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Nobel for medicine awarded to 3 scientists for work that helps map the brain
A method that controls nerve signals with light, developed by an American and two Germans, has provided greater understanding of Alzheimer’s and is used in efforts to restore sight.
Sony introduces AI upscaling to base PS5; Marvel's Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei are first games to implement new tech
PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) remains exclusive to the PS5 Pro, which SIE says is the "gold standard"
2026 Outstanding Women in Business
The 18th annual Outstanding Women in Business awards recognize a dozen well-accomplished professionals from across the region and in many industries who go above and beyond. The committee selected the winners from more than 80 nominations, all of whom were worthy. The criteria evaluated each nominee’s professional achievements, community impact, ability to break the glass ceiling and mentorship of other professionals, particularly women. In addition to profiling these women in the following pages, the Worcester Business Journal will celebrate this year’s Outstanding Women in Business at a special luncheon on Oct. 28 at the College of the Holy Cross. To join the celebration of these exceptional women, visit WBJournal.com and register. – Mark Conti, editor This Year’s Judges Worcester Business Journal considered 54 Central Massachusetts professionals for the 2026 Outstanding Women in Business awards, based on 83 nominations. These nominees were independently evaluated by two volunteer judges, who scored each on their professional achievements, community contribution and mentorship of young professionals. Samantha P. McDonald is a partner at Bowditch. She is an experienced, client-focused real estate lawyer, concentrating on business and real estate property law. She has been recognized as a WBJ Power 100 in the Class of 2026 and a “Top Women of Law” in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Dr. Kavita Babu is chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at Heywood Healthcare, where she provides strategic and clinical leadership to advance high-quality, patient-centered care across the organization. She is also a member of the WBJ Outstanding Women in Business Class of 2025.
Labour standards increasingly shape market access and business competitiveness
A new ILO Brief examines how labour standards and responsible business expectations are increasingly shaping market access, supply chains and business competitiveness in Asia and the Pacific. It highlights the role of employer and business membership organizations in helping companies navigate evolving requirements and promote better labour outcomes.
Chelsea is leading Arsenal in the race for England international
New England star Alex Scott is one of the most sought-after players in European football, and Arsenal wants to add him to its squad.The Bournemouth midfielder has established himself as an outstanding...
Lexology Index Recognizes Five Hecker Fink Partners in 2026 Business Crime Defence Guide
Hecker Fink Partners Shawn Crowley, Jenna Dabbs, Mike Ferrara, Sean Hecker, and Amy Jeffress have been recognized in the Lexology Index guide for Business Crime Defence. The 2026 guide honors leading lawyers worldwide who “stand out among peers for their exceptional work representing companies, corporate officers, and individuals in criminal litigation arising from their business activities.”
Stanford Professor One Of Three Scientists Awarded The Nobel Prize In Medicine
Stanford professor Karl Deisseroth joins Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel as winners of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on optogenetics.
Integral Ad Science to Provide Brand Safety and Suitability Measurement in ChatGPT Ads
NEW YORK, October 05, 2026--As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes digital advertising, marketers face a critical new challenge: ensuring brand safety and suitability within dynamic, generative AI-native environments. Without independent verification, advertising in conversational channels risks creating a blind spot for enterprise brands seeking reliable media quality standards.
Physician Assistant Brandon Guth Earns Reid Health’s Advanced Practice Provider of the Year Award
Brandon Guth, PA-C, a physician assistant with Reid Medical Associates, is the second recipient of Reid Health’s Advanced Practice Provider (APP) of the Year Award for his commitment to clinical …
Walworth County dairy farmer specializing in raw milk says state is unfairly fining his business
Chaz Self said his dairy farm is producing grade A milk under Wisconsin's state standards, but was still ordered to pay a hefty fine. An online fundraiser has been created to cover those fines.
Look at OpenAI and Anthropic executives' political donations
One AI tech executive’s $25 million gift to a Trump PAC stands out among donations of other top execs.
Florida commissioner’s social media on science standards aims for attention
A roundup of Florida education news from around the state
Florida commissioner’s social media on science standards aims for attention
The big story: When Henry Mack III became Florida’s education commissioner in the summer, public education advocates expressed high hopes for the positive way he kicked things off with school official...
