JOURNALISMS

For Millions Of Out-Of-Work Americans The Pandemic Hardship Is About To Get A Lot Worse
JOURNALISMS, SOCIETY, WORK

For Millions Of Out-Of-Work Americans The Pandemic Hardship Is About To Get A Lot Worse

WORK Jeffrey Kucik, University of Arizona and Don Leonard, The Ohio State University Millions of unemployed Americans are set to lose pandemic-related jobless benefits after Labor Day – just as surging cases of coronavirus slow the pace of hiring. In all, an estimated 8.8 million people will stop receiving unemployment insurance beginning on Sept. 6, 2021. An additional 4.5 million will no longer get the extra US$300 a week the federal government has been providing to supplement state benefits. But with the pandemic still raging thanks to the rise of the delta variant, particularly in Southern states, the expiration of these benefits seems ill-timed. While some claim that the aid is no longer needed and doing more harm than good, we believe that the data tell another story. Benefits lo...
Would-Be Parents Can Lose Out On Having Children As A Result Of The Fertility Industry Being Poorly Regulated
JOURNALISMS, VIDEO REELS

Would-Be Parents Can Lose Out On Having Children As A Result Of The Fertility Industry Being Poorly Regulated

JOURNALISM'S Naomi Cahn, University of Virginia and Dena Sharp, University of California, Hastings When embryologist Joseph Conaghan arrived at work at San Francisco’s Pacific Fertility Center on March 4, 2018, nothing seemed awry. He did routine inspections of the facility’s cryogenic tanks, which store frozen embryos and eggs for clients who hope to someday have biological children. But what he found was not routine; it was an emergency. Almost all of the liquid nitrogen inside Tank 4 had drained out. Conaghan and his staff tried to save 80 metal boxes of frozen reproductive material, but it was too late. The contents had warmed, damaging or destroying 1,500 eggs and 2,500 embryos. Some belonged to a couple who traveled cross-country from their farm in Ohio, hoping to build their fam...
Payout Plans In Opioid Lawsuit Overlook A Vital Need: Pain Management Care And Research Focused On Smarter Use Of Addictive Drugs
HEALTH & WELLNESS, JOURNALISMS, VIDEO REELS

Payout Plans In Opioid Lawsuit Overlook A Vital Need: Pain Management Care And Research Focused On Smarter Use Of Addictive Drugs

HEALTH & WELLNESS Mark C. Bicket, University of Michigan The opioid crisis has resulted in more than 500,000 overdose deaths over the past two decades. The federal government, states and other entities have filed litigation against drug manufacturers, suppliers and pharmacies as one approach to address the harm and suffering caused by inappropriate opioid prescribing practices. Billions of dollars of funds have since been awarded, and more is likely to come. To ensure these funds are used in areas relevant to opioids, policy and public health groups led by experts at Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University and other organizations have proposed frameworks detailing priorities on what to do with the money. But none of them address the needs of one critical group: patients who suf...
Sexual Harassment And Discrimination In Gaming And Tech – The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Shows Gamer Culture Still Has A Long Way To Go
JOURNALISMS

Sexual Harassment And Discrimination In Gaming And Tech – The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Shows Gamer Culture Still Has A Long Way To Go

Eric Smalley, The Conversation Sexual harassment in gamer culture burst back into the spotlight on July 21, 2021, with news of California’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, publisher of top-selling video games Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, and a walkout by company employees. The lawsuit alleges a “pervasive ‘frat boy’ culture” at the company and discrimination against women in pay and promotion. The turmoil is an echo of the infamous Gamergate episode of 2014 that featured an organized online campaign of harassment against female gamers, game developers and gaming journalists. The allegations are also of a piece with a decadeslong history of gender discrimination in the technology field. We’ve been covering sexual harassment and gender discrimination in gaming – a...
3 Essential Reads About The CDC’s Expiring Moratorium As Millions Of Renters Face Eviction And Homelessness
JOURNALISMS

