This week’s investor run on the FTX crypto-currency exchange marks round two of the great crypto crackup, and so far the victims are consenting adults. Barring an unexpected spread to the banking system, this is another in the long line of easy-money manias turned to panic.

The sudden collapse of FTX, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, underlines how important it is for any investor to learn about the risks they take when they park their money with a lightly regulated firm.

FTX and its affiliate companies filed for bankruptcy Nov. 11. The company’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned his position as CEO and was replaced by John J. Ray III, a lawyer who has worked on the bankruptcies of Enron, Nortel Networks and many other companies.

The bursting of the cryptocurrency bubble will end the way other speculative crazes have concluded: in a trail of wreckage across companies, continents — and unlucky investors. Crypto has had a horrible year. We saw the terra “stablecoin” wipeout in May, the unraveling of the FTX trading exchange this week and the shriveling of trading in non-fungible tokens all year long.

Communist Party rule of China has been punctuated by one mass public campaign after another, each designed to commandeer Chinese minds in service of the state.

Fans of our current global economic order often justify it by claims of great progress in lifting people out of extreme poverty. Rarely do they cite statistics on inequality, such as comparing the slice of the “world pie” that goes to the rich versus that which goes to the poor. Little wonder as that picture is much grimmer, undermining their much-touted triumphant “progress.” Here are 2021’s global pie slices, according to World Inequality Lab data.

Viral Instagram post: "If every person on earth just recycled, stopped using plastic straws, and drove an electric car, 100 corporations would still produce 70% of total global emissions."

PolitiFact's ruling: False

Here's why: If you're on the climate doom side of the internet, you may have seen claims that blame 100 corporations for producing 70% of all the harmful emissions that are driving climate change, otherwise known as greenhouse gas emissions.

In the months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, nearly 1,000 Western companies have partially or fully curtailed their operations within the Russian Federation. On the surface, this is unsurprising: Russia has been the target of an unprecedented sanctions package by the West, and it is natural that corporate ties will be reduced during a period of economic warfare.

When Koray Camgöz was granted a four-day workweek, the benefits seemed numerous. The new schedule forced the London-based PR officer to organise his time better. He was still able to meet deadlines and stay on top of to-do lists, while enjoying an extra day off each week. Most importantly, for the recent father, he was able to spend more time with his child. 

His day off rotated between Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In an always-on environment, he still had to be on call for emergencies on his day off, and also had to work longer hours on his working days to compensate. 

Back when I entered the workforce in 1998, my ad agency introduced the concept of “Summer Fridays” to me for the first time. You might assume, given the work that they produce for the viewing public, that folks in the advertising industry don’t work terribly hard. This is incorrect. Every god-awful TV ad you’ve ever seen can take an obscene number of all-nighters and conference calls with clients in Topeka.

The popular book “The 4-Hour Workweek” provides tips on how to make more money by working less. Now California Democrats are taking a page from the book by proposing to mandate a four-day week, which would require businesses to pay employees the same wages for less work. As labor economics goes, this is up there with paying people not to work and expecting more people to work.