Paid to Stay Home: Europe's Safety Net Could Ease Toll of Coronavirus

Americans don’t save enough - in 2005, Americans’ personal savings rate was negative for the first time since the Great Depression ─ instead of piling up savings, we are piling up debt. Two behavioral economics columns on how switching signup for a 401K plan from opt-in (say yes to be enrolled) to opt-out (say no to be un-enrolled) dramatically raises enrollment rates.

The unemployment crisis is a hard thing to solve - businesses sometimes have no choice but to let workers go. An innovative program tries to prevent joblessness by temporarily paying a portion of workers’ salaries at struggling companies.

A starting point for addressing the problem of small-business extinction - a description of possible solutions being enacted in New York City.

Although Nigeria "is arguably the worst-run of the world’s major countries," it's biggest city is providing a model for how to turn poor governance around. Lagos, a historically fragile city like the rest of Nigeria, has devolved more power to civilian rule, which has shown positive results for the health of the city.

Privately-held dōTERRA is a rapidly growing direct seller of essential oil-infused products with $1.2 billion in annual revenue.Three years ago, the company launched an effort to use its supply chain to reduce global poverty by creating economic opportunities for rural communities in developing countries like Nepal, Somaliland and Madagascar.

Companies who outsource often fuel the race to the bottom for global workers' standards. Two companies, Digital Divide Data and Samasource, offer a model for outsourcing which is profitable and also prioritizes social impact.

After years of banning labor unions in Bangladesh, garment workers unionized to fight for higher wages and safer working conditions. For women, this isn't traditionally a space they were welcomed in, but now they’re holding their own meetings to ensure women’s safety is ensured on the job.

America’s system of health care is based on an old industrial-era model, without taking into account a decentralized, mobile, independent workforce that remains largely unprotected without health and unemployment insurance. The Freelancers Insurance Company, based in New York State, offers competitive premiums by having their executives receive salaries at low wages. The model keeps costs under control, which in turn makes health care more accessible to independent workers.

Two Americans created a small start-up in rural India to help bring life-sustaining technologies to the poor. But they're not giving away solar lamps and low-power appliances: They're selling them.

More and more economists and financiers are supporting the idea of a government-supported basic income check for everyone, regardless of financial status.