U.S.stores have been closing at a faster rate in 2017 than at any time since the recession, an American phenomenon being dubbed "retail apocalypse." Though this has so-far been largely a worry for U.S. retailers, the Wall Street Journal reports that investors in Europe are worried that it is now spreading abroad.
Why it matters: As Amazon expands abroad and continues to win market share, expect accusations that this American juggernaut is stealing business from domestic firms and killing traditional retail.
Congressional investigations and media reports are shedding light on ways Russians use social media to cause division and chaos in the U.S.
Why it matters: The revelation that Russian actors meddled in the 2016 election through Facebook ads have led to intense scrutiny into how social media was leveraged to sow chaos and create divisions among Americans. As congressional investigations ramp up and details leak out, a clearer picture is emerging of the tactics used to interfere with American democracy.
Denis McDonough, former chief of staff to President Obama, has a new task: Getting more Americans a job in the modern workforce. McDonough has been tapped to chair Rework America, a Markle Foundation initiative. Why it matters: Half of adults living in distressed zip codes are trying to find gainful employment in the modern economy armed with only a high school education at best."Many workers have the skills employers are looking for to fill open positions, but don't know it because too many job listings are written in a way that excludes qualified job seekers rather than attracting them. They use credentials like a four-year degree as a proxy instead of listing the actual skills needed to work a job – which is a problem, since nearly seven in 10 Americans don't have a four-year degree but many have the relevant skills." — Denis McDonoughBig tech on board: Companies involved in the effort include Siemens USA, Microsoft, IBM, Princeton University, Hearsay Systems and Coursera.
A spate of recent reports is challenging an article of faith — that the modern economy is sticking it to the little guy, offering up no wage increases for years. The research documents back-to-back income increases in 2015 and 2016, and suggests that the main problem now is not stagnant wages, but a shortage of labor.
But don't get too excited: Economic data actually conflict. And there is a major fact many are leaving out: even though earnings have turned upward since 2015, they are still barely higher, adjusted for inflation, than two decades ago.
"Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House," about the late FBI second-in-command who turned out to be Woodward and Bernstein's "Deep Throat," opens Friday in New York and L.A.
The most famous phrase associated with Deep Throat (spoken to Bob Woodward in "All the President's Men," the movie, but doesn't appear in the book): "Follow the money."
For decades, because North Korea has defied the international community's demand that it give up its nuclear ambitions, it has become the target of escalating sanctions — the latest of which, says Stephan Haggard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, are "perhaps the most significant ... with respect to any country ever."
