In The News

BBC: Finland’s Basic Income Trial Falls Flat

Laurence Peter April 24, 2018
Populations grow yet automation and productivity reduce job numbers and security. To reduce poverty, governments consider guaranteeing a universal income for their citizens. Finland launched a pilot program in 2017, when the unemployment rate exceeded 9 percent, for 2000 unemployed people selected randomly to receive monthly payments of $685 per month. Results are expected in 2019, but the...

Quartz: US Tightens H1B Visa Process

Ananya Bhattacharya February 23, 2018
Skilled workers applying for the US H1B visa will face more scrutiny. Applicants will be expected to fill specialty roles in a specialty occupation, explains US Citizenship and Immigration Services. “Previously, the adjudicating officers did not have to review third-party contracts or the exact dates and place of third-party work,” reports Ananya Bhattacharya for Quartz. Workers will be required...

The Japan Times: Abe Calls for Foreign Employment Review to Bring in Overseas Skilled Workers

Reiji Yoshida February 21, 2018
Japan, with a low fertility rate, has an aging population and must either rely on foreign workers or do without some services. The number of registered foreign workers has increased from less than 500,000 in 2008 to to 1.28 million in 2017, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government makes plans for to allow more immigration. Cautious about abrupt cultural changes, he called for firm limits...

Project Syndicate: Ending the Business of Child Labor

Kailash Satyarthi November 16, 2017
Child labor is wrong, unnecessary and especially vile when wealthy consumers turn a blind eye to indulge in low-cost goods and services. In 1997, global leaders expressed a deep commitment to ending child labor, explains advocate and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, but since then “the world has not even halved the number of children in the workforce.” He estimates that more than 150 million...

Sports Illustrated: Tennis and Globalization

Jon Wertheim and Aryeh B. Bourkoff November 14, 2017
Tennis, while not the world’s most popular sport, has gained in global popularity largely because organizers and players have relied on globalization and technology to pursue top talent and expand interest. “Scan the top 25 players in the ATP rankings and, save Antarctica, you'll find representatives from every continent,” explain Jon Wertheim and Aryeh B. Bourkoff for Sports Illustrated. “...

The Star: Man Works Legally in Canada for 37 Years but the Government Considers Him “Temporary”

Nicholas Keung October 5, 2017
Low food prices from the agriculture industry rely on low-wage migrant workers, willing to do tasks, as it’s so often said, that citizens in wealthy nations do not want to do. Nicholas Keung, writing for the Toronto Star, profiles Patrick Stanio, age 66, who has worked in Canada for 37 years. “Despite his long history here and devotion to his job, Stanio has always been just a guest in Canada,”...

Project Syndicate: The Dangers of Demographic Denial

Adair Turner October 3, 2017
Too many leaders of emerging economies are counting on sizable numbers of young adults to become consumers and fuel growth. But technological advancements could contribute to high rates of unemployment. The term “demographic dividend” is misunderstood, explains Adair Turner for Project Syndicate. “The term was originally used to describe a transition in which countries enjoyed both a one-off...