Japan has long harvested a shrub called mitsumata for its money supply. But when mitsumata started dying out, Japan frantically searched for alternatives to make yen.
It found a lifeline in the foothills of the Himalayas. A low-value crop called argeli grew abundantly and served as a perfect replacement for mitsumata.
Argeli was worth very little, often the only option for farmers who’d lost their crops to wild animals. When the Japanese arrived, they turned the once low-value argeli into a cash crop.
Now, one of Asia’s poorest countries is growing the money for one of Asia’s richest nations. And the influx of cash brought industry and investment to Nepal’s small villages.
But while Japan loves its physical yen now, what will happen to Nepal’s new big business if the country goes cashless like the rest of Asia?
US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Mekhi Manson
Top US shipbuilder HII has been investing more in its workers.
The company says that’s led to better hiring and retention of a more experienced workforce.
Solving workforce problems is considered key to solving larger US shipbuilding issues.
US shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries is putting more money into wages and a new workforce strategy, and it’s finding that it’s not only hiring more experienced workers but also retaining them, a top executive shared last week.
The company, the largest US warship builder, unveiled its new strategy for fixing shipbuilding workforce problems last year, and it’s now seeing positive signs that are making it “cautiously optimistic,” CEO Chris Kastner said.
During HII’s third-quarter earnings call, Kastner said that the Newport News shipyard in Virginia saw “an increase in experienced hires following the wage investment this summer and increased hiring from regional workforce development pipelines, which provides more proficient incoming shipbuilders,” calling the efforts “important steps to stabilize and level up the experience of our workforce.”
In February, a senior HII official lamented the loss of experienced workers as the shipbuilding industry hollowed out after the Cold War with decreased demand for the construction of ships at scale. They said worker experience for some jobs had dropped to a fraction of what it was in the mid-1990s.
Over 4,600 shipbuilders have been hired year-to-date, and retention rates at the Virginia yard and Ingalls in Mississippi have increased, the CEO said last week. More workers are also being hired from regional workforce development centers, apprenticeship schools, and dedicated high school programs as well.
TK
Jonathon Gruenke/Newport News Daily Press/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
HII said last fall that it was going to hire fewer green workers and instead increase wages to bring in and keep more experienced talent, and leadership has continued to emphasize that this year. Funding provided by Congress earlier this year to support the maritime industrial base has been fueling investments in workforce wages, as well as workforce support and technology modernization.
These, he wrote, include “challenges in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of production workers at shipyards and supplier firms, lower productivity of newly hired workers compared with more experienced workers, and limited numbers of ship designers” like naval architects and marine engineers.
O’Rourke and other experts then told the House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee that addressing these issues was the first step to getting the Navy’s priority programs back on track.
At the time, the main solution brought up to address lingering problems was higher, more competitive wages that would increase interest in shipbuilding jobs, as well as improving the quality of life and working conditions in the yards.
HII’s pursuit of that approach has the company feeling “kind of cautiously optimistic and we hope to keep it going,” Kastner said.
YouTube TV’s 10 million or so subscribers can’t watch ABC and ESPN until the two sides agree on a deal. Disney wants more money to support its heavy investments in a sports rights portfolio that includes the NFL, the NBA, college sports, and the NHL. YouTube is telling customers that paying higher rates would require it to raise prices for the second time in a year.
“It’s a tale as old as pay TV,” said Evan Shapiro, a media industry analyst.
Disney’s ESPN and Google’s YouTube TV have been cast as the villains in this story by some online commenters.
“It’s pretty tone-deaf to tell paying customers to ‘go fix’ something that’s entirely between two billion-dollar corporations,” said an X user in response to a post from ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt telling viewers to petition Google and YouTube TV about the blackout.
The reality is more complicated, as the leagues and even sports fans themselves bear some responsibility.
The case against Disney
There’s a reason media analysts think this standoff is more than a typical pay-TV squabble.
Disney now controls three alternatives to YouTube TV: Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, and the ESPN app (which can give consumers access to all of Disney’s sports content). Google’s position is that Disney can afford to hold out for higher rates since it could benefit if YouTube TV subscribers cancel.
“What’s changed in the landscape is Disney’s launch of the ESPN streaming service,” said Joseph Bonner, who covers Disney for Argus Research. “It’s logical to assume YouTube TV may be demanding some concessions from Disney, either on price or other issues.”
However, if Disney bends on price with YouTube TV, other pay-TV providers like Charter and Comcast could pressure it for similar terms. Plus, the company could find it tougher to maximize its investments in live sports, especially with leagues like the NBA, which it’s paying an average of $2.6 billion a year for the next 11 years.
YouTube TV is flexing its market power
Sports lovers who pay for YouTube TV are fed up with the blackout that’s keeping them from “Monday Night Football” and college football games, plus other games and shows on ESPN.
YouTube is motivated to keep its costs down to improve its bottom line. It can likely afford a tough fight since it’s backed by Google’s $3.4 trillion parent company, which has a long-term plan to be a go-to destination on TVs.
A Disney spokesperson previously said that “Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor.”
Media analysts say that’s not just a Disney talking point.
This Disney-YouTube TV blackout is “indicative of YouTube TV wielding increased bargaining power,” Ric Prentiss of Raymond James said in a note after Disney’s networks left the pay-TV service.
Leagues are squeezing media companies
Both Disney and YouTube are acting rationally, which is why some media analysts say fans may want to direct their anger elsewhere.
“The obvious ‘culprit’ for the rising sports rights costs are the leagues,” Argus’ Bonner said.
Sports rights have exploded in value in recent years. They’re seen as must-have programming for top media companies since they’re a proven way to attract and keep paying subscribers.
No movie, TV show, or podcast cuts through culture like sports can. In a divided US — both in politics and entertainment — sports unify as one of the last remnants