While Michael Jackson is referred to affectionately by fans as the "King of Pop," he could have just as easily carried the title "The hardest working man in show business" except for the fact that elder statesmen of the music world, the late James Brown earned that title first.

While recriminations are being thrown around about the specific cause of Jackson's death, the primary reason he passed away may really have been overwork. In truth, his sleep disorder, eating disorder, drug dependency, and seemingly bizarre behavior at times may have all stemmed from his obsessiveness. He truly gave his fans everything he had in him right to the very end.

That the arrival of $4 per gallon gasoline has already propelled changes in consumer and corporate behavior would not be a revelation to most investors / readers.

Still, a prudent tack for investors -- or heads of households/husbands/wives, for that matter -- is to look beyond the short-term conditions and try to gauge longer-term trends -- trends that may uncover investment opportunities.
Short-term, oil is likely to correct, many economists agree. Oil at one-hundred-twenty-five bucks per barrel is well above what many economists and analysts believe is a price capable of sustaining adequate U.S. and global economic growth. Speculators have pushed oil higher than what it should sell for based on fundamentals, and a pull-back is likely in the quarters ahead. That will take some pressure off gasoline, diesel and heating oil prices.

But what about long-term? Short-term, gasoline prices should moderate, but is $4 gasoline a high point? Probably not, if current global oil consumption trends continue. What's more likely? Additional, steady rises in gasoline, diesel and heating oil prices in the years ahead, particularly if the U.S. economy shows signs of a recovery later in 2008.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts have released the results of their study on the 10 worst jobs in America, and how many people have them. According to their report (PDF file: May take a while to load), "We call a job that pays less than $17 per hour, and has no paid, employer-provided health insurance, and has no employer-sponsored pension plan, a 'bad' job."

I would argue that it's entirely possible that someone can have a good job paying $17 per hour with poor benefits --most high school students would be thrilled to make $17 an hour at their summer jobs. But in any case, 87% of restaurant host and counter-attendant jobs met the "bad job" criteria. Other leading bad jobs were ushers, pattern-makers, lifeguards, models and dishwashers -- no real surprises here.

But the report does contain some interesting commentary. Men are more likely to have bad jobs now, while women are more likely to have good jobs: "The share of men in good jobs fell sharply between 1985 (34.3%) and 1995 (29.9%) and, again, through 2006 (27.2%). Meanwhile, for women, the good jobs share rose across comparable points in the three cycles: from 13.5% in 1985, to 16.6% in 1995, to 18.7% in 2006."

Reflecting on earlier research, the authors express their concern that increasing GDP and educational attainment are not leading to improved wages and benefits.

To learn more about the tough reality facing job-seekers today, check out Anya Kamenetz's Generation Debt.

With many returning to work today after a Labor Day break, The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that where employees park reveals interesting insights about what companies and their employees value. In some companies, closer to the elevator is better. And management decides who gets to park closest -- although the winners in that competition vary among companies. And for some employees, the longer the walk to their desk, the better their health.

Simply put, the companies and employees described in this article have six parking lot values:

• Sales performance. Dave Beckman is the top sales executive at 200 employee San Diego, CA equipment-leasing company, Five Point Capital Inc. For the past two years, the 27-year-old's midnight-blue, 2006 Porsche 911 is parked in the spot closest to the its main entrance -- a perk the company awarded him for his strong sales performance. This makes his colleagues jealous and, the company hopes, will spur them to sell more so they can take his spot.
• Organizational rank. Although they're often empty since their occupants are at meetings away from the office, 12 spaces are allocated for top managers at MSW Research Inc. Those empty spaces are painful reminders for other employees that the company puts a distinctly lower value on the time of rank and file workers than it does on its executives'.