Yale School of Medicine On the Science of Childhood Anxiety, Say, Anxiety Disorders Are the Most Common Mental Health Challenges In Youth
Credit: Matt Bradbury October 5, 2026 - By Isabella Backman - Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health challenges in youth. Left untreated, they can disrupt the lives of both children and their families. The good news is that with intervention, most children will overcome these conditions. Across Yale School of Medicine, scientists are working to understand anxiety at every level, from common anxious behaviors to molecular biomarkers in the brain. They are using their findings to develop and disseminate new evidence-based treatments for childhood anxiety. Today, the go-to treatment for childhood anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a form of psychotherapy that teaches children skills for confronting anxious thoughts and helps them practice managing situations that cause anxiety. While it is the gold-standard treatment backed by considerable scientific evidence, up to 50% of children will not see sufficient benefit from CBT alone. Wendy Silverman, PhD, Alfred A. Messer Professor in the Child Study Center, co-directs the Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program alongside Eli Lebowitz, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center. One of their main interests is learning how to improve outcomes beyond CBT. “We’re developing cutting-edge, research-based knowledge that can reduce the suffering that anxiety causes children and their families,” says Silverman. Changing parent behavior YSM experts are investigating how to improve CBT outcomes for children by involving the parents. Silverman’s research has uncovered two main components of parent intervention that improve childhood anxiety: not enabling children to completely avoid the things that make them anxious and taking steps to enhance their autonomy. Parents may unintentionally reinforce their child’s anxiety by allowing them to avoid what makes them anxious. They also may unintentionally limit the children’s sense of autonomy by being overly intrusive. “One of the things that we take pride in is that we’ve focused on trying to understand what parents need to do, and to test our ideas and see if changing the parents’ behaviors is enhancing the effects of CBT,” Silverman says. “Our findings thus far suggest that they do." As much as CBT can be helpful, it can also be challenging to get one’s child to do the necessary steps for CBT to work. This is one important reason why Lebowitz created a novel intervention program for parents named Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). Existing intervention programs often teach parents to act as therapists for their child, such as training them on how to practice breathing exercises. “It makes sense, but this doesn’t work very well in practice,” says Lebowitz. “And part of the reason, I think, is that it’s not easy to get your kid to do things, especially if they’re not excited about doing it.” SPACE is unique because it focuses entirely on parent involvement and changing parental behavior—children are not involved in the sessions. For example, parents learn how to use supportive messages that convey confidence that their child can tolerate and manage distress. “It might sound like a parent saying to a child, ‘I get that this is really hard for you, but I know that you can handle it,’” Lebowitz says. The program also works with parents to identify the ways in which they are accommodating anxious behaviors. “We’ll pick one thing that parents are doing that is an accommodation and help them make a detailed plan for how they’re going to change that,” Lebowitz explains. Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Much of the existing research on SPACE has focused on parents of children under age 14. Ongoing studies are now exploring its use with parents of older teens. “Both anxiety and accommodation can interfere with normative developmental shifts during the teen years, including increased autonomy and individuation from parents,” says Rebecca Etkin, PhD, associate research scientist in the Child Study Center. “In this sense, SPACE may be particularly well-suited for anxious teens and their parents. We want to see whether it is effective during this distinct developmental window.” Unfortunately, many families in need of CBT face barriers, including limited availability of services and geographic constraints. One way to improve access is digital interventions. Silverman and her team are developing an evidence-based digitized intervention program for parents that they can access directly from their computer or smart phone. “The work we’re doing will be one of the very few parent interventions that is digitized and importantly tested for effectiveness,” she says. Creating interventions for anxiety-related challenges Silverman and Lebowitz recently received a generous gift to develop and test other interventions that help parents reduce other child anxiety-related behavioral and emotional difficulties, such as restrictive eating and unexplained somatic symptoms. One of these projects in particular focuses on understanding the risks of social media and its potential benefits, including offering a sense of connection. “A lot of research has focused on the idea that social media is harmful and the less of it the better,” says Lebowitz. “But we actually see is that this is not quite right—there are negatives, but there are also positives. So, we’re trying to get a little bit more nuanced of a picture.” The team is working with teens with social anxiety and their parents over an extended period to better understand their social media habits and how their anxiety levels affect engagement with different platforms. The teens will answer questions sent to an app on their phones about mood and social media usage in an effort to capture emotional responses as they unfold. “We hope to develop interventions that can help make the best of social media while protecting against the more problematic effects,” Lebowitz says. The brain’s role in anxiety Researchers are also testing therapies to address anxiety at the neurological and molecular levels. In collaboration with Dylan Gee, PhD, professor of psychology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine, Lebowitz and Silverman are using brain imaging to identify changes in a child’s brain before and after parents enroll in SPACE. In one study, children viewed anxiety-inducing images while undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the researchers conducted scans with and without the children’s parents nearby. Before SPACE, children’s brains were better able to activate the regulatory circuitry needed to turn off an anxious response when their parents were nearby. But after SPACE, children could activate this circuitry even without the parent around. “As parents work on gradually reducing some of their accommodations, you can see a child get better at regulating their own fear system in the brain,” Lebowitz says. “It’s remarkable.” Research into the molecular underpinnings of anxiety can also inform new childhood anxiety treatments. In a recent study, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Flora Vaccarino, MD, Harris Professor in the Child Study Center, discovered that a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) could be protective from the toxic effects of stress. FGF2 levels in children and their parents were linked to the children’s risk of developing anxiety and depression, the study showed. The findings could help explain why some children who are exposed to early life trauma such as poverty or abuse are more prone to developing mental health disorders. And FGF2 could be a target for treatment. “This is very novel because it starts to give a clue to what is the molecular chain that connects those lived experiences to the actual psychological outcomes,” Lebowitz says. New ways to study and treat childhood anxiety Michael Crowley, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center, collaborates with Silverman and Lebowitz to study the role that attention plays in development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. There is a large body of research that shows that anxious children, like anxious adults, are prone to focus on threatening stimuli such as angry faces compared with neutral faces. This has led to innovative interventions that involve attention retraining. The idea is that if experts train children to look away from threatening stimuli, it may reduce their anxiety—especially children with social anxiety who are most prone to attend to threats. The researchers have just completed a clinical trial for attention retraining with 10- to 14-year-olds with social anxiety disorders and are currently analyzing the findings. Besides this innovative attention retraining research, as Crowly notes, “I like to design tasks that are engaging to kids,” Crowley says. “My goal is to assess something without the kids knowing what we are assessing.” With this goal in mind, Crowley has created a virtual game, named Boom, to study threat processing in children with anxiety disorders. The game is similar to that of hot potato—the child and three digital players take turns virtually passing a ball to each other’s gloves. At some point, the ball turns into a bomb, and as the bomb lands in each player’s glove, the outline of the glove turns yellow. The goal is to avoid having the bomb go off in your glove. What isn’t obvious is that the game is designed to measure different types of threatening stimuli, both ambiguous and direct. In the game, the direct threat occurs as the bomb is traveling towards your glove. The ambiguous threat is the yellow outlined glove as it is unknown where the bomb will travel next. While children play the game, Crowley’s team measures their brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). The researchers have discovered that in kids with anxiety, the brain reacts more strongly to ambiguous threats than it does in their peers, but less strongly to direct threats. They believe that the initial abnormally large brain response to not knowing where the bomb is going impairs the brain's ability to properly respond when the threat is actually traveling the child’s way. “The brains of children with anxiety are unable to differentiate between threats you need to do something about and those that are not your problem.” Michael Crowley, PhD, develops innovative games for studying anxiety in children and adolescents.Credit: Matt Bradbury Based on these insights, Crowley hopes to study whether interventions like attention training could restore appropriate threat processing. Crowley’s team is also working on a test called the Balloon Risk Avoidance Task, which evaluates risk-taking and avoidance behaviors. It features a digital balloon that is full of air and about to burst. Kids have six seconds to let air out of the balloon. The more air they let out, the less risk they face that the balloon will pop. But at the same time, the balloon becomes less valuable as it deflates. “The more air you keep in the balloon, the more points you get,” Crowley explains. So far, the researchers have found that when the balloons pop unexpectedly, teens with social anxiety show distinct brain responses. Studying these responses can help psychologists understand the underlying pathways driving the various manifestations of anxiety. The genetics of anxiety When Thomas Fernandez, MD, associate professor in the Child Study Center and of psychiatry, was still in training, there was a lot of excitement about understanding the genetics associated with autism spectrum disorder. Since then, scientists have identified around 250 genes associated with autism. The genetic contribution to anxiety disorders, on the other hand, has historically received less attention. Anxiety is less heritable than autism, but the genetic contribution for anxiety disorders that emerge in childhood may be higher than for anxiety disorders overall. While scientists estimate the heritability of anxiety disorders in general to be around 30% to 50%, some studies suggest higher heritability for certain childhood-onset anxiety presentations. “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism,” Fernandez says. “So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism. So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” Thomas Fernandez, MD Associate Professor In the Child Study Center and in Psychiatry Now, Fernandez and Emily Olfson, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Child Study Center, are studying children and their parents to identify genetic changes that are present in the child but not the parents, known as “de novo mutations.” “All of us have some de novo mutations—maybe about 50 to 100 sprinkled throughout the genome,” Olfson says. “But when they occur within the coding regions of genes, they can be really disruptive.” Previous research shows that people