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Current NFL HC Emerges as Potential Lions DC
The Detroit Lions have not even fired their defensive coordinator, Kelvin Sheppard, and there are already ties and potential dots connecting to who the next coordinator is. While Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles is currently employed as well, his seat is as hot, if not hotter, than Sheppard.So, with Bowles needing a job […] The post Current NFL HC Emerges as Potential Lions DC appeared first on HEAVY.
Ford changes PTO policy to stay 'competitive'
Ford Motor Co. on Thursday notified salaried employees of changes to its paid-time off policy starting in 2027, including the elimination of a program to purchase vacation time and changes
Griffin College of Business Hosts Third Annual Internship Open House
More than 150 students connected with 10 employers during the Neil Griffin College of Business Internship Open House. Students and recruiters came together on campus to discuss internships, career pat
Opinion | Shaul: Missouri Employers Need More Choices to Control Health Care Costs
For Missouri grocers, the rising cost of health care isn't an abstract policy debate. It's a cost they deal with every month as they work to provide health insurance for their employees and their families.
Report: Iowa economy seeing ‘positive change’ this year
The Iowa Business Council (IBC) has released its third quarter Economic Outlook Survey (EOS) for 2026. That survey is showing encouraging signs for Iowa businesses, according to IBC officials. The Iowa Business Council (IBC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose 22 members are the chief decision makers of the state’s largest employers. Since its establishment […]
New state program helps business owners explore employee ownership
Feasibility studies and valuations are a key first step in converting a business to an ESOP model.
Meet the 2026 Contingent Faculty Award Winners for Excellence in Scholarship, Teaching, or Leadership in the Profession -
The Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Teaching, or Leadership by Contingent Faculty recognizes scholars who have made significant contributions to the field of political science without the support of tenure-track employment. This award is sponsored by APSA’s Committee [...]
Meet the 2026 Contingent Faculty Award Winners for Excellence in Scholarship, Teaching, or Leadership in the Profession -
The Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Teaching, or Leadership by Contingent Faculty recognizes scholars who have made significant contributions to the field of political science without the support of tenure-track employment. This award is sponsored by APSA’s Committee [...]
Some furloughed Star Wars Zero Company developers are returning to work, studio says
Bit Reactor, the Maryland based company, behind this summer’s well-received tactical combat game Star Wars Zero Company says that “more” of its team is returning to work after being furloughed ahead of the game’s release. This is the studio’s first statement on the matter since Game File’s August report that “most” of the development team had been furloughed—technically kept as employees, but without pay or benefits—a few weeks prior to launch. Some of those furloughs ended this week. “This week, we started the process of returning more of our team back to work at Bit Reactor, an important step forward in our continued support for Zero Company, “ Bit Reactor CEO Greg Foertsch said in a statement. He continued: “Having to ask team members to step away after we navigated unexpected business developments outside of our control and so close to launch was an incredibly difficult decision, but one that was necessary to help us eventually bring as many people back as possible. “This team means a tremendous amount to me, and I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together. Thank you to our fans for the incredible response to the game and for supporting us along this journey. We look forward to sharing more updates regarding Bit Reactor and Zero Company soon.” Game File reported in August that Bit Reactor had retained a small team to work on updates for Zero Company. One person familiar with the situation told Game File that the returns announced today bring the studio’s pay-rolled headcount to more than half of what it had been ahead of the furloughs. That means a considerable number of people have been brought back, but that a fair number also remain without pay. While companies in the U.S. are often legally required to publicly disclose how many people they’ve laid off, furloughs can often be kept private, for a time. The United States Department of Labor requires companies to publicly report mass furloughs if they meet specific criteria, including any expectation that they will last more than six months. For those game makers who remain furloughed by Bit Reactor, it’s now been about two months. For more about Bit Reactor, the furloughs, the studio’s back-story and the ongoing lawsuit that brought this to light, read my August report. [ ‘Most’ of Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor was furloughed ahead of launch ](https://www.gamefile.news/p/star-wars-zero-company-bit-reactor-furloughs-lawsuit) Stephen Totilo · Sep 1 Last week was meant to be a moment of triumph for Bit Reactor, the Maryland-based game studio founded in 2021 with ambitions to create a great new tactical combat game. [ Read full story ](https://www.gamefile.news/p/star-wars-zero-company-bit-reactor-furloughs-lawsuit)
Covering the Cost: The cost of health insurance plans and Medicare
Annalisa Burgos talks with health insurance and Medicare expert Martha Khlopin, about what you need to know when enrolling in a health plan and shifting from employer-paid insurance to Medicare.
