point that there are issues here which may underlie the problem which we don't know about which navy pilot is due. host: we've got a few minutes left with professor kenneth button. he has been director of the

center for transportation policy operations logistics at george mason, a bachelors and masters and phd and author of over 80 books and several of those are on airline regulation. what is your latest project? guest: at the moment, i'm looking at traffic control officials in particular in europe where they are trying to integrate the traffic control system. each country has its own and they have not been able to talk to each other. we think they've got problems in asia but there are problems with air traffic controls in europe which we usually think is more sophisticated but it's not. host: california, on airline for democrats thanks for getting up with us. caller: good morning and thank you for your station. has the gentleman who paid for the tickets, has he been interviewed and have a look into his background and the

background of the man who had the false passports? thank you for taking my call. which may underlie the problem which we don't know guest: yes, it's a couple of stolen passports and i think they have been thoroughly investigated. the background of all the passengers, as i understand, have been thoroughly investigated. although the last time i looked into this, the russians and ukrainians have not related information on their passengers but the other countries look into this. they seem to be normal travelers. host: a comment from maverick on our twitter page -- guest: i'm sure it will. host: ian is waiting in new mexico on airline for independence, good morning. caller: hello i'm an avionics

engineer from the air force and the united kingdom. if the aircraft has landed somewhere, there would be quite a large group of people to get the aircraft down a get the people off. how could they not make contact with anybody else? it will either be wonderful for the conspiracy theorists that a crash somewhere or it has landed and there is a huge team looking after it. guest: absolutely right, you have to have a big enough runway to land the airplane on and you will have to maintain the equipment and you assume they want to keep the people alive rather than simply hard checking the hardware -- hijacking the hardware. if it was operational again, it would require many logistics like refueling. that would be a challenge let alone handling everything else. host: mount morris,

pennsylvania, ireland for democrats -- caller: good morning. with today's technology, we have cameras everywhere and wi-fi computers -- you are always being watched no matter where you are. why hasn't the thought come up of putting cameras on airplanes? guest: people do think about it but do you really want to be watched every moment you're on an airplane? you're going to watch 239 people the entire time? the crucial thing for most accidents is getting the technical information from the plane. there are two ways of doing that more effectively.

one is to have black foxes that are much more efficient and can be separated from the hardware from the plan and secondly, it may well beaccidents is getting the technical information from the plane. there are two ways of doing that more effectively. one is to have black foxes that are much more efficient and can be separated from the hardware from the plan and secondly, it may well be that information goes back to record by satellite as opposed to going into black boxes. it can go into some centralized computer the same way the black box operates but it goes through an intermediary station and directs it to the ground. ideally, both would probably be put in place. host: you brought up nextgen. what does that mean for pilots and air traffic operators and how will it change how they do their jobs? guest: it would be a little bit like driving a car. you have a gps system and there would be routes set up a new can follow them or you can deviate and switch around as you wish but the information would come from a satellite. you would know the planes that are close to you. the previous speaker said that planes talk to each other. they tell themselves what they are doing. this would be done automatically and would allow the pilot to choose his or her own route

altitudes and so on and would have warning systems to make sure collisions were avoided and it would simply make flying a lot easier. it would take out the air traffic control system. host: we are shouldering our viewers faa video on how nextgen would work and how they would change routes in seattle. how much is it costing the government and the airlines? guest: the budget goes up all the time. at the moment, there is a slowdown in the adoption because of the financial situation in the country. i don't know what the budget is of the moment. the airlines have voiced objections because of costs. to have the system operating completely, everyone has to do it. most modern planes can actually adapt very quickly and have some of the hardware on board. it's just a case of adapting the hardware.

there is a cost for the airlines and the cost to the government and the air traffic control system which would change dramatically. they would have a new role. it's a big process. at the moment, you've got to have the whole world adopted to operate. host: most of the world will still rely on radar technology you said that dates back? guest: yes and no, given the global nature of the industry, planes fly everywhere, and planes are bought and sold across the world so planes are encrypted and ready for it can be moved around the world quite quickly. there is a lot of old planes out there that need retrofitting. host: frank is waiting from harrisburg, pennsylvania on our lives for independents. caller: good morning. i would like to point out that

there were only three americans apparently, on that airplane. why does the united states have to bear such a brunt, aside from the human side of the situation? why do we have to bear such a brunt and we are going to be bearing it? the whole operation will there is a lot of old planes out probably end up at half $1 billion. all of this publicity, most of it is baloney and you are one of the few people who really is very insightful and educated on this entire thing. but the three people from the united states who were involved in this, obviously, they are all business people and they were over there because they are making a good job and so on and so forth.

why not get their companies involved in this whole thing? guest: supposing an american airline went down with 350 americans on board flying to beijing and was lost, that would cost the chinese an awful lot of money to find it. aviation is a global industry. there are three americans on this plane and there could be another plane going down with 300 americans on board. one would hope the chinese and russians and so on would help in those circumstances. i think there are international agreements which have been signed recently to address this problem. host: let's go to justin in mountaintop, pennsylvania on our line for independents. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i have my own little take on

what is happened in this case. the plane initially was a 35,000 feet. then it climbed up to 45,000 feet. could it be at this time that the cockpit was breached and somebody was commanding the pilots to fly the lane and turnaround to a different destination? maybe the pilots knew they did not have enough fuel to get there. an incident happened a few years ago and there was hijackers telling the pilots to fly to a destination and the pilot said it could not reach. guest: what exactly happened to the plane at the altitude is not clear.

