Hey gang, Wes Schlag here with the Hustle, reporting on the biggest biz news of the day — and boy do I have some stories for you.
Ever been broke and thought to yourself, "Dang I need a little walkin' around cash — but I'm afraid of needles, hate the word plasma, and I don't know how to drive"?
Well fear no longer, plasma-phobes. Startups are now offering the average Joe and Jane a way to make "passive income" by selling their soul to the personal data devil.
That's right. You've asked for it since you found out optimized targeting was a thing being done against your will, and now the data economy is here in its nascency — but in the wise words of Homer Simpson: "Be careful what you wish for." He said that, right? Welcome to the data exchange, where data brokering startups like Streamr and UBDI are billing themselves as disruptors and promising to cut you in on the $400 billion the global data economy is expected to rake in by 2025 by merely … continuing on with your natural data-producing days — changing lanes in your Tesla or adjusting the temp on your smart thermostat. But are we really OK with this?
It's one thing if companies like Facebook and Google sell our data without our permission — at least we're justified in being outraged. But if we play the game, then, well, that's on us. We're allowing money to manipulate us into surveillance at that point. Anyone who agrees to do this (aka me if I've had too many Bud heavies on a Wednesday) is pushing us into a world we truly can't come back from.
On a lighter note, I'm feeling burned out, and thanks to the World Health Organization, that finally actually means something!
For years, the term "burnout" has been chalked up to whiny millennials showcasing yet again that mommy loved them too much. But now, the World Health Organization is giving the term validation by including it in the new volume of its international disease and health classification handbook.
Interesting when a generation blamed for everything comes of age, isn't it? The WHO recognizes burnout as work-specific, but that's not to take away from the massive mental and physical health implications burning the midnight oil can cause in your personal life.
We know this because, as of 2015, burnout was costing companies an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion in health care spending each year.
Not sure if you fit the bill? The World Health Organization believes three things characterize the new official workplace outbreak: lack of energy, hating your job and poor performance. Moving on.
If you're watching Chernobyl and wondering what kind of nuclear reactors are radiating in your neck of the woods, well, the people of Plymouth, Massachusetts, can remove their lead underpants because the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is shutting its doors.
According to the Boston Globe, the plant has been unprofitable for years as nuclear energy struggles to compete in a world of cheaper alternatives. And also let's not gloss over the fact that the Pilgrim Plant has been ranked as one of the nation's top three least-safe reactors in recent years.
After Pilgrim closes, there will be 97 nuclear reactors left in the U.S., down from the peak of 112 in 1990, with another 10 reactors expected to close by 2025. Great, now let's find a way to compensate without burning more fossil fuels. This is 2019, people, find a robot that can do it.
And that does it for today, folks. Be sure to tune in to Newsy next Tuesday at 1 p.m. Eastern for more of the Hustle Rundown, and make sure to sign up for the Hustle newsletter @thehustle.co for your daily dose of stories exactly like these. Be sure to check me out on Twitter, where I often offer free data to corporations who need a helping hand — bye-bye.