AHS Band leaders share ‘Science of Sound’ with Julian Newman Elementary students
Dr. Lloyd Jones and the Pride of Athens Golden Eagle Marching Band Leadership Team recently visited Julian Newman Elementary School (JNES), where Athens High School students brought science to life […]
Report: Iowa economy seeing ‘positive change’ this year
The Iowa Business Council (IBC) has released its third quarter Economic Outlook Survey (EOS) for 2026. That survey is showing encouraging signs for Iowa businesses, according to IBC officials. The Iowa Business Council (IBC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose 22 members are the chief decision makers of the state’s largest employers. Since its establishment […]
Argonne-Led Campaign Aims to Improve Midwest Storm Predictions
A new U.S. Department of Energy research campaign will deploy advanced instruments from Ames, Iowa, to Chicago, Illinois, to study how differences in land surfaces, from farmland to cities, impact the formation and intensity of energy-disrupting storms. LEMONT, Ill., Oct. 7, 2026 — Every year, destructive storms cause billions of dollars of damage to homes, […]
The Politics of Sustainability Have Changed. The Business Case Hasn’t.
Corporate sustainability may have fallen out of favor in some executive and political circles, but the business case remains strong: Companies continue to invest because sustainability initiatives can deliver measurable gains in profitability, resilience, and growth. Drawing on research from NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business and other recent studies, the article shows how four areas in particular—circularity, decarbonization, sustainable sourcing, and employee well-being—can lower costs, reduce risk, strengthen supply chains, improve productivity, and create new revenue opportunities. Examples from industries including automotive, healthcare, apparel, energy, consumer goods, and manufacturing illustrate how companies are capturing value through resource reuse, energy efficiency, resilient sourcing strategies, and investments in frontline workers. While the language of ESG may be losing momentum, the underlying business fundamentals have not changed: organizations that systematically address material environmental and social challenges, quantify the financial impact of their efforts, and embed sustainability into core decision-making are better positioned to improve operational performance and create long-term enterprise value.
The Politics of Sustainability Have Changed. The Business Case Hasn’t.
Corporate sustainability may have fallen out of favor in some executive and political circles, but the business case remains strong: Companies continue to invest because sustainability initiatives can deliver measurable gains in profitability, resilience, and growth. Drawing on research from NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business and other recent studies, the article shows how four areas in particular—circularity, decarbonization, sustainable sourcing, and employee well-being—can lower costs, reduce risk, strengthen supply chains, improve productivity, and create new revenue opportunities. Examples from industries including automotive, healthcare, apparel, energy, consumer goods, and manufacturing illustrate how companies are capturing value through resource reuse, energy efficiency, resilient sourcing strategies, and investments in frontline workers. While the language of ESG may be losing momentum, the underlying business fundamentals have not changed: organizations that systematically address material environmental and social challenges, quantify the financial impact of their efforts, and embed sustainability into core decision-making are better positioned to improve operational performance and create long-term enterprise value.
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Your employment history may impact the health of your brain. A new study found that steady employment in midlife was associated with better memory and thinking
ICE reviewed tens of millions of voter records looking for noncitizen voters, records show
The Department of Homeland Security’s sweeping election-fraud operation has drawn on tens of millions of records, scrutinized dozens of nonprofit voter-registration groups and considered deploying undercover agents to investigate organizations suspected of helping noncitizens register to vote, according to newly obtained internal documents.