this is recorded on primary radar which is not that accurate and there is a large margin of error. that's a piece of fuzzy information. taking over a plane is not these easy these days. you have to smash your way through a steel door. you got a of whole cabin of people trying to resist british someone was trying to break into the cabin, the pilot in the circumstances would have plenty of time to send out a mayday. i'm not altogether sure that is tenable. what is tenable is that the pilot or copilot opened the door to allow people in. the malaysian authorities said one pilot had done this in the past. flying distance? if you've got the route to the south indian ocean, you're not going to get anywhere else.

you will end up with the south pole. going north is a possibility but where would the plane crash? it was not spotted overland. there was nothing else on military radar so anything is possible. i'm not saying it's impossible what you're saying that but it is only one possibility out of many. host: guest: these days you go for platforms. you can update the equipment as we move on. the danger in the past was we went to blueprint screams -- schemes that we stuck with. they have platforms and technology these days and nextgen can be upgraded. one of the problems in the u.s. is the air traffic control system was initially based on a blueprint scheme. that makes it difficult to update.

i think next jan has a lot of flex ability to host: alvin is waiting in minnesota on our line for independents. caller: good morning, i've got two very simple uses of technology that could have been used, both of which cost under $500 each and are currently being used in various vehicles throughout the world right now including semi tractor-trailer's that run across the united states. they are gps tracking devices and they're under $500. they will actually pinpoint the exact location of the semi, the speed, how it's being driven, if the truck driver is going too fast or too slow and they can get a three way fix on that semi to know where it is on any given point in time. they also install these vehicles in cars so the police departments can find a stolen vehicle even if it's hidden inside a vehicle within a matter

of minutes by calling the company that owns the gps tracking devices. guest: certainly, there is plenty of technology out there which could be adopted. setting up a common standard is one issue. as i said earlier, after the air france crash inquiry, this was recommended by the french authorities. it was not taken up. i entirely agree. host: kenneth button is a professor with george mason university and we appreciate you coming on to talk about this and have a safe flight this afternoon. guest: thank you very much. host: up next, heidi hartmann joins us to discuss a new report from her group on the gender wage gap and later, we will talk about food prices with richard volpe, an economist with the u.s. department of agriculture. ♪

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market. illegal money exchange reckless driving drinking and early marriage. >> this week, 19 60 training film for marines working state department security posts sunday at 4 p.m. eastern on c-span three. "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined by heidi hartmann, president and ceo of the institute for women's policy studies. your group came out with a new report this past week on the gender wage gap. what did you find? guest: we found something in a weight we knew for a while although women are the success story of the post-world war ii period in the labor market.

they are getting good wages and getting good education and good jobs but finally in the last 10 years, progress has stopped. we knew the ratio of women to men have been steady for 10 years. what we noticed this time is that women have not had any real wage gains and tenures either. in other words, they have not had any progress against the cost of living it is just stagnant. unfortunately, men have been that way for 30 or 40 years so this is a new phenomenon for women. host: the question is why? guest: that is always the big question. there are many different reasons. i don't know exactly what yet. is the kind of thing we researchers like to spend years on. one economist has it there that women have been swimming upstream, that all the forces in our economy are pointing toward greater and greater inequality and yet women have been able to narrow the wage gap with men.

when we started looking at the wage gap, women were only running 60% of what men earn and now they are earning about 80%. that is pretty good progress for 40 years. but in the last 10 years, they have not closed that gap. it is almost as if the current they are swimming upstream against has overwhelmed them and there are so many forces toward inequality and it's a possible for any group to overcome that. it's hard to say. host: to show our viewers the numbers -- at this rate, when would men and women reach pay parity? guest: we did a calculation on

that but it is not until 2058 which means almost all women working today will be retired by the time that happens. host: doesn't education level -- is an education level a factor in pay rates? guest: that's one of the things that women have had going for them. that is one reason why other wages increased relative to men. as an economic historian, let me go back. after world war ii there was the g.i. bill and men got well ahead of women in education. up to that point, women and men have been similar in homage education they got. man got way ahead and we had a period in the 1960's and 1970's were women were catching up. during that time after that, women rose relative to men

because they are increasing their human capital, their education, their time in the labor market -- the more you work, the more you should rewarded for your experience. they are catching up relative to men because men already have education and full-time work experience. whose human capital is changing faster? women. we also had a big movement toward equal opportunity employment and title ix that opened medical schools and law schools to women. we had the ability of women to move into occupations that were better paid than the occupations they had been crowded into. there were many reasons for the gains. education was key among them. host: echoes to another question about the wage gap -- the people who are less convinced have said that women often choose different jobs than men and jobs with different pay levels and that is one of the reasons for the pay gap. what is your response? guest: first of all, women and