with autism have higher rates of damaging de novo mutations than the general population. In 2022, Olfson, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Fernandez published a study on 68 children and their families that found that children with anxiety had similarly high levels of these mutations. Studying de novo mutations can help point the researchers to where they should be looking for genes associated with anxiety. “The end game is using the genes to steer us toward the right part of biology that we can then target to come up with better treatments,” Fernandez says. Building on those findings, the team is now studying more families to better understand how these de novo mutations, along with other genetic and environmental factors, shape pediatric anxiety disorders. They recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to enroll 750 new families over the next five years. Olfson is the principal investigator, with co-investigators Lebowitz, Fernandez, Silverman, and Shuangge Steven Ma, PhD, department chair and professor of biostatistics at Yale School of Public Health. Neurodevelopment, Risk Genes, and Mental Health Conditions - The Olfson Lab Joel Gelernter, MD, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, is interested in how different anxiety disorders differ genomically. “We are studying social phobia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, working to understand why people differ in their risk to these specific anxiety disorders and evaluating various risk factors,” he says. Gelernter was recently involved in one of the largest studies to date of the genomics underlying anxiety disorder. The study included around 122,000 people with anxiety disorders and around 730,000 without. It found that some genetic differences associated with anxiety were linked to signaling that helps reduce overactivity in the nervous system. Many anxiety medications available today work by targeting this process. “It’s nice when the biology that you get out of a large genome-wide study ratifies things that we already know because that can help increase confidence in further findings from the study,” Gelernter says. Uncovering the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders John Krystal, MD, Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, is interested in the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which anxiety is a major symptom. In the late 1980s, Krystal’s team discovered that the drug yohimbine activated symptoms in patients with PTSD. “This was the first time we could link a specific biological mechanism to the symptoms of PTSD,” Krystal says. At the time, he adds, this finding was highly controversial. “A lot of people felt that PTSD was a purely psychological syndrome that didn’t have an underlying biology.” Since then, Krystal has dived deep into understanding the neurobiology of PTSD to learn how to better treat it. His team is evaluating the use of ketamine and psychedelics. These would be among the first treatments to be developed specifically for PTSD. They may also be applicable for other disorders including anxiety disorders, Krystal adds. An important gap in PTSD treatment is the absence of biological tests that inform how to best help patients manage their PTSD symptoms. A doctor doesn’t diagnose cancer based on how they feel. Rather, they use tests of the biology of the cancer to determine the best course of treatment. “And we can’t do that in any psychiatric disorder other than Alzheimer’s disease,” Krystal says. “But now we are building a foundation for this approach to the treatment of anxiety disorders for the first time.” Source: Yale School of Medicine
Study: IL lawyers report mental health challenges, substance abuse, suicide ideation
(CAPITOL CITY NOW) - For many lawyers, the effects of the job can include declining mental health, substance abuse, problem gambling, suicide ideation, and even declining cognitive skills. These are the results of a survey of Illinois attorneys, "The Weight of Practice," commissioned by the Illinois Lawyers' Assistance Program. Factors include the stress of being
Why the Trump administration is reluctant to call the ongoing conflict with Iran a 'war'
Trump administration officials have attempted to distance themselves from the word 'war' when discussing the ongoing conflict in Iran.
2026 business priorities: 5 trends shaping investments, talent and AI
Old National Bank’s annual business report is out for 2026. Read year-over-year sentiment from the last five years and understand what’s new.
Central Asia's growing commitment to university sport on full display in Tashkent and Samarkand
The 1st Central Asia Student Sports Federations Forum, held from 29 September to 2 October 2026, brought together FISU leadership, FISU Central Asia and national university sports federations from across the region, confirming the growing political and institutional commitment to student sport in Central Asia. National delegations from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan attended […]
Processed meat may be causing rise in bowel cancer
Food safety expert says chemicals in bacon and ham giving them their pink colour are ‘one of the main suspects’
Are Babies Conscious?
By pinpointing when it begins in young humans, scientists hope to better understand what consciousness is, and how it arises, in all of us.
New quantum chip taps into weird quasiparticles to get qubits to communicate over long distances
Scientists have developed a new type of architecture for quantum computing chips, and it could pave the way for machines capable of large-scale processing.
From floating saunas to clinical trials: How heat might help mental health
While scientists have a decent understanding of how sauna and other forms of heat exposure exercises our cardiovascular system, they know relatively little about its impact on mental health.
From floating saunas to clinical trials: How heat might help mental health
While scientists have a decent understanding of how sauna and other forms of heat exposure exercises our cardiovascular system, they know relatively little about its impact on mental health.
HEALTH AND FITNESS: Celebrate Walktober by going for a walk
Now that the extreme heat of our seemingly endless summer weather is behind us, being active outdoors is more enjoyable. October is a great time to get outdoors and go for a walk! That is the spirit of Walktober, an initiative adopted by health organizations, companies and communities around the globe.