Push aims to keep North Dakota businesses local through employee ownership
In the state, there are 64 employee-owned businesses representing about 30,000 employee owners.
WHO seeks details from Russia on media reports of a second lab worker with pneumonia
The World Health Organization said it had requested information from Russian authorities on media reports of a second laboratory employee with pneumonia of undetermined cause.
NC treasurer: Atrium affordability program could bankrupt state employees’ health plan
State Health Plan officials say Atrium's new affordability program is "trickery" that will drive up costs for plan members and taxpayers
Amendment 87 will devastate Main Street, communities
Amendment 87’s supporters say a graduated income-tax system would impact only a small number of “wealthy” Coloradans. But that claim ignores the broader economic consequences for local employers, family businesses, farms, ranches and the communities that depend on them. Colorado’s small businesses sustain Main Street and rural economies across the state. If small businesses can […]
OU Health alerts patients after data breach involving former employee
OU Health has informed patients about a data breach after a former employee accessed sensitive medical records without authorization over several months.
Big premium hikes possible for retirees in Nevada worker health insurance program
Active employees will also likely experience premium hikes if their plan includes a spouse or their family. Active workers who are the only members of their plan will likely see modest premium decreases.
Russia pneumonic plague: Outbreak risk, symptoms, what to know
Fears of a pneumonic plague outbreak follow an Irkutsk lab employee's death last week. But the World Health Organization (WHO) says the risk is low.
Amazon crash attorneys say pilot pairing may have been key flaw behind fatal incident
The attorneys’ claims followed preliminary NTSB findings that the pilots faced excessive speed and failed to deploy key braking systems.
Police investigating after explosion damages Tacoma business
Three employees were inside at the time of the explosion, according to the Tacoma Police Department.
SUN: Orioles make layoffs within business ops ahead of expected MLB lockout
The Orioles laid off multiple employees from their business operations department Tuesday, according to an internal memo obtained by The Baltimore Sun that pres
Atrium Health's new Affordability Protection Program lowers costs for state employees
Atrium Health's new Affordability Protection Program, effective January 1, 2027, will reduce outpatient surgical care copays and lower inpatient hospital copays.
Forbes names science center as top 250 healthcare employer in new ranking
Forbes ranked the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio in the top 250 healthcare employers for 2026 alongside two other hospital systems in San Antonio. University Health was ranked at 128, Baptist Health System at 199 and the UT Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio at 240. This list determines which hospital systems...
Research suggests women living in states with abortion bans bear higher health insurance costs
New preliminary research from the University of Michigan shows women living in states with post-Dobbs abortion bans may be more likely to shoulder costs for employer-sponsored health insurance premiums, with federal data reflecting a 5.4% increase in annual premium expenditures for those women after 2022, when most abortion bans went into effect.
Orioles laying off members of business operations
The exact number of employees affected wasn’t immediately clear.
Justice Department tells employees to adopt Trump’s AI rebrand
“This directive shall extend to court filings when appropriate,” the memo titled Super Intelligence states, sources told NBC News.
How Russia and the world are responding to a possible case of pneumonic plague after lab worker death
The World Health Organization says a possible case of pneumonic plague in Russia presents a “very low” risk outside the country as investigators look into what caused the death of a lab employee there last week.
Federal Employees Face 10.9% Increase in Health Premiums as Open Season Dates Announced
Federal employees will pay higher prices for health insurance in 2027. On average, federal employees enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) will pay 10.9 percent more toward their premiums in 2027, marking the third straight year of double-digit increases in the employe
Sun Life research reveals the ripple effect behind small business success
As Canada's small businesses navigate a rapidly changing business environment, new research from Sun Life shows that success is about more than growing revenue. It's about building resilience. When owners feel confident in their ability to weather challenges and plan for the future, they're more likely to invest in their employees, strengthen their businesses and create lasting impact for the people who depend on them. The findings align closely with how Sun Life supports small business owners,
SAP-backed Tereina launches payment service inside SAP’s business software
Oct 6 (Reuters) - Tereina, a payments company in which SAP owns a stake, on Tuesday launched technology that lets businesses pay suppliers, employees and affiliates directly from their SAP software in traditional currencies or stablecoins. The launch...