men are choosing more similar college majors than they used to and are going into more similar jobs. that's one of the reasons why women have gained relative to men. it is true that in the last 10 years, since this wage ratio has stopped improving, and since real wages for women have stopped growing, that measure of integration the labor market has also stopped improving. to me, it's a question of it being a choice. do women really choose low-paying jobs with full awareness of all the options and with no areas to pursuing any of the jobs? i think many people do what they see people around them doing. they assume that's what women are doing so that must be ok and they are not really fully informed of what the implications are. women lose about half $1 million over a lifetime compared to men even if they work year-round. host: we are talking with the

president and ceo of the institute for women's policy research. she is here to answer your questions as we talk about her new report on the gender wage gap. the phone lines are open -- before we go to some callers, president obama talked about women's pay on a recent trip to florida just this past thursday. let me play a little bit of what he had to say. [video clip] >> today, more women are their families main breadwinner than ever before but on average women are still earning just $.77 on every dollar a man does. women with college degrees may earn hundreds of thousands of dollars go to some callers, president obama talked less over the course of her career than a man at the

same educational level. that is wrong. this is not 1958. it's 2014. that's why the first li signed into law was called the lily ledbetter fair pay act. [applause] it made sure that it would be easier for women to talk about not being paid the same as men and congress will have a chance to go further by voting yes or no on the paycheck fairness act. right now, majority of senators support that bill but so far republicans have blocked it. we've got to get them to change their mind and join us in this century because a woman deserves equal pay for equal work. it's pretty straightforward. [applause] host: we are back with heidi hartmann at the institute of women's policy research. he mentioned the paycheck fairness act. can you tell us more about that man at the same educational level.

legislation? guest: that is a proposed piece of legislation that has come up for about a couple of times but is not passed yet. it would simply strengthen our ability to enforce existing laws. we have a 1963 equal pay act and we have the 1964 civil rights act and this bill focuses on stronger enforcement or the equal pay act but nice clear that an employer -- that it would not be a violation of the law for hushing them for sharing wage information. lily ledbetter found that she was underpaid as a department manager at goodyear when someone anonymously slipped her a list of what all the other department managers were earning and they were all men. that's how she found out how much she was being underpaid. it still affects our today, her pension and social security, that has never been corrected because she lost in the supreme court and that's why we need the lily ledbetter act to make sure the courts understood that every time you get a paycheck, it is a

discriminatory act. the court held that you were discriminated against when you're first hired but not since then. that's why she was not able to win that case. we know that lots of firms to require people not to talk about their wages and one way you can help get people equal pay is to share information about your pay. host: let's get you to respond to this tweet -- guest: you can check out bloomberg and they will say it's not a mess -- myth. most economists agree that we cannot explain all of the differences between men and women and pay. then there is the debate about what we say about the unexplained difference. no one looks at the whole pay gap and says it's all due to discrimination.

most economists would agree that a portion of it is due to discrimination, generally about 1/3. the pay gap is about 23%. about 1/3 of that or nine percent is due to possible discrimination. what is discrimination? is it a discrimination of not having subsidized childcare that makes it easier for parents, particularly women, to go to work, that we don't have paid family leave like other countries have? there are so many societal things that affect how much a woman works and how much he earns that we don't really have an even playing field. host: a story from "washington post" yesterday -- it talked about this issue.

we are talking with heidi hartmann for the institute for women's policy research who had a recent report on the gender wage gap that just came out this past week. let's go to the phones from byron, georgia, on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. what is the woman's responsibility in all this? if you are in the job market and you get an offer from a private company, do your due diligence

and look it up and see what the wages for your career in that area and don't just accept the first offer. of course they will try to get you in as low as possible. if they send you an offer letter, the obvious they want you. do some research and then you come back and say that's a little low. you can sign if you bump it up 10%. guest: that is excellent advice and there is no question you should do the research and see what jobs in your area are paying for your occupation and for your experienced as best as you can tell. there are new information sources like places on the web where you can look up wages which did not exist 20 years ago. that is great advice. unfortunately, there is a little bit of research that shows that when women ask for a raise, they can be punished for it. when men ask for raises, he is

being responsible to himself and his family and being assertive and they like to see leadership. with women, they say she is being grabby unselfishbeing responsible to himself and his family and being and unpleasant and disloyal. there is a story going around the web right now that an assistant professor asked for some things after she had been made an offer of a job in a new york state college and asked for a few things and use the typical language to ask for a little bit more. she said it would tip the scales and she would calm and i know you cannot give them all but it's a negotiation. they rescinded the offer. the center back a letter and said you clearly want to be at a big research university and we are rescinding our offer and that's an extreme form of punishment. this is what the research shows. when they say women don't negotiate, we tend to blame the woman for not negotiating but women's lack of negotiating may

be based on what they have heard, learned experience of what they see happens to other women or comments they have around the office when someone has asked for a raise. it's good advice but professionals say you have to go out of your way as a woman to ask for that raise and the correct way. host: we are talking about your report and the findings -- guest: yes, our fact sheet shows the weight ratios for the different race and ethnic groups. hispanic women are in the least compared to white man. hispanic men are also quite low. most minority men have lower earnings relative to white men. in fact, when we compare hispanic women to hispanic men they have a better wage ratio in a sense because the men's earnings are low as well and for black women.

