821,000 households opted out of the banking system from 2009 to 2011.
More Americans have limited or no interaction with banks in the aftermath of one of the worst recessions in history. Instead more people are relying on check cashers and payday lenders to manage their finances, according to a new federal report.
Continue reading… “Growing number of Americans are opting out of the banking system”
The rate of children entering private schools without all of their shots jumped by 10 percent last year.
An Associated Press analysis has found that parents who send their children to private schools in California are much more likely to opt out of immunizations than their public school counterparts, an Associated Press analysis. Even the recent re-emergence of whooping cough hasn’t halted the downward trajectory of vaccinations among these students.
Continue reading… “Vaccination opt-outs on the rise in private schools”
Instagram is more or less a social network.
Well intended parents have been keeping their tweens off of Facebook but they have turned to Instagram, the photo sharing app, as a seemingly innocuous social-network workaround.
Continue reading… “Instagram has become the social network for tweens”
Millennials are thinking entrepreneurially, viewing themselves as microbusinesses operating in a highly uncertain economic environment.
Millennials aren’t alone as they shift from tangibles (cars and homes) to intangibles (education and access to data). The business sector is moving along the same tangible-to-intangible path as the Millennials, perhaps at an even faster pace. Business spending on nonresidential structures, other than mining-related, is roughly 30% below the 2007 pre-recession highs, while investment in software is up almost 20% over the same period.
Continue reading… “Americans turning against ‘stuff’”
There’s an epidemic of overtreatment.
Many patients and doctors believe more is better when it comes to medical care.
But there’s an epidemic of overtreatment. Doctors are ordering too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures for their patients and it is costing the nation’s health care system at least $210 billion a year, according to the Institute of Medicine. It is also taking a human toll in pain, emotional suffering, severe complications and even death.
Continue reading… “The epidemic of overtreatment is taking a harmful toll”
Because of a trend toward smaller urban living, a bad economy and high debt, the Millennials will likely be a generation of renters for years to come. But there’s a group of young adults we don’t talk about that deserves some attention: Those who are already homeowners.
Continue reading… “48% of homeowners younger than 40 are underwater on their mortgages”
The decision to finish an MBA can be difficult.
Twenty-seven year old Natasha Pecor just finished her first year in the MBA program at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. But after interning this summer at Freestyle Capital, a San Francisco venture capital firm that finances early-stage startups, she may not pursue a second year.
Continue reading… “Would-be-MBA’s dropping out in favor of work”
The rate for the South was 29.5%, followed by the Midwest at 29%, the Northeast at 25.3% and the West at 24.3%.
On Monday, the federal government released its “obesity map”, outlining the rates of obesity and how rates in the states compare. Colorado gets the svelte bragging rights, with 20.7% of its adults obese. At the other end of the scale is Mississippi, with a rate of 34.9%.
Continue reading… “New federal obesity statistics show Mississippi fattest, Colorado thinnest”
For most seniors in the U.S. life is good, according to a recent poll of 2,250 older adults. Whether they move to “active adult” communities such as Sun City or grow old in the homes where they raised their children, they say they are pretty darn content.
Continue reading… “Most older Americans content with their lives: Poll”
An agronomist measures and records corn growth and other processes.
Many U.S. colleges see a boom in enrollment for agriculture as students flock to study subjects they feel offer a clear path to a job on graduation.
Continue reading… “U.S. colleges see increased demand for degrees in agriculture”
A new upsurge in funding in Canada.
Canada has been known to regularly bleed startups and entrepreneurs, who flock south to seek superior funding opportunities south of the border in hotspots like Silicon Valley and New York.
Continue reading… “Canada’s tech startup funding on the rise”
The more we replace with our phones, the fewer consumer electronics we have to keep updated, and the less cluttered our lives can become.
We can easily get caught up in what’s new in smartphones, from novel applications of near field communication to their potential as detectors of environmental pollutants. But it’s also useful to occasionally look back on what they’ve granted us already. A recent survey in the UK found 4 in 10 smartphone users said their phone was “more important for accessing the Internet than any other device.”
Continue reading… “List of things replaced by smartphones”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.