Increased use of technology in the workplace has generated reasonable concerns over the privacy rights of employees, both with company-issued and personally-provided electronic devices. Employers, on the other hand, have been wary to overstep their investigatory bounds in searching employee data while also trying to maintain a firm technological device policy to prevent security breaches and inappropriate conduct. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady recently learned, in the wake of famed “Deflategate” controversy, that one should examine organizational policy regarding privacy and electronic devices before disposing of a device in question.
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Airbnb is our David, an innovator and facilitator of low-cost travel options and diverse journeying experiences. Large corporate hotel chains are our Goliath, multi-national legends in providing a wide-range of home-away-from-home price points from motels to five-star resorts.
Contrary to the Biblical allusion (and major news outlets[1][2]), David will not topple Goliath in the minds of consumers or investors. With 151 million Americans employed in our nation’s workforce, you’d like to think increased inclusion of technology in workplaces would be making our jobs easier and us more efficient. Right?
Newly released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics points to a troubling trend in our economy. Despite a 1.9% increase in the number of hours worked by all employed workers from March 2015 to March 2016, gross domestic product has only registered a 1.9% increase in the past year. Integration of technology like the transition to digital medical records, required smartphones for work-only functions, and a multitude of other ways in which innovations have crept into our cubicles, the economy has been slow to register the apparent advancements. The 21st century began with the dot-com bubble. Growth was marked by soaring stock prices and IPOs that benefited investors, not the companies they valued. The debate following the burst was a simple one: did young entrepreneurs fool the financial market into buying millions of shares of shell companies with no viable business plans or did investors dupe entrepreneurs into selling those same shares at peak prices for maximum profit creation? Now, the dot-com bubble’s burst is a distant memory; our economic faculties currently transfixed east towards the once mighty Greek peninsula. What began as a lackadaisical response to the United States’ Great Recession, soon transformed into an exposé on lack of government control, statistical misinformation, and a country unable to escape their burdening debt. In order to better understand the historic Greek debt crisis, this paper will provide background on the Greek economy before and after the euro, examine the origins of the debt crisis and its global implications, and finally observe steps taken to solve the crisis while providing recommendations for Greek debt relief.
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