asian american women out current white women and asian american men out earn white men. they are highly educated. their earnings reflect that and the ratio of asian-american women to asian-american men is quite high. the different groups to experience the wage ratio differently. unfortunately, we see that most minority groups have a tougher time of the labor market and have lower wages. host: here are some of the numbers -- this is all found in your report that came out this past week. let's go to sarasota, florida

on our line for republicans. caller: there is a wage difference. there are women tennis players and women golfers. she is 22 or 23. to get the job. the she is there for 10 years. she has two or three children and decides she wants to leave. she wants to take care of her children. there is a vacancy. women come and go. that is one reason why there is a wage discrepancy. men are at the job longer. him and don't stick that much. guest: some of that is true. many women stay home and work part-time grade but it will take off only a very few years.

it is a very short time where women are out of the labor market. men don't have longer legs on a job and women do these days. men leave jobs for other women's -- reasons. if you're about to hire a man or woman, there's no reason as an employer to expect the men will stay longer than the women. that is fairly unlikely. there are many reasons that people leave jobs. the way our laws are structured, you should not penalize an individual because you think something about their group is true. an employer should not use what they think is the right information about women and men to make hiring decisions just as we should not use a we think is true about black people or hispanic people would we make hiring decisions. it is definitely a phenomenon up.

what is correlated in the united states how much women work less and other countries, our nation does not have subsidized childcare. we are the only rich nation in the world that does not provide these things for our women. host: this is a question from the internet. guest: great question. the men who stay out of the labor market are penalized just as much as women. it is the case that if you take a full year out of the labor market, you will see your wages over your lifetime decrease. not just because you missed that year but because your future earnings will be lower. what i as economist are concerned about is equal opportunity and see the sharing of childcare to be more equal.

i think that would have the effect of reducing the penalty that we see on wages for people who take time out of the labor market. you can recover from. host: i want to go to gina waiting in georgia on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i want to talk about a job i had the mid 80's. i worked there for two years. i made good money. we hired a guy who is younger than me. he got a raise and i got a $.25 raise. it made me angry. i want to my boss and told them if you can't give me a quarter maybe you should keep it. i did get my one dollar raise plus the $.25. i wound up doing it better than i normally would have. i thought it was unfair when i

was doing a good job. they gave him more than me. guest: that is a great thing you spoke up and got the raise and that your boss agreed. he saw that it was unfair. they will try to get away with this. they will try to get away with hiring loan for less or not moaning because -- not promoting. this is not uncommon at all. we hear president obama talk about his mother who was passed over at the bank and could not break the glass ceiling at the bank -- his grandmother and how successful she was her job. she could not get the final promotion. host: how does this issue really to millennial's? is the gap as big? guest: the millennial's are

considered to be no older than 33 right now. when women and men enter the labor market, they enter at a more similar wage. maybe around 95% in some cases and occupations. just as the caller before suggested thomas as women enter the child bearing years, there rages fall relative to men. the millennial's are doing relatively well in the sense of gender equity. each new group of young people does tend to do better than the one before. they are benefiting from this. adequate of it millennial set fit the job market at a very bad time with this severe recession. it is a difficult labor market. they are still at the young end of the age range. host: the pew research center is

talking about women in the work place. when it was asked in 2013, 53% of -- 45% that society preferred women. let us go to run on our line for independents. good morning. you're on. caller: good morning and thank you. regarding the comments you said earlier about the differences among genders and demographics within genders when we do labor

statistics in the past when it came to males, the occasion -- caucasian americans were the highest earners and the asian american women were outperforming the caucasian american women. that would counter the argument that is purely discriminatory that there is any sort of difference. guest: asian american men out-earn white men as well as asian american women. the social scientist look at these data and they don't believe the differences are all discrimination. some of it has to do with education. asian americans on average have more education. if we compared college educated

men and women or men and women with an advanced degree, you still see that even at the same education level women earn less than men by and large in nearly all demographic groups. host: joe is waiting. guest:caller: good morning. i have been an employer for most of my life. i have hired people for the last 30 years. if i thought i can hire a woman for less, i would never hire another man. i just don't understand the concept. i think most employers would feel the same way i do. guest: many have said discrimination should go way for that reason. everybody should hire the most productive worsen for the least pay. that is not what seems to happen.

employers do have preferences. one researcher has a theory that there is a job q. they will first try to hire the person they prefer and then the people they prefer less as they need to as demand it may be sufficient. it may be that other groups may not hear about jobs in a workplace where mostly white men at work. they won't hear about the openings or they don't have friends that work there. most jobs are still mostly gotten through word-of-mouth. where your friends work is very important. even employer who might want to hire other groups might not know or they might not come to them. you have to go out of your way to find them. by now, it should have been a limited the wage gap.

