– Axios
Even before the technologies of the future come to fruition, they’re igniting ethical, economic and political debates at the Capitol and around the country. As you saw with the Mark Zuckerberg hearings, many lawmakers are clueless about technology. Here’s a quick look at the debates ahead.
– The Washington Post
In the “gig economy,” people work as freelancers, contractors or temps. Often the paychecks are steady and retirement benefits don’t come with the gig. Yet, it’s this way of working that can help boost an anemic retirement account or increase the income of a retiree. By 2020, more than 40 percent of the workforce will consist of people working in the gig economy.
– Bloomberg
The huge installations United Airlines uses to prepare and cook in-flight food recently got a new addition: some television screens. But rather than just providing news or talk show chatter, they broadcast messages explaining why workers shouldn’t unionize. Unite Here alleges the carrier uses electronic propaganda and threats to sway thousands of in-flight food service workers against unionizing.
– The New York Times
But while the protests are spreading this year, the underlying conflict between public school employees and policymakers has roots in decisions made during the last recession, when states and local districts short of cash curtailed education spending for the first time in decades.