3 Essential Reads About The CDC’s Expiring Moratorium As Millions Of Renters Face Eviction And Homelessness

Bryan Keogh, The Conversation The White House and city officials across the country are scrambling to avoid an eviction crisis. The federal housing eviction moratorium that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put in place in September 2020 expires on July 31, 2021. After that, millions of Americans who owe tens of billions of dollars in unpaid rent will lose that protection and may face eviction and a loss of their homes. Meanwhile, a group of landlords is suing the U.S. government to recover damages it says its members suffered from not being able to evict tenants who didn’t pay rent. Although Congress allocated more than $46 billion for emergency rental aid, most of it hasn’t reached many of the people who need it as state and local governments struggle to distribute the mo...
‘Everyday Memorials’ Will Help – As Americans Return To Pre-Pandemic Life
JOURNALISMS

‘Everyday Memorials’ Will Help – As Americans Return To Pre-Pandemic Life

David Sloane, University of Southern California After more than 17 months of pandemic restrictions, Americans find themselves at an awkward cultural divide. As psychologist Adam Grant wrote in a New York Times article, some of us feel a true whoosh of joy at the first hug, maskless kiss and happy reunion. Many of us are shaking off post-pandemic blues by dining out, partying and grasping at every opportunity to reconnect with those family and friends that we missed for so long. On the other side of the divide are the people who are still sick, recovering from their illness or mourning. For the millions who lost loved ones, as nursing scholars Paul T. Clements, Laurel Garzon and Tammi F. Milliken have written – unexpected pandemic deaths resulted in an “overwhelming sense of helplessness,...
One Of America’s Deepest Downturns Was Also Its Shortest After COVID-19 Recession Bailout Bounceback
JOURNALISMS

One Of America’s Deepest Downturns Was Also Its Shortest After COVID-19 Recession Bailout Bounceback

Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University Thanks to a roaring economy, plunging joblessness and a consumer spending spree, it probably won’t come as a surprise that the COVID-19 recession is officially over. We didn’t know this, formally, however, until July 19, 2021, when a group of America’s top economists determined that the pandemic recession ended two months after it began, making it the shortest downturn on record. As an economist who has written a macroeconomics textbook, I was eagerly waiting to know the official dates. This is in part because I recently asked my Boston University MBA students to make guesses, and we all wanted to know who was closest to the mark. While many of my students ended up nailing it, I was off by a month. But why did it take over a year to learn the recessio...
Unlike Companies Traded On Wall Street – Trump Organization Indictment Hints At Downsides Of Having No Independent Oversight
JOURNALISMS

Unlike Companies Traded On Wall Street – Trump Organization Indictment Hints At Downsides Of Having No Independent Oversight

Bert Spector, Northeastern University A Manhattan grand jury indicted the Trump Organization and one of its top executives, Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, reportedly over a failure to pay taxes, according to multiple reports. The indictment is expected to be unsealed on July 1, 2021. I’m a scholar in corporate leadership and governance. While I can’t comment on the specifics of the case, I do know that private companies like the Trump Organization lack the safeguards of public corporations – like outside ownership and independent oversight. Moreover, impulsive decision-making by an individual or small, isolated group of followers, without those safeguards, can and often will lead to disastrous results. That appears to be what the ongoing criminal investigations into the Tru...
Why The G-7 Effort To End Tax Havens Is Unlikely To Succeed
JOURNALISMS

Why The G-7 Effort To End Tax Havens Is Unlikely To Succeed

Beverly Moran, Vanderbilt University Close your eyes and imagine a tax haven. Does a Caribbean island come to mind? Sand, surf and thousands of post office boxes housing shell corporations? Some tax havens, like the Cayman Islands or Bermuda, fit that description. Many others do not. The key to a tax haven is the taxes, not the tan. Any place that allows a taxpayer – whether an individual or a company – to get a lower tax bill overseas than at home is a tax haven. Thus, depending on the taxpayer’s jurisdiction and business, many places turn out to be tax havens, even the United States. A recent agreement by the Group of Seven wealthy nations seeks to eliminate corporate tax havens by imposing a global 15% minimum corporate tax rate. However, as a tax expert, I find the effort hard to t...