in the same occupation, women earn less than men. there must be something wrong with that theory. host: we have been working in stature me pew research center on it women in the workforce. here is another one. they look at a survey from last october. the percent that say being a working mother or father makes it harder to advance in their career. 51% of mothers said it was harder compared to 16% of fathers. just two percent of working mothers said it was easier. 10% of working fathers said it was easier. let us go to dell on our independent line. caller: good morning.

three simple questions. number one if to recent graduates go to work for a hospital the female is going to paid less than the mail? if cindy goes to work for the post office or a factory on the assembly line, address those. you are in the past. it is true historically, but today it is just not there. guest: some of your examples are public-sector jobs. if you look at teachers and nurses there is not as much of a wage gap as there are in other professions. the public sector does pay more

equally than the private sector. it is been true historically and is true today. if you look at the private sector, we do find women earning less than men at entry-level jobs. it could be that one firm down the street has a generally level wage level in the same industry. we don't know all the reasons for it. when we look at the same firma we do see these wage differences. in the private sector, the wage rates are not open. one of the reasons why wages are more equal in the private -- public-sector, it is public information. you can look at what you're colleagues are making. host: we are talking to heidi hartmann.

she has worked at rutgers university and was a recipient of the macarthur fellowship. she will be here for the next couple of minutes. let us go to sam in connecticut on our democrat line. guest:caller: there is another secret. it is to the discrepancies are based on gender and ethnicity. it is also true in my experience that single men are paid less than married men. i spent my working years in art museums. women were paid less than men in that area. after three years of being on the job, i went to the trustee in charge of my department and

asked for a raise. my brother-in-law i -- brother and i are supporting my mother. they said this is what the job pays. i wish this were discussed more. in the nonprofit world, it is endemic. i think the true prejudiced works in the prime world. guest: often for a man being married is an advantage. he will wait -- earn a wage premium. for a woman that is a negative. her wages will be lower because she is married. i think it is common. i was once a manager at a nonprofit. there was a discussion about how we were going to be grimaud in people.

-- paying people. it was said that a person had children and needed a raise. unfortunately, the caller is quite right. it is not just in the nonprofit sector. this goes across the economy. host: john is waiting in discussed -- wisconsin. caller: good morning. my question is when you calculate the percent of salary that women made compared to men did you come up with two different numbers and then do a ratio? guest: i have done that on occasion but that is not the normal way it is done. it is done by looking at a

series of individual women and men in comparing the median for women. and compare that with the 50th man. it is not always adding up all wages and then justifying them. is this men and women across all occupations and industries, yes it is. it is restricted to those who work full-time all year round. we are comparing similar things. we know that on average women have as much education as men. they are equally qualified. it is a mystery why the wage gap remains so large. went three percent is a pretty big gap. host: we talked about the paycheck fairness legislation

what would be your policy recommendation? guest: stronger enforcement of our equal opportunity laws. we have more be letter covered by these laws. more women are working. we have not had the increase in enforcement dollars. there is another side and the congress is paying attention. we have for the first time a new bill called the family actually was introduced in december. that law calls for a new social insurance system similar to social security that workers and employees would pay into. when you needed for your own illness to take care of a family member or a newborn, you would get pay from that social insurance system. it would be like disability insurance. this is the first time that we have seen a proposal for paid

family leave in the united states. we would like to see some action . president obama has said it is not the mad men era anymore. women are equal breadwinners in terms of their responsibility but they don't have their -- the support they need. congressional leaders often propose that we spend more money on the services but they don't pass. we will see how long will take some of these programs and policies that i think we very much need. host: we will try to get a few more colors in. michelle is in washington on our line for democrats. caller: good morning. i can't believe the men callers with one exception. they are in complete denial that

women are underpaid or paid less than men. at the beginning of my career, after college, i was paid $10 an hour for the first year and a position. a new gentleman was hired. i trained him. it was my responsibility to train him. i finished he was making $20 an hour. i went to my boss. i found it completely disgusting. i was told that he had a family to support. i did not have a family to support. i was single and i did not need the money. i am still getting read at this point. this was the mid-90's. i was asked to work holidays when the man that did not have to because they had a family. they had to spend time with their families. of course i had a family. of course i wanted to spend time

with them on the holidays. they came to the educational benefit. i was told by my boss i would not be eligible for these educational benefits because one day i might get married and i might have a baby and leave and it would be a waste. host: i am going to let her jump in here. guest: most men do not want to acknowledge that there might be discrimination against women. we have all of these stories. yours is a classic story. there is a lot of resentment in the workplace toward people with children and families and other people feeling like they have to cover for them. this is because we don't have guidelines and rules. in some countries, parents have the right to ask for a six-hour day.

this makes them employed at a professional job. and extends to all jobs in the economy. if we had more policies that a commented working parents, other people would feel this is the way it works. they would not feel the way it happens now, very informal as you say. i have to work on sundays and holidays because of people with families can't. it is extremely unfair and the pay is acutely unfair. it is so common. i am glad that you are talking about it and colin about it. it hasn't gotten you down yet. that is great. just keep looking for an employer that pays you what you deserve industrially and -- and does treat you fairly. host: what role does the economy

play in the recession? guest: it is easier to close the wage gap when the economy is growing. when it is booming and employers are desperate, there is no question that the down labor market and lack of demand for workers is affecting the extent to which new kinds of workers can get jobs. there's so much unemployment and lack of demand. it is a difficult. . in past recessions, women still climbed a quarter -- upward. that is just not happening this time. for the past decade, women's wages of and flat. the recession is definitely a factor in affecting everybody's opportunities. host: this is d for michigan.