Pee Dee business leaders worry poor infrastructure, workforce shortages will limit economic growth
Pee Dee business leaders have high ambitions to expand commercially and develop the region, but many also worry that utility and infrastructure issues could limit economic growth.
From floating saunas to clinical trials: How heat might help mental health
Many people are turning to sauna because of its benefits for their mental health. While scientists have a decent understanding of how sauna — and other forms of heat exposure — exercises our cardiovascular system, they know relatively little about its impact on depression, anxiety and mood. But more studies are being done to understand this connection and why heat appears to act as a powerful antidepressant. NPR's Will Stone visits a "floating sauna village" in Oslo where a husband-wife team are conducting one of the first trials on the link between sauna and mental health — and talks to one of the leading researchers in the U.S about her efforts to study this. Morning Edition consumer health segment for October 5
Averly Health launches to transform cardiometabolic care in the UK
Joint venture between Reset Health and Pharmacy2U creates the first and only fully integrated national cardiometabolic care provider.Averly Health will set a new standard for access and outcomes to transform the population’s health across chronic diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.Averly Health combines Reset Health’s specialist cardiometabolic clinical expertise with Pharmacy2U's market-leading digital prescribing and pharmacy infrastructure to deliver a seamless
Eagles Fans Hurl Projectiles at Rams Coaches in Ugly Altercation
The Philadelphia Eagles blew a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4.That alone would be reason enough for Eagles fans to lose their minds. However, according to one person in the stands, there was another reason why Philly fans blew their lid during Sunday’s 24-20 loss.X user @RBPhillyTake posted a video […] The post Eagles Fans Hurl Projectiles at Rams Coaches in Ugly Altercation appeared first on HEAVY.
The Surprising AI-Driven Tailwinds For BPO Growth
The market is understandably focused on the headwinds that artificial intelligence creates for the services industry.
‘They misunderstand science’: Research attempting to tie autism to changes in the gut microbiome comes under fire
besity, liver disease, diabetes, and cancer are all chronic diseases that inflict misery across millions of patients. Imagine if bacteria could be to
Skulls Buried Around Egypt's First Kings Reveal Evidence of Human Sacrifice 5,000 Years Ago
Modern forensics gives us a new understanding of an ancient mystery.
Broncos open road favorites in Week 5 vs. Chargers
The Broncos are 3.5-point road favorites against the Chargers in Week 5. The over/under stands at 42.5 for this matchup.
Where These Three Knicks Stand in Contract Extension Negotiations
As the season approaches, the Knicks have three players they may extend soon.
Amidst Conflict in the Gulf, Oman's Duqm Drydock Sees Business Boom
The Asyad Group’s Drydock subsidiary, which operates a substantial facility within the inner harbor at Duqm in Oman, has seen a massive expansion of i...
Training for Your First Marathon? Avoid These Common Injuries
As fall gets underway, runners, across the country begin mapping out training schedules for upcoming long-distance events. For new distance runners, however, increasing mileage can introduce an unwelcome training partner: injury.
Study says San Antonio's mental health care access is worst in the U.S.
San Antonio tied for the worst access to mental health treatment facilities nationwide, based on travel distance and the number of nearby options, according to a recent study.
From nearsightedness to self-harm: Meta-review looks at how digital media impacts young people’s health
The authors of an expansive new series in ‘The Lancet’ argue that gaps in our understanding about digital harms shouldn’t delay urgent policy action.
Northwestern’s Top PFF Grades Highlight Dominant Win Over Penn State
Northwestern received impressive PFF grades on both sides of the ball after its 34-13 win over Penn State, led by Joseph Himon II, Caleb Komolafe and several defensive standouts
Kyle Monangai picks up two rushing TDs in Week 4
Bears RB Kyle Monangai has outstanding performance in win
'Dancing with the Stars' Week 5 theme revealed: It's Super Bowl Night
The Week 5 theme for "Dancing with the Stars" has been revealed. Here's what to know about Super Bowl Night and what viewers can expect from the remaining celebrity contestants.
Instant analysis from Patriots’ 29-26 win over Bills
Observations from Week 4 at Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo Bills Lose 29-26 To New England: Instant Reactions
Josh Allen’s late-game interception and a defensive collapse derailed Buffalo’s perfect season, overshadowing record-breaking milestones and a breakout performance from wide receiver Keon Coleman in New England.