Groundbreaking Ceremony Celebrates Aberdeen's Public Works Building, New Business Park
Past and present city officials gathered with numerous public works employees and state and local economic development officials to celebrate the start of
Exclusive: Chelsea wonderkid attracting transfer interest as January decision made
Olutayo Subuloye is rising through the Blues’ youth ranks, and was recently named Under-21s captain
In current anti-fraud climate, no room for error for home health, hospice agencies
After operating hospice, home health and other companies for over a decade in Arizona, Peter prided himself on his sound reputation in the community and employees’ loyalty. He never dreamed that a technical error on a routine hospice renewal application would lead to a revocation of his hospice’s Medicare enrollment and billing privileges and leave him fighting for his livelihood.
Little Rock board votes to fund construction of city employees’ health clinic
The Little Rock Board of Directors on Monday agreed to pay for the construction of a health clinic for city employees.
2026 Best Companies to Work for: 10. Cobalt Benefits Group: Business NH Magazine
Third-party administrator specializing in self-funded employee health plans and parent company of Great Bay Administrators.
John E. Sununu pressed on loyalty to Trump in Nashua forum
John E. Sununu pointed to his bipartisan approach to politics during his previous stretch in Congress while answering voter questions in Nashua on Monday.
WVU Medicine officially absorbs Independence Health System, welcomes new employees
Maloy and Udell clash on Utah's public lands in 3rd District debate
Republican Celeste Maloy and Democrat Kent Udell also offered competing approaches to energy, water, and wildfire management.
Is This A Healthcare Economy?
This analysis examines recent jobs growth in health care and how it compares to the rest of the economy. Health care employment has grown faster than other sectors of the economy, with jobs in physician offices, hospitals, outpatient care centers, home health, and other settings increasing over the past year even as the rest of the job market plateaued.
Poor leaders can tank employees’ mental health (and the company); his business summit puts workplace culture
“I’m a big believer in human to human connection because there’s so much loneliness and isolation happening,” explained Ebrima “Abraham” Sisay, host of the You Gotta No! Podcast (YGN) and its annual YGN Summit. “That’s because we’re getting further away from what we are meant to do as humans.”
180-employee Manatee HVAC, plumbing company names new CEO
Arctic Air Home Services makes a leadership change as it aims toward growth in the region.
NWA C-Suite: Alan Wright
Under Wright’s leadership, Action Mechanical has expanded from two office locations to now having offices in Rogers, Jonesboro, Maumelle and Tulsa, Okla. Wright’s team includes more than 200 employees, $90...
Construction employment and spending still down from last year
Construction employment on Long Island fell 2 percent year-over-year, with national construction spending down 1.7 percent.
Ninja Theory begins laying off staff, according to employee posts
Ninja Theory has begun laying off employees.
Seattle’s tax burden shifted to business as jobs slipped away, new report finds
A new joint report from the Downtown Seattle Association and the Seattle Metro Chamber shows city tax collections nearly tripling since 2013, surging far past population and job growth as the tax burden shifts heavily onto a small pool of major employers.
CT business owners ID’d as couple who died in murder-suicide in Woodbridge
Police had gone to the home for a well-being check that was called in by an employee of their business.
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden cancels health coverage for striking employees
Striking employees of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden are being removed from the nonprofit's healthcare plan, according to a letter from the garden. Lewis Ginter wrote to CBS 6: "The law does not require employers to continue paying wages or unaccrued benefits to striking workers who are not actively
Northwell Health lays off 'limited number' of workers across the organization
The health system, which employs over 100,000 statewide, did not specify where cuts were made.