caller: i would like to say that i was in canada for a while. they have equal pay for equal work laws. it makes it so that people earn enough. women do not need to go on state aid because they make enough. it is ridiculous that we don't have that here. i also noticed in my own life that when i was married and my husband was working, employers would treat me better. if i wasn't happy and my husband was working i could quit. if they knew i was dependent on the job economically to survive they do not treat us as well. guest: that is an interesting observation. i don't know how well the data reflects that. i would imagine that could be true.

in an ancient way, you get to the women who is married is under the protection of the man and if i treat her badly her husband might commit here in yell at me. some of that might be going on too. canada is a real champion of pay equity. there have been a provincial laws that require company's to prove and pay different jobs equally. if jobs have equal responsibility, they pay the same. that helps raise wages in female dominated jobs. those have historically low pay. canada has done quite a few things to make it easier for women to get better pay. they also have paid family leave and they have subsidized childcare. in québec, the going rate for a day is eight dollars a day.

that would be unheard of here and it is good quality childcare. i hope the united states comes around before too long. host: this is available at your website. you are the ceo of the institute for women's policy and research. we appreciate you coming on today. up next we'll talk about the drought in the west and its impact on food prices with richard volpi. we'll be right back. ♪ >> c-span. for 35 years bringing public affairs advance directly to you.

do you in a room at congressional hearings and white house of vents. offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house of representatives. we are c-span, created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your satellite provider. watch us in hdn like us on facebook. follow us on twitter. >> today's millennial generation are having trouble getting started. they have come of age in a very hostile economy. they have no realistic chance of winning these benefits and they retire. there needs to be a rebalancing of the social contract. it is a very important and difficult challenge. not only is social security and medicare have of our budget, it is the biggest thing we do.

it is symbolically the purest statement of pollock poppel -- public policy that we are all in this together. these are programs that affect everybody. the old mass of these programs doesn't work. >> paul taylor on the coming generational showdown. bing west will take your calls on the mideast, afghanistan, and iraq. booktv is every weekend on c-span two. join the online discussion. look for the book club be.org. >> washington journal continues. host: a spring à la report said

the drought in the west could spread. here to talk about how these weather conditions can impact a student prices -- food prices is richard volpe. guest: we are worried about commodities and we see severe weather. if food prices go up, it will be three commodity markets. we have our i mostly on california. there is on the great -- drought. it is a powerhouse agriculturally. most of these markets in california are the biggest producer of consumers.

if there is a problem with the weather, commodity prices will increase. host: how soon our food prices impacted by specific weather events? guest: it depends on the event. it also depends on a commodity. in 2012, we headed drought in the midwest. that drove up field crop prices. when those prices shoot up it takes a long time to see any major impact. there's processing and packaging and contracts. these are storable but the ones in california are fruits and vegetables and milk and nuts, they don't undergo much cancer mission from the farm to the kitchen. in this case, we see the price transmission quickly. we haven't seen it yet.

we have not seen any impact on retail food prices yet. host: had you forecast food prices? guest: we use data sources the come from the bureau of labor statistics. they talk about the consumer price index. the cpi is a measure of how food prices are changing. the ppi is how wholesale prices are changing nationally. we look at these indices and how they are changing over time. we take into account energy prices and labor wages. they run them through a model and we forecast where they are likely to go to the next six to 18 months. host: you look over the last month and year, the latest report the changes food prices.

food prices ticked up .4% from january 2013 two january 2014. what were the main cause of that? guest: you highlight that change from december to january. we saw an increase from january to february. that is talking about supermarket prices. they are notable. in the first two months, we saw food prices rise in the entire year of 2013. we update our forecast monthly. you run a new analysis every month. 2013 was an anomaly. food prices were flat for the entire year. in 2014, we have artie seen a fairly substantial increase in food prices early in the year with only two months of data in hand. this is not due to drought so much. we are seeing exports pick up.

that is an inflationary pressure. we are so -- although seeing something cyclical. we are starting to see cost increases passed on to consumers. retailers were dealing with a lot of pressure from farm rices and wholesale prices and weather factors. if you are looking at the ppi, they were absorbing losses. we are stunned to see that turnaround. that is going to be one of the bigger stories. host: if you have questions about food prices, give us a call. if you're in the east or central united states.

we will look for your comments on twitter. you can e-mail us. us talk about the specific food prices ticked up quite a bit. one of the ones that was not flat for fish and seafood up six percent over the course of the past year. what specifically makes fish and seafood prices rise? guest: they have some pressure just in terms of sunlight -- supply. there is pressure on fisheries across the world. that is specific to the u.s. because of what is going on with beef prices. you talked about what is dropping prices early in the year. beef rices are at or near record highs across the united states.