Maala: The ESG engine quietly rewiring Israeli corporate culture
Maala’s influence is quiet, but structural. It is shaping expectations in boardrooms, guiding investor scrutiny, and setting the standards by which corporate leadership is increasingly judged
SMU Is Winning Ugly at the Right Time
The Mustangs have not looked like the same offense they were early in the season, but a 4-1 record and a favorable ACC picture have kept them firmly in contention.
Pakistan: Imran Khan supporters demand ex-PM's release
Thousands of Imran Khan supporters have begun a trek to Islamabad to demand he be freed as Pakistan's political leadership remains in deadlock. The government has set up roadblocks to keep protesters at bay.
Ravens-Titans inactives: Ronnie Stanley, Zay Flowers to play
The Ravens deactivated four players for their Week 4 matchup with the Titans.
UCSB AGU Honors: Three Earth Science Researchers Recognized for 2026
Three UC Santa Barbara researchers have been honored by the American Geophysical Union for their outstanding contributions to earth and space science.
Retailers are making returns harder. A carpet seller taught me why that’s a mistake
A standard business practice offsets future costs by funding a reserve for returns – but many small businesses don’t do it
Aho scores 2, Hurricanes beat Flyers 3-2 in OT for first win of season
The win was Carolina's first of the season after the Stanley Cup champions opened with a pair of losses.
Patriots vs Bills live updates: Score, highlights, analysis
The Patriots play the Bills in a pivotal Week 4 AFC clash. Follow live score updates, highlights, injury news, key plays and instant analysis.
How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy
Hey all, Jason here. Money20/20 is still two weeks away, but I’ve already started packing (not procrastinating for once!). My calendar is already filling up with various sessions I want to catch, meetings, and of course happy hours, dinners, and other side events. If you’ll be in Vegas and want to catch up, let me know by replying to this email, and we can try to find a time amidst the chaos of the Venetian. A big if not totally unexpected piece of news dropped on Friday: the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group that represents smaller U.S. banks, filed a lawsuit against the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould, arguing that the regulator’s move to grant trust bank charters to firms seeking to use them to conduct substantial non-fiduciary activities exceeds the authorities granted to the OCC by Congress. I haven’t had time to fully digest the legal filing or speak to folks in my network about it, but you can expect to see coverage and analysis on it in next week’s newsletter. Subscribe or Support by Upgrading The NerdCon agenda just dropped. It’s stacked. Partner content: Nubank built an AI-first bank. Chime built its own banking core. Figure and Valon are rebuilding the mortgage stack. At NerdCon, you’ll hear from the people behind those bets: what they chose, what they learned, and what they’re still figuring out. The agenda is live, with leaders from Nubank, Chime, OpenAI, Remitly, Mercury, Figure, Valon and more. Follow the mainstage conversations, bring the problem your team is wrestling with to a hands-on workshop, or pull up a chair at a roundtable. Pick your quests. Meet us in San Diego, November 18–20. Fintech Business Weekly readers save 20% with code FBW20. Explore the Agenda Things To Know & Other Good Reads Federal Reserve Board finalizes changes to enhance the transparency and public accountability of its stress test and reduce volatility in its stress test-related capital requirements (Federal Reserve Board of Governors) FDIC Announces Conclusion of Independent Monitorship (FDIC) Modernizing Financial Regulation: Initial Observations from eSLR (Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman) The Data Version of Godzilla versus Kong: FRED Takes on AI (Fed Governor Christopher Waller) Financing the AI buildout (Brookings) Q3’26: Rules for Banks but Not for Crypto (Fintech Takes Banking) The Inevitability of Local Stablecoins (Lombard Notes) Delusions of AI Governance: The Human-in-the-Loop Comfort Blanket (Fintech Snark Tank) Stripe agrees to acquire Parafin to expand revenue opportunities for platforms and help small businesses grow (Stripe) Listen: Fighting Fraud in the Age of AI, with SEON’s Tamas Kadar (Fintech Business Weekly) How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy If there is one overarching theme across the economy and politics in the U.S. at the moment, it’s “affordability.” The term is vague enough to encompass a panoply of factors shaping Americans’ day-to-day lives: rising costs for the hallmarks of being “middle class,” including healthcare, housing, childcare, and education, inflation and rising interest rates, and a job market with the specter of AI hovering over it. At the same time, policy shifts under the Trump administration have resulted in reduced subsidies to those who get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and new restrictions on qualifying for Medicaid and SNAP, the impacts of which have yet to be fully felt. These factors are contributing to declining consumer confidence and general dissatisfaction with the economy, despite continuing GDP growth and stock market records. This divergence is encapsulated in the idea of the “K-shaped” economy, in which a small proportion of Americans have seen their wealth balloon, while the majority of American households struggle to preserve the lifestyle they have. Perhaps the greatest determinant of which branch of the “K” a household is on is whether their wealth and income are primarily derived from employment vs. from assets. Nearly two decades of low interest rates