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Rare-earth elements spark resource war

Dave G. Houser Natural Resources

Rare-earth elements (REE) — also known as rare-earth minerals or rare-earth metals — are a group of 17 chemical elements of the periodic table. Although most of them are not terribly rare, they are highly strategic substances and vital components in most of the technology we employ every day. What is rare are deposits of these minerals in high enough concentrations to be feasibly and economically extracted. Presently, about 90% of the global supply of rare-earth elements comes from just one country: China.

When COVID-19 remains front and center

Keith Carlson Medical & Allied Healthcare

During the first half of 2020, prognostications regarding the course that the COVID-19 pandemic would take were as diverse as the individuals, countries, and organizations debating what might truly come to pass. The pandemic has remained front and center on the world stage as economies teeter on the brink, millions are sickened, and thousands continue to die. Even so, the possible outcomes for one of the most challenging times in recent human history remain beyond accurate prediction.

‘Travel, as we knew it, is over,’ but hopes remain for a different…

Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky talked about the future of travel in a recent CNBC interview. He stated: "Travel, as we knew it, is over. It doesn’t mean travel is over, just the travel we knew is over, and it’s never coming back. It’s just not." His statement made headlines, but he also suggested in the same interview: "… travel is going to come back. It’s just going to take a lot longer than, you know, we would have thought, and it’s going to be different."

Will the ‘beat China’ bill help the US win back pharmaceutical…

Bambi Majumdar Manufacturing

There has been a staggering 75% increase in U.S. imports of pharmaceuticals from China from 2010 to 2018. To help reverse this trend, some GOP U.S. Senators recently unveiled a bill to incentivize pharmaceutical companies and increase U.S. drug manufacturing. They worked to introduce the Bring Entrepreneurial Advancements to Consumers Here in North America (BEAT CHINA) Act. The goal is to reduce the country’s overdependence on China for critical medications and increase U.S. manufacturing of prescription drugs.

The risk of obeying an unlawful order

Rebecca Walker Donaldson Law Enforcement, Defense & Security

A month ago, protests erupted across the nation over the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. On May 31, 2020, President Trump warned that if state and local governments did not take actions that he deemed appropriate, then he would "deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them." The president’s threat prompted a broad discussion about whether the president has the legal authority to deploy the military to quell unrest in such a situation.

Is it time for your company to go to a 4-day workweek?

D. Albert Brannen Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The world of work may never be the same after the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. One casualty of the pandemic could be the structured five-day, in-the-office workweek. According to a survey conducted before the pandemic, over 40% of organizations offer some form of telecommuting and an even greater 57% offer some form of flexible work hours arrangement. This article examines some of the advantages of going to four-day or flexible workweek, along with some of the disadvantages and challenges to implementing a shortened or compressed schedule.

Small businesses rush for technological answers, advances during pandemic

Kevin Reynolds Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The coronavirus has upended the way small businesses operate for months. One of the longest-lasting impacts of the virus, though, will be how fast and how many small businesses have been forced into investing into technology. With contactless pickup, new payment methods, and cleaning services all far more important than they were at the start of the year, a common denominator in every industry is the need for innovation.

New advocacy group launches to help America’s small businesses

Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Policymakers, beware. Small Business for America’s Future (SBAF) is a new advocacy group, evolved from Businesses for Responsible Tax Reform. Why? Look no further than the performance of Congress and the White House as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered mom-and-pop shops with a crash in consumer demand across the U.S. SBAF surveyed 1,200 small business owners whose responses show the damage as Capitol Hill dithered. For instance, 53% of small business owners have increased debt during the pandemic.

Redlining: Why white people are typically wealthier than Black people

Patrick Gleeson Civil & Government

After a relatively long period of stable opinion, a confluence of early 2020 events has rapidly changed white Americans’ views on race, and, specifically, on why white Americans have so much more wealth than Blacks. Many white Americans, newly conscious of various inequalities holding Black Americans back, may believe these problems, once identified, can be remedied relatively quickly — if not in a few months, then certainly in a few years. A closer look at the wealth gap and its causes, however, suggests that remedies will be neither fast nor easy.

Airlines, governments, agencies take a stand on masks

Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

As cities open up and daily life begins to look like pre-coronavirus normal, COVID-19 cases are spiking and hospital beds filling in some regions due to a growing movement to eschew simple social protections. Most noticeable among these protections? The polite and practical donning of face masks. The practice is encouraged for outside and inside activities, but especially indoors, where one infected person can expose many with concentrated vigor.

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