that is relevant to fish because we are seeing a lot of evidence that starting in late 2012 through today, we saw consumers make choices and substitute things instead of a stake. it the prices have been so high. this is a demand-side factor. it has been driving up fish prices and poultry prices. there are a few exceptions. a lot of it has to do with what is going on beef market. host: corn is often watched. stop using fool for -- food for fuel. guest: the story with corn and field crop prices is positive for consumers. the latest figures are

forecasting great years for corner, soybeans wheat and the staple crops. we are not looking for price pressure there. it is not spiking like you did in 2012. i understand a lot of people are concerned about the food and fuel connection. up the growth in ethanol production has slowed down a lot in the last decade. that is not to say it is not a major production in the united states. it has not been a major factor in driving food price inflation in recent years. if there was an effect we would've artie seen it. host: if you want to follow along with some of the charts that his group puts out the website is ers.usda.gov guest:

caller: i have been following this for years. i used to live in the west. i used to live in california. there is a bad drought that has been going on for many years. if you could talk about the fight that is been going on for years going back to governor schwarzenegger with the farmers in the imperial valley saying it is dry and yes there is a doubt but the water exists if the state and the epa and the fed would be willing to divert water from the north but this little fish, this little delta smelt let farmers go out of business and food prices go up. as far as

the midwest, what are your projections on the runoff. the great lakes are frozen over more in decades. had you see that affecting food prices heading into the latter part of the year? guest: i will start with the second question. we are looking forward to a really solid year for a lot of the major buffer crops grown in the united states. the ratio is projected to increase which is usually good news for consumers. it would have concerns about food price inflation in 2014, they're not rooted in what is going on with corn or soybeans or fundamental building blocks of the food we buy in the supermarket. there are a lot of questions about why corn is so important.

the real concern with a commodity like corn is that it is used as animal feed. the vast majority of cattle and hogs and other animals across the united states, it is -- they are fed from field corn that grows in the midwest and upper planes. when the price of corn went up, that was a major concern for what was going to happen to food prices. this year, we are more worried about localized droughts. all i can say is that there is always competition for scarce resources. my understanding of what is going on in california is not so much we are concerned about a water shortage for agriculture or our key producers are going to run of water. the problem is it is expensive to use to acquire irrigation.

this is a concern because we may see producers and california reducing acreage. they reduce the number of trees for train outs or person vegetables. they reduce the production of alfalfa. this could be a concern that could create higher commodity prices for coming years. when this is contracted, a can take a while for that to cycle back to normal levels. host: the montgomery advertiser talks about california's top 10 products.

host: jodie is on our twitter page. guest: there is a relationship between food prices and energy. we have done work on identifying how important the energy sector is to driving food prices and farming food prices. i think the relationship to a pay and the supermarket is there. it is weaker than people expect. there is a correlation. if energy prices spike, we will

see an impact on food prices. the impact on percentages of food is typically a lot smaller than what we see in energy markets. energy and commodity markets are very volatile compared to retail food. host: can you talk about the usda food dollar graphic which our viewers are seeing right now. guest: i have a colic is a lot of work into this area it breaks down the the retail food dollar. as is built up from all the industries that contribute to it. there are a number of surprises for people who are.

the share of the food dollar is a can of four by agricultural commodities and are small. host: energy prices are just 5.5 cents. pharma agricultural business is 10.8 cents. guest: that actually is netting out factors such as energy transportation. these go into their own the sectors. there is a piece of the fiber of them out for energy prices and transportation. we are really just talking about commodity rices and farm labor. that is around 11%. to a simple back of the envelope copulation, if commodity prices were to double we would expect

to see food prices go up around 10%. that is substantial. it is not catastrophic even given the stork increase in commodity prices across the country. host: berry is waiting in new jersey. caller: my question is when we have a drought in camden, does this have anything to do with pollution or because the ground is a poor farming area? what about the quality of the food? guest: a severe weather event like a drought can impact retail

food prices and that depends on what the production is in the area. in new jersey, if there is a drought or a problem locally you're more likely to see an impact in local or regional food prices. a lot of retailers across the united states and gotten very heavily involved in store brands or private labels. they are more likely to be produced regionally or locally. you might see a localized item increase. would you think about severe weather impacting food prices, we worry about places where there is a large degree of distribution throughout the country. fruits and vegetables in california, corn in iowa, cattle in the southeast. to get your second point, there is the potential for severe

weather that affects the quality. we hear about that with wine and the great industry. not enough rainfall can affect the quality of grapes. that certainly can happen. we saw that happen in 2012 with field corn. not only was the amount reduced tom a a lot of the quality of the corn was significantly reduced. in certain cases it can be unfair to consumers plain higher -- paying higher prices for a lower quality good. host: we are talking about food prices. here is a longer-term look in food prices from 2006 to 2013.

