A federal judge ruled on Monday that the Trump administration must reinstate an Obama-era requirement for companies to report how much they pay their employees, along with their gender and race — a move supporters say would address pay disparities among workers of different groups.
Details: The rule went into effect in September 2016, mandating private employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more workers disclose their pay data. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan said the Trump administration failed to justify that its move to block the regulation in August 2017 would ease the burden on employers. Chutkan's ruling reportedly affects over 60,000 companies that employee 63 million people.
Planned IPOs by Uber and Lyft will likely lead to pressure from shareholder activists who want the ride-hailing giants to act more aggressively on stemming carbon emissions.
Why it matters: The IPOs come as some analysts fear that the growth of ride-hailing is siphoning riders from more climate-friendly mass-transit options and adding to congestion.
For years, economists and other experts have been puzzled by a uniquely American anomaly: after centuries as probably the most restless place on the planet — its people shifting often thousands of miles around the country for a better life — the U.S. has at once become much more stationary.
The big picture: The explanations for all this stillness vary, but the most compelling are perhaps the simplest: people have dug in because there appears to be nowhere to go — no "promised land" of relatively high wages on which they can build greater dreams.
The U.S. announced plans Monday to end the preferential trade status that allows $5.6 billion worth of India's exports to enter the U.S. duty-free.
“India has not assured the United States that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets of India
— Trump's letter to congressional leaders explaining his plans
Details: The move is the latest step in President Trump's trade war, designed to cut U.S. deficits. India is the biggest beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the decision comes weeks before India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a general election. The action was made because of India's "failure to provide the United States with assurances that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets in numerous sectors," the Trade Representative’s Office said in its announcement.
What's next: The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said the changes would take at least 60 days after notifications to Congress and the governments of India and Turkey, which will also lose its status because the office said it no longer qualifies for the benefit.
As news about a possible truce between the U.S. and China in the trade war flowed last week the U.S. market was remarkably unshaken.
Why it matters: That's because investors aren't concerned about President Trump taking a hard line on a deal with China — one that would involve major reforms to their economy and the way the Asian nation does business.
