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Category Archives: Economy

FTC’s Noncompete Rule: What You Should Know

  • Under the final Noncompete Rule, the FTC adopts a comprehensive ban on new noncompetes with all workers, including senior executives.
    • The final rule provides that it is an unfair method of competition—and therefore a violation of Section 5—for employers to enter into noncompetes with workers.
    • Note: The regulation’s effective date is 120 days after Federal Register publication – not after the FTC’s public announcement.
  • For existing noncompetes, the final rule adopts a different approach for senior executives than for other workers. For senior executives, existing noncompetes can remain in force. Existing noncompetes with workers other than senior executives are not enforceable after the effective date.

It’s the End of the Web as We Know It

The Atlantic [unpaywalled] – A great public resource is at risk of being destroyed. By Judith Donath and Bruce Schneier: “The web has become so interwoven with everyday life that it is easy to forget what an extraordinary accomplishment and treasure it is. In just a few decades, much of human knowledge has been collectively written… Continue Reading

What Really Happens When You Trade In an iPhone at the Apple Store

Bloomberg [unpaywalled]: Apple touts its network of shredding robots and contractors as a greener way to reuse old gadgets. A lengthy court battle and a Businessweek investigation have cast some light on the recycling industry’s dirty secrets. Few workers at the recycling plant had access to the secure room that some called the “Apple cage.”… Continue Reading

America’s Highest Value International Exports, by State

OnDeck: “The U.S. trade deficit hit nearly $1 trillion in 2022, as America imported some $948.1 billion more than it exported. This $103 billion increase on the previous year’s deficit came as the U.S. and its partners sought to restructure and redefine global supply chains following pandemic disruption and trade barriers with China — with… Continue Reading

Microplastics are everywhere — we need to understand how they affect human health

Microplastics are everywhere — we need to understand how they affect human health. Nat Med 30, 913 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-02968-x. “As evidence emerges describing the accumulation of small plastic particles in various organs and tissues of the body, a much deeper understanding of the effects of these particles on human health is urgently needed. The world… Continue Reading

The Flooding Will Come “No Matter What”

ProPublica – The complex, contradictory and heartbreaking process of American climate migration is underway –  “This article is an excerpt from the book “On The Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America,” about climate migration in the U.S. For more, see abrahm.com. “Another great American migration is now underway, this time forced by… Continue Reading

Where our food crops come from

‘Explore the geographic origins of our food crops – where they were initially domesticated and evolved over time – and discover how important these “primary regions of diversity” are to our current diets and agricultural production areas.” Read more about the study → The interactive crop map displays the native origins and primary regions of… Continue Reading

Child Opportunity Score for 100 largest US metros

Axios: “Metro areas across the South and Southwest, with few exceptions, offer worse conditions for children to grow up healthy and become successful adults, according to data from researchers at Brandeis University. Why it matters: The Child Opportunity Index seeks to quantify childhood opportunity based on education, health care and the environment, Axios’ Alex Fitzpatrick,… Continue Reading

Climate crisis: average world incomes to drop by nearly a fifth by 2050

The Guardian: “Average incomes will fall by almost a fifth within the next 26 years as a result of the climate crisis, according to a study that predicts the costs of damage will be six times higher than the price of limiting global heating to 2C. Rising temperatures, heavier rainfall and more frequent and intense… Continue Reading

The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat

The Verge: “…The world’s emails, TikToks, classified memos, bank transfers, satellite surveillance, and FaceTime calls travel on cables that are about as thin as a garden hose. There are about 800,000 miles of these skinny tubes crisscrossing the Earth’s oceans, representing nearly 600 different systems, according to the industry tracking organization TeleGeography. The cables are… Continue Reading

Dow Jones Debuts Its Smart Money Financial Literacy Site

“Dow Jones Smart Money is your resource for creating a better financial future. For any age, any experience level, any goal—start building financial knowledge today with smart insights and trusted experience from Dow Jones money experts. We’ll be adding new topics, more videos, free resources and live events here soon, so watch this page for… Continue Reading