and, more recently, elevated rates of inflation have benefited asset owners, while those whose income is primarily or solely derived from labor have largely seen real purchasing power stagnate or decline. This is reflected in recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that labor share of U.S. GDP — the fraction of economic output that accrues to workers as compensation in exchange for their labor — dropped to just 52.8% in Q2 2026, the lowest since the BLS began keeping records. In 1947, approximately 2/3rds of economic output accrued to workers; even as recently as 2001, labor’s share of GDP was 64.1%. Against this backdrop, we’ve seen the rise of more credit and credit-like products: cash advance apps, “no-fee” overdraft, earned wage access, and buy now pay later, which are often used as small-dollar short-term borrowing mechanisms to meet immediate consumption needs or pay other bills (eg utilities, cell phone, other debt payments). With the markers of a middle class existence and, increasingly, basic financial stability seemingly out of reach for many, it should be no surprise there’s been an increase in “financial nihilism,” something industry peers like Alex Johnson and Frank Rotman have discussed and analyzed the roots of. The explosion of gambling and gambling-adjacent products and services — often marketed under the guise of being an “investment” — is inextricably intertwined with the rise of financial nihilism. Crypto, sports betting, and, more recently, prediction markets offer an escape or even hope of sorts, like a contemporary, digital version of a scratch-off lottery ticket, while leaving the overwhelming number of people who use such products worse off. Share of Households That Are Financially “Vulnerable” Ticks Up The Financial Health Network’s 2026 Financial Health Pulse® report adds context on how American households are faring. (I linked to this report in last week’s newsletter, but wanted to take time to further unpack the data in the report this week.) The Financial Health Network publishes the report annually, providing insight into how Americans’ financial circumstances are changing over time. The 2026 report is derived from a survey fielded in April and May 2026. The report leverages survey responses to assess indicators of financial health across spending, saving, borrowing, and planning/protecting and to determine a zero to 100 “FinHealth” score. Those with scores between 0 and 39 are considered “Financially Vulnerable,” consumers with scores ranging between 40 and 79 are defined as “Financially Coping,” and those with scores of 80 to 100 are “Financially Healthy.” The report found that moderate improvements in 2025 were reversed, with the share of respondents considered financially “vulnerable” rebounding to 17%. The longitudinal data reflect the impact of pandemic-era programs, like expanded unemployment, cash stimulus payments, and pauses of federal student loan payments. The positive impacts of those programs, as reflected in the Financial Health Pulse reports, had largely disappeared by 2023. While pandemic-era inflation — to be fair, in part caused by the various support and stimulus measures — had come down from as high as 9% in 2022, it has rebounded since the start of Trump’s second term, with tariffs and energy market disruptions owing to the war in Iran pushing prices back up. Specific indicators in the survey that deteriorated from 2025 to 2026 include the share of respondents spending less than their income over the past 12 months, the share paying all bills on time over the past 12 months, the share that have a manageable amount or no debt, the share that are “moderately” or “very” confident their insurance is adequate to cover them in an emergency, and the share that “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that their household plans ahead financially. Unsurprisingly, lower- and moderate-income households are more likely to struggle to pay their bills on time and have any funds leftover to save. The share of low-income households whose income exceeded their spending dropped from 35% in 2025 to 31% in 2026, while the share of upper-income households whose income exceeded expenses remained unchanged at 63%. Households with student loans or revolving credit card debt reported having “a bit more” or “far more” debt than was manageable at rates far higher than those not carrying these types of debts. The share of those with student loan debt indicating their debt load was too high to manage increased from 50% in 2025 to 55% in 2026, while the share of those with revolving credit card debt saying the same ticked up from 51% in 2025 to 54% in 2026. Households that had student loans were markedly more likely to be financially “coping” or “vulnerable” vs. those without student loans. In 2026, 27% of households with student loans were considered financially vulnerable, a jump of 6% points vs. 2025. Households without student loans saw just a 1% point increase (not statistically significant) in those considered financially vulnerable. Households’ perception of the affordability of categories of goods and services paints a stark picture, with less than one-fourth considering higher education affordable, about a third deeming childcare affordable, and less than half viewing healthcare as affordable. Fintech Business Weekly is made possible by the generous support of paying subscribers — bringing you independent analysis of banking, fintech, and crypto without fear or favor. You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber if you aren’t already. Paying subscribers enjoy: access to the entire archive of nearly six years of newsletters extended versions of the weekly newsletter, with additional content and analysis and (for founding member tier) quarterly personal 1:1 fintech Q&A / strategy calls with me, tapping into my unparalleled knowledge of the intersection of banking and fintech and experience working in the sector, including helping to launch Goldman Sachs’ retail bank Marcus Support Fintech Business Weekly You can also support Fintech Business Weekly by sponsoring a newsletter or podcast, putting you in front of 93,000+ of the most influential decision makers in banking, fintech, and crypto. Learn more about sponsor opportunities or request a media kit by dropping me an email. Democratic Senate Report Highlights How Iran Uses Tether to Evade U.S. Sanctions Iran uses stablecoins, specifically Tether, to evade sanctions, fund regional proxies, and to purchase military drones, a report released last week by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations says. The report was authored by committee ranking member Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and the minority staff. Crypto and stablecoin proponents will often push back on criticism that criminals make use of these assets by arguing that, on an absolute dollar basis, far more illicit funds flow through traditional banking systems and payment rails than via crypto and stablecoins. And while that is likely true, it elides the reality presented in news story after news story: whether state actors — Russia, Iran, North Korea — or criminal groups, those looking to engage in illicit transactions increasingly favor stablecoins and, specifically, Tether (USDT). The report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released last week adds context to how Iran uses Tether has a lynchpin in its shadow banking system. The report analyzed 846 wallets that have been sanctioned or targeted for seizure, finding that 84% of them transacted exclusively or primarily in Tether. The ability to create near limitless, anonymous wallets and to move funds effectively instantaneously and irreversibly have made crypto a favored financial mechanism for bad actors. Stablecoins solved key drawbacks of bitcoin, namely, the original cryptocurrency’s highly volatile value in dollars. And while Tether (the company) has the technical ability to “freeze” or destroy funds, the company is often limited and reactive in its approach to doing so, the Senate report argues. Tether, which is nominally based in crypto-friendly El Salvador, “has stated that its compliance with OFAC sanctions is ‘voluntary’ and that it follows ‘OFAC guidelines,’” the Senate report says. Owing to these favorable attributes, Tether “became a primary cryptocurrency for Iran, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Houthis beginning in 2023 and has expanded in scale since,” according to the report. Tether’s role in Iran’s shadow banking system, the report says, is enhanced by crypto exchanges like Bybit, Kyrrex, OKX, Gate, and Binance, and through “over the counter” exchanges and hawala networks. The consequences of these financial flows aren’t hypothetical. The Senate report links Tether as a funds transfer mechanism to Iranian proxies in the region, including Hizballah, the Houthis, and Hamas. Tether has also been used to make payments to secure components necessary to manufacture drones, the report says. The report concludes by arguing that “[s]tablecoin issuers with a significant nexus to the United States, particularly those that offer dollar-denominated stablecoins, should be subject to American sanctions law rather than being allowed to hide behind foreign jurisdictions.” Stablecoin issuers like Tether must be held accountable for repeated failures to prevent illicit finance and sanctions violations by law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and OFAC, the report argues. [Paying Subscriber Exclusive] OUSD Goes Live, Make Your Own Neobank, U.S. Sanctions Russia’s A7 Network As “Transnational Criminal Organization” OpenUSD, the stablecoin issued by the Open Standard consortium that includes Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, core providers, crypto firms, and numerous banks, went live last week. Social commerce platform Whop raised eyebrows in fintech by offering creators on its platform the ability to launch their own neobanks, which the company describes as “great businesses that are easy to run,” in just 15 minutes. And OFAC and FinCEN target Russia’s “shadow banking” A7 Network — more on these stories after the paywall.
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Education program in Eureka and Fortuna delves into brain health
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Saka moves past Beckham after superb England display
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Saturday Scoreboard
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VB Health Launches Public Seven-Part Supplement Quality Standard
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I spent years reviewing hotels. Motherhood changed my standards.
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HIGHLIGHTS: Wall vs. Midland Christian
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Science Hill shuts down East
By Eric Woods Tribune Sports Editor Science Hill raced past Morristown East without much resistance from the ‘Canes, shutting East out 58-0. It was the… Login to continue reading Login Sign up for complimentary access Sign Up Now Close
Friday Scoreboard
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Here are scores from around the area: College Volleyball:Sioux Falls 3, UMary 0Jamestown 3, Augustana 2 High School Football:#2 Brandon Valley, 38, #3 Harrisburg 12Roosevelt 40, Rapid City Central 0#4 O’Gorman 35, Washington 13#1 Jefferson 62, Omaha Westview (NE) 25#5 Lincoln 55, Rapid City Stevens 0#2 Tea Area 42, Brookings […]
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