host: why our food prices second on that list in terms of increase? guest: is food becoming more expensive? that is not the easiest question to answer. there are real prices if you adjust the dollar. isince around 2006, food prices have become more expensive. they have outpaced other items. food prices have risen more than a representative amount of goods and services in the economy. for the first time in decades

you see a turnaround in the shared disposable income that is being spelled -- spent on food. since 2005, that is turned around a little bit. it is not anything gratis traffic -- catastrophic at this point. it is a clear implication of the increased price of commodities across the world. host: we are talking about the usda. it is been doing this job since 2010. we love to hear about how food prices look in your part of america. tim is up next from wisconsin. caller: thank you for c-span. why our food and fuel not used to compute cpi? why is the water used for for

california being dumped back into the ocean. guest: i think what you're for them to is the core cpi. the bureau of labor statistics does analyze the core cpi. it does x out food and energy prices because they are more volatile. energy prices are more volatile than a lot of other prices in the commodity. if you look at the all items that does include everything. it includes everything from food and energy. that is all in there. consumer price indices are

copulated individually. if you want to study food eating go -- you can go to the usda website. everything is measured. if you're concerned about how much your monthly or annual expenditures are going to change, just take a look at the all items cpi. as to the water in california, i can't talk about policy changes in california. options are on the table to make sure that we don't have water shortages for major agricultural producers. host: ricky is in -- on the line. caller: in terms of water policy why are the top three issues that the ust -- usda being done?

we want to make sure that resources are being used efficiently. the last caller talked about freshwater being dumped into the ocean. that does not seem to be an efficient way of using resources. guest: this is a little bit outside of my specific wheelhouse. i would just say that the usda has a division devoted to resource and economics. their increasing. nation and those sorts of factors. as what is being implemented in policy, is not in my office. i am watching those stories as closely as you are. host: peter is khan and from new york. caller: what is the actual cpi?

i calculate it is about 3.5%. the largest pork producer in the united states was bought by the chinese. i heard it reported that there is a stomach virus that was knocking off the pig population. how are they are just by the chinese to increase pork exports , how will it affect pork prices? guest: if you're referring to what is happening annually, 3.5% is within the range of what is possible. our for christ -- our forecast is 2.5%. the but that in simple terms if

an american household spent in hundred dollars on food in 2013, they would spend $103 and $.50 on 2014. that is our expected range. if you just extrapolate the rate of change is seen in fort -- food prices in january and february there are a lot of things that can happen. the drought could exacerbate this. it remains to be seen. the bigger issue we keep our eyes on our the virus that could impact work supplies. imagine exports to china we have seen it for beef, soybeans it drives up commodity and food prices in the u.s.. that has the possibility of

increase inflation. the more looming and serious concern is the virus. it is too soon to attribute anything to it. a moderate uptick in pork could be paying record prices. meet -- me prices are very high. host: we want to show a chart showing that over the long term. guest: that chart should be oh -- reassuring.

these are annual changes overlaid on top of each other. it is the average of prices over time. compared to that blue line, food prices are flat. they do the same thing every year. i hope that hammers home that there is always some looming concern. there is almost always a frost or freeze or doubt -- drought they can drive up commodity prices. the implication for consumers are limited in terms of major increases. we could see an increase in a specific food category. that is an average across all food prices across the whole country. it takes a lot to. host: we have just a couple of minutes left.

let us go to dave calling in from arkansas. caller: good morning. as any that he done a cause-and-effect study. every thing in this country moves by truck. big truck prices over the last 10 years have almost tripled. you could buy a truck for $50,000. now it is $160,000. all of the parts that we get are from somewhere else. i have a report about specific foods that we are shipping mass amounts of processed foods to

china. they are putting them in plastic bags and shipping them back to us. how is this more efficient. i wish there was way i could can spend some time asking questions. guest: the issue that you raise that i want to focus on is an important one. we are talking about the trucks. but we are getting at is the transportation cost. that should not be discounted. they are important. there was a recent study that came out of my office and showed when there is a jump in crude oil prices that results in wholesale food investable rices. it is smaller than the increase they see in california then in

some place on the east coast. that difference is easy to pin point. that is worth keeping into account when you're thinking about what drives retail food prices and how important is energy. we look at the cpi. depending on where you live when transportation costs go up where you live has an application on what you pay. host: we have a call from mark from earth carolina. caller: i am another truck driver. i have a question. have you ever looked into having trucks it takes to get things on the walmart shelf?

it takes 54 trucks just to get a jerk. butter on the shelf at walmart. guest: i did not realize that for. butter. there is pretty good data on transportation for raw commodities. from production .2 terminal markets. for a lot of commodities and truck markets. what happens with retailers and wholesalers, the data is proprietary. and was going on with the individual retailers and how wholesale prices are determined it is a much thornier issue. i will just say that if there is a problem there in terms of education costs being unwieldy or driving up prices, it is a

private company. they have an incentive to minimize those costs. for any retailer, that is a good thing. it reduces volatility over time. host: ricky volpe is with the usda. we appreciate you coming to show today. that is going to do it today for "washington journal." tomorrow we will talk about internet ownership. we will also talk about stolen passports. that is tomorrow morning at 7:00 eastern. it will be have a great saturday. ♪

today we will spend the next few hours discussing the global and u.s. economy. first, a discussion on developing economies and long-term trends around the world followed by douglas elmendorf with a closer look at his role in the u.s. economy. later janet yellen holter first news conference. >> shortly after world war ii, and a time of growing international tensions and increased xp notch activity, the department of state became convinced that a military force