Richie Floyd: Bernie’s 2016 Campaign Changed My Life
In 2021, Richie Floyd was elected to the St Petersburg City Council, becoming the first openly socialist elected official in Florida in over a century. Writing in Jacobin, Floyd explains how Bernie’s ...
Spurs employ three-guard lineup during Silver & Black Scrimmage
De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper played together in what coach Mitch Johnson called "on-the-job training."
New Dell System Update flaw lets hackers gain root privileges
Dell warned customers to patch a critical vulnerability in the System Update (DSU) command-line interface (CLI) deployment tool as soon as possible.
Senua At Risk Of Cancellation As Ninja Theory Employees Announce They've Left The Studio
"It’s incredibly sad knowing that we won’t get to finish..."
Nobody remembers your EBITDA at your funeral
David Mammano highlights the importance of balancing profit with purpose in business to build companies that employees, customers, and communities value.
Top Workplaces 2026: Wemert Group named top workplace for small businesses
Orlando-based real estate brokerage Wemert Group Realty has been named one of the Orlando Sentinel’s top workplaces in Central Florida among small businesses, meaning it has 100 or fewer employees.
Top Workplaces 2026: LJA Engineering takes top spot for large businesses
Empowering employee growth through a stock ownership plan, LJA Engineering is the Orlando Sentinel’s 2026 Top Workplaces in Central Florida winner in the large business category.
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.
Asia-Pacific survey to employers and business membership organizations on labour, trade and responsible business conduct
This ILO Brief presents the results of a survey of employer and business membership organizations (EBMOs) in Asia and the Pacific highlights growing business demand for support in navigating labour, trade and responsible business requirements. The findings point to the need for stronger technical expertise, practical tools and sustained support to help businesses maintain competitiveness and meet evolving market expectations.
Business confidence held in negative territory in September
Business confidence ticked upwards among Massachusetts employers in September but sentiment remained in negative territory and torn between the impacts of growth and rising costs.
Jobs in health care. Jobs for women. The US labour market is segmenting. Chernobyl’s radiation and Lenin’s love of literature.
Thank you for opening your Chartbook email. Elmer Bischoff, Two Figures at the Seashore, 1957 The only really dynamic job-creator in the US economy is health care: The largest crunch has come in Federal government, which has shed 2.7 m jobs. Source: tchouvkov on Twitter Tech is struggling. [ Joey Politano 🏳️🌈@JosephPolitano The US tech sector continues bleeding jobs in official data released today—overall, employment decreased by 17k last month and is down 69k over the last year That's nearly as bad as the worst of the 2024 tech-cession, and much worse than the 2022 boom or even pre-2020 norms 12:42 PM · Oct 2, 2026 · 15.2K Views 15 Replies · 47 Reposts · 390 Likes ](https://x.com/JosephPolitano/status/2106001807847940232?s=20) The new jobs are all for women. [ Justin Wolfers@JustinWolfers I'm not sure who saw this coming, but so far nearly all the jobs created during the second Trump administration have gone to women. 1:09 PM · Oct 2, 2026 · 33K Views 70 Replies · 146 Reposts · 644 Likes ](https://x.com/JustinWolfers/status/2106008723533533601?s=20) Meanwhile, real wages are being eaten up by modest over-target inflation. [ Heather Long@byHeatherLong The financial pain is real: Wage growth fell to 3% (y/y) in September. That's the lowest in 5 years. Wage growth: 3% Inflation: ~3.4% Inflation has eaten up all wage gains for the average worker since April. Many people are having to make hard choices about what to buy and what … 1:24 PM · Oct 2, 2026 · 37K Views 24 Replies · 275 Reposts · 533 Likes ](https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/2106012367712620728?s=20) HEY READERS, THANK YOU for opening the Chartbook email. I hope it brightens your day. I enjoy putting out the newsletter, but tbh, what keeps this flow going is the generosity of those readers who clicked the subscription button. If you are persuaded to click, please consider the annual subscription of $60. It is both better value for you and a much better deal for me, as it involves only one credit card charge. Why feed the payments companies if we don’t have to. Subscribe Elmer Bischoff, Bathers, 1960 Americans are disillusioned with higher ed. For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Where the Chernobyl radiation went. h/t Simon Kuestenmacher aka simongerman600 How Lenin’s love of literature shaped the Russian Revolution - Tariq Ali This, then, was the intellectual atmosphere in which Lenin came of age. His father, a highly cultured conservative, was the chief inspector of schools in his region and much respected as an educationalist. At home, Shakespeare, Goethe and Pushkin, among others, were read aloud on Sunday afternoons. It was impossible for the Ulyanov family – “Lenin” was a pseudonym adopted to outwit the tsarist secret police – to escape high culture. At high school, Lenin fell in love with Latin. His headteacher had high hopes that he might become a philologist and Latin scholar. History willed otherwise, but Lenin’s passion for Latin, and taste for the classics, never left him. He read Virgil, Ovid, Horace and Juvenal in the original, as well as Roman senatorial orations. He devoured Goethe during his two decades in exile, reading and rereading Faust many times. Lenin put his knowledge of the classics to good use in the time leading up to the October revolution of 1917. In April of that year, he broke with Russian social-democratic orthodoxy and, in a set of radical theses, called for a socialist revolution in Russia. A number of his own close comrades denounced him. In a sharp riposte, Lenin quoted Mephistopheles from Goethe’s masterwork: “Theory, my friend, is grey, but green is the eternal tree of life.” Source: The Guardian Elmer Bischoff, The River, 1953 If you’ve scrolled this far, you know you want to click: Subscribe
Hospital and pharmaceutical prices are smothering America’s businesses
Workers and employers are drowning in their health insurance premiums. The reason for that deluge: the health care industry’s high and inscrutable prices.
IRGC General Warns Regional States against Letting US Use Their Territory
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Brigadier General Ali Fadavi warned regional countries against allowing the US to employ their territories for operations against Iran, stressing that any location used as a launch point for attacks on Iran will be targeted.
Compass Health Network Included on Forbes America’s Best Emp...
Compass Health Network was named to Forbes’ America’s Best Employers for Healthcare Professionals 2026 ranking for the second consecutive year.
Apple Hiring 'iCup' Specialist
Apple recently posted a job listing for an "iCup Supply Specialist" who would be responsible for ensuring that "all Apple employees have access to freshly brewed coffee in their break room". MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris highlighted the job listing this weekend, but it turns out that Apple has been using the "iCup" name since at least 2014.
Amid Soaring Costs, Health Benefits Brokers Seek New Strategies
Affordability challenges are transforming the health benefits market, requiring brokers, carriers, and employers to make difficult decisions. In 2000,
OnMed, Jackson Health System and The Salvation Army Deploy OnMed CareStation™ to Extend Care Beyond Hospital Walls in Miami
Health system-sponsored CareStation creates a new front door to comprehensive, everyday care while strengthening connections to Jackson’s broader network of services SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 – OnMed, the leader in hybrid healthcare expanding access to care through the CareStation, today announced a new partnership with Jackson Health System, Miami’s only public health system, and The Salvation […]
OpenAI's Altman says AI benefits warrant accepting some risks
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said the benefits of artificial intelligence justify accepting some risks and argued the technology should remain broadly accessible to the public
Will Washington’s ‘millionaire tax’ drive people away? Business owners and lawmakers disagree
Supporters say the tax is needed to help fund education, tax credits for businesses and families, and other public programs. Opponents argue it could drive entrepreneurs, investors, and employers out of Washington.
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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Dr. Russell Butler, chair of Bishop’s University’s Department of Computer Science, says artificial intelligence is increasingly taking over routine digital “grunt work,” changing the skills students and workers may need in the years ahead. Photo courtesy of Bishop’s University. Click here to read our platform! Get local news like this every morning. Subscribe free below. Subscribe Pulse Newsroom Artificial intelligence is already taking over some of the routine digital work once performed by entry-level employees, according to Bishop’s University Computer Science chair Dr. Russell Butler — a shift he believes will make expertise, judgement and the ability to evaluate AI-generated work increasingly important. Butler described the change as automation reaching what he calls the “bottom of the cognitive pyramid” during an interview with The Pulse about AI, university education and the future of digital work. His argument is not that humans are disappearing from the workplace. Instead, he sees their role changing as AI becomes capable of handling more of the repetitive tasks involved in computer-based work. “Everything’s converging on just AI basically doing all the grunt work,” Butler said. The bottom of the cognitive pyramid Butler is from Lennoxville, completed his undergraduate studies at Bishop’s and later earned his PhD at the Université de Sherbrooke. He joined Bishop’s in 2019 and now chairs its Department of Computer Science. He uses AI in research, teaching and other creative work, and said the technology is increasingly capable of handling routine digital tasks that once required substantial human time. “You’ve got the grunt work, like moving things around in Excel, doing basic programming tasks,” Butler said. “That’s like the bottom grunt work that the entry-level worker would have done two or three years ago.” Butler went further, saying in his view that much of this type of work has already been absorbed by AI tools. He connected that change to a shift he sees taking place in computer science, where entry-level roles have declined while experienced workers can use AI to increase what they can produce. “A senior developer now has access to essentially an unlimited amount of junior developers on demand,” Butler said. He was describing AI systems metaphorically, not literal employees. His point was that one experienced developer can now ask AI tools to produce code or other technical work that might previously have been assigned to more junior workers. That raises a broader question for universities and employers. If some of the simpler work traditionally given to newcomers can now be done by machines, how do people gain the experience needed to become senior workers themselves? Students doing work that once required years of programming Butler said he is already seeing the change inside his classroom. He created a Bishop’s course called CS208, Coding in Plain English, to show students — including those without traditional programming backgrounds — what they can accomplish using AI. Some come from disciplines such as psychology or neuroscience with no previous programming experience. “What I’m finding is that students who have zero programming experience, they come in from another discipline like psychology or neuroscience or something, they are now able to get up and running with real data sets,” Butler said. Butler’s own doctoral work involved neuroimaging, and he said he has assigned students work he considers comparable to the kinds of analysis he performed during his PhD. He described giving students a real dataset, an expected result and instructions to use AI to complete the analysis. Butler said those students have been able to carry out work at a level he associates with tasks he once performed after years of programming experience. That does not mean a student using AI instantly acquires the same knowledge as an experienced computer scientist. But Butler sees it as evidence that AI can dramatically lower the technical barrier between having a problem to solve and producing a working result. The role of the person using the system then changes. They need to know what to ask for, understand enough about the subject to judge the answer and take responsibility for what is ultimately produced. What about AI hallucinations? One persistent concern surrounding generative AI is hallucination — when a system produces information that sounds convincing but is false or unsupported. Butler said that problem has improved substantially in newer systems and is not as severe as it was with earlier models. He pointed in particular to newer AI systems’ ability to search the web, consult scientific databases and return source links rather than simply generating a citation from their internal model. Butler nevertheless said users should verify what AI produces. “You should verify,” he said while discussing citations generated with AI. His position is that hallucinations have become less common in the systems he uses, not that incorrect AI output is impossible. Human checking remains part of the process. Hours of work compressed Butler offered another example from his administrative work at Bishop’s. The university has been comparing CEGEP courses with first-year Bishop’s courses to determine where students may qualify for advanced standing. Traditionally, Butler said, that means reviewing two sets of course descriptions and manually matching one institution’s courses with another’s. As department chair, that could require hours of reading and comparison. He said AI can now be given both sets of material and asked to generate an initial mapping automatically. “It saves me hours and hours of work,” Butler said. Butler said the AI-generated mapping can also produce a better result than he would produce himself. He sees similar opportunities in businesses. A company may receive specifications, drawings, emails or other digital material from customers and then have employees convert that information into an internal format before anything can be manufactured or delivered. AI can increasingly perform parts of that intermediate processing. In Butler’s view, the employee does not necessarily disappear. Instead, the job becomes more about checking the result. “The human is still there,” he said. Judgement could become more valuable That change is central to Butler’s view of where digital work may be headed. If AI can produce a first draft, write basic code, compare documents or process large amounts of information, he argues that knowledge and judgement become increasingly important. “The real scarce resource going forward is going to be domain knowledge, expertise, and… credentials, authority, the ability to work with other people,” Butler said. He is therefore encouraging students not only to learn AI tools but also to broaden their education. He mentioned acting, fine art and photography as examples of courses that can help develop what he described as taste and intuition — the ability to recognize what is good, what is not and what should be changed. “And that’s the skill that they need now because the grunt work has been automated and now it’s about evaluating what the AI produces and telling it how to improve or expand the output,” Butler said. That does not remove the need for technical knowledge. Butler’s argument is that the emphasis may shift away from manually completing every step of a task and toward directing, checking and improving work produced with AI assistance. He also stressed that humans remain responsible for final decisions. “At the end of the day, the human has to make the final call,” Butler said, pointing to the question of accountability. Physical work may be different Butler draws a distinction between digital work and jobs requiring people to manipulate the physical world. He expects AI to continue advancing quickly in tasks performed almost entirely on computers. He is more cautious about claims that humanoid robots will soon be able to replace workers such as plumbers or electricians. Butler said those trades would not be replaced “anytime soon” in his view and described some current robotics demonstrations as overhyped. He described the situation as counterintuitive. “It’s almost like we solved the highest level first,” he said, contrasting advances in digital AI with the harder problem of building robots capable of operating reliably in the physical world. Butler’s argument is that some digital occupations could face automation sooner than trades requiring complex physical work. The wider AI shift in the Townships Butler’s comments come as local institutions are increasingly grappling with how AI should be used. The federal government recently announced up to $162 million over five years for 10,000 AI-related placements through Mitacs. The Université de Sherbrooke told The Pulse that the number of its collaborative research and innovation projects supported through Mitacs has approximately doubled since 2018-19, while the number of placements has approximately tripled. UdeS also said it already has projects involving both AI adoption and the application of AI to other fields. At Bishop’s, Butler said part of his role involves building the Computer Science department’s local presence, connecting students with regional partners and strengthening relationships with the Sherbrooke technology ecosystem. Those developments put universities in a difficult position. They have to prepare students to use the tools employers increasingly have available while also making sure graduates understand enough to recognize when those tools are wrong, incomplete or being applied to the wrong problem. The risk of losing human skills Butler does not see AI as risk-free. Later in the interview, he raised a separate concern: as AI becomes better at reading, writing, programming and other cognitive tasks, people could lose some of the underlying skills that historically helped produce new ideas. “The other danger is that we’re going to lose the human skills,” Butler said. He specifically mentioned reading and writing and argued that people could lose some of the lower-level understanding that contributes to breakthroughs. Butler said AI systems are based on existing human knowledge and argued that they become much more powerful when paired with a capable person. That tension runs through his view of the technology. AI can remove hours of routine work. It can allow beginners to perform tasks that once required substantial technical training. It can give experienced workers significant leverage. But the more capable the technology becomes, the more important it may be for people to develop the judgement needed to decide what should be done in the first place. For Butler, that is where education may have to change. Students still need to understand their field. They still need to know when something is wrong. And they still need to be able to make the final decision. But if AI increasingly handles the bottom of the cognitive pyramid, the value of a worker may depend less on how quickly they can perform the grunt work and more on whether they understand what the work is supposed to accomplish. Don’t miss the next story that affects your community. Join thousands of readers getting The Pulse every morning—plus breaking news alerts when it matters most. If you value this kind of local journalism, consider supporting it. Subscribe, share and like! Subscribe Share