Business

The big just keep getting bigger in the U.S. health care system.

Low-wage employers in Washington, D.C., discriminate against applicants with longer commutes and those with stereotypically “black” names, says a study forthcoming in the Journal of Human Resources.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is widely regarded as the start of the winter holiday shopping season in the United States. Each November, newsrooms gear up to cover this annual rite of retail, dispatching journalists in the early morning to shopping malls and discount stores to help report on the frenzied — and sometimes violent — competition for the best deals of the day.

Author Michael Pollan discussed the Farm Bill’s far-reaching impact on the U.S. food system and the environment, how journalists can better cover food policy, and more during a visit to Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy. Below are the highlights:

Evidenced by the rapidly growing salmon-farm industry, salmon is one of the world’s most popular fish. The volume of farmed Atlantic salmon increased almost 1,000 percent between 1990 and 2015, according to United Nations statistics; 75 percent of all the salmon we eat is farm-raised. Wild-caught salmon, meanwhile, has become a luxury; it’s harder to find and generally more expensive.

When it comes to your health, your doctor usually has an information advantage. She knows about treatment options, which options are appropriate and what those treatments cost. You rely on her to make recommendations. Even after treatment, you may not know if the course of action was the best available, how well it worked, or if the cost was justified.

Researchers in Switzerland found that a significant number of local dentists abuse this relationship.