White Collar Crime:
- Pharma Execs Arrested in Shockingly Organized Scheme to Overprescribe Notorious Opioid “The surge in opioid deaths is one of the reasons that United States life expectancy declined in 2015 for the first time in 22 years. In that same year, Insys reported a profit of $58.5 million.”
- Deutsche Bank to Pay $37 Million to End ‘Dark Pool’ Investigations
Jobs from Unlikely Industries:
- Marijuana Industry a Homegrown Source of Job Growth Legalize it in every state. It’s significantly less dangerous than alcohol. The alcohol industry contributes billions to the economy, pays billions in wages, and employs millions. Imagine what a marijuana industry could do.
The potential growth behind marijuana is incredible. Investment firm Cowen & Co. believes that legal marijuana sales could soar from $6 billion today to $50 billion by 2026. That’s a compound annual growth rate of nearly 24 percent over the next decade. But, the most phenomenal growth can be seen in pot industry employment.
According to CNBC, the marijuana industry currently employs about 150,000 people nationwide. This figure is, by itself, outstanding. Back in 1994, Dale Gieringer, a doctor working with California NORML, extrapolated the job-creating capacity of the weed industry and settled on a figure of 100,000 jobs if the drug were legalized nationally. We’ve only seen recreational pot legalized in a handful of states, and medical cannabis was only legal in half of all U.S. states heading into the November elections, yet we’re already 50 percent above Gieringer’s forecast with full legalization from a little over two decades ago.
Energy:
- World Energy Hits a Turning Point: Solar that’s Cheaper than Wind Fossil Fuels are dying. Renewable energy is the future and could provide huge numbers of jobs.
Labor Violations:
- Apple Owes $2 Million for Not Giving Meal Breaks I used to work at a company in CT where they would give you a paid half hour “break” during an eight hour shift where you weren’t allowed to eat or leave your desk. When I asked if this was legal since CT requires a 30 minute meal period for any shift over 7 1/2 hours, it turns out it technically was. If an employer provided a paid 30 minute “break,” they didn’t need to provide a meal period. I’m assuming whoever drafted this exception didn’t think you would be forbidden from eating on a “break.” The company was “generous” enough to waive this policy for a diabetic coworker. The rest of us were just required to not eat for eight hours.
Poverty:
- Poverty Simulation Gives Visceral Look at Life in a Low Income Family
- How America’s Largest Worker-Owned Co-Op Lifts People Out of Poverty
- Florida Receives D+ on Women’s Poverty and Access to Opportunity, with Wide Disparities by County
Affordable Housing:
- Grand Jury Targets Affordable Housing Scarcity
- Ben Carson, Housing, and Homelessness: Opportunities and Concerns
Misinformed Citizens:
Inequality:
- $253,088 Monthly in Retirement? That’s What’s Coming for Some CEO’s “The 100 CEOs studied have retirement funds equal to the entire retirement savings of 44% of white working class households, 59% of African-American families, 75% of Latino families and 44% of female-headed households, the Institute found.”
Quality of Life:
Worker Cooperatives:
- Worker Cooperatives Can Be Wealth Builders
- This Worker-Owned Cooperative is ‘Bigger than a Business’
Better Manufacturing Jobs in the US:
- CNN Host’s Attempt to Explain the U.S. Economy Was So Bad that I Started Yelling at the TV Germany would be a great example to look to for manufacturing jobs.
Ever Hear of Germany?
Instead of regurgitating meaningless economic platitudes, newscasters and pundits should confront some facts about Germany’s extensive manufacturing sector.
Fact #1: Germany uses the most advanced technologies in the world.
Fact #2: Manufacturing workers in Germany earn much more than their U.S. counterparts: 44.7% more in textiles, 44.6% more in chemicals, 34.2% more in machine tools, and 66.9% more in the automobile industry.
Fact #3: Manufacturing jobs make up 22% of the German workforce and account for 21% of the GDP. U.S. manufacturing jobs make up only 11% of our workforce and only 13% of our GDP.
Fact #4: The economic gods either speak German or the Germans are doing things differently from their U.S counterparts.
Rather than divine intervention, German manufacturing depends on producing high-quality products that are so good people the world over are willing to pay a premium for them. The most sought-after, high-end motor vehicles (Mercedes, BMW, Audi) and kitchen appliances (Bosch, Miele) are produced by German companies using highly trained, well-paid workers and the most advanced technologies.
The German manufacturing juggernaut depends on vast investments in innovation (by their government), in research and development (by their firms), and in worker education and training (by both the government and the firms).
Jobs:
- The Labor Market Experience for Blacks and Whites Has Been Similar Since the Great Recession This is a good response to the New York Times article that I posted recently.
Universal Basic Income:
Helping the Homeless:
Debtors’ Prisons:
The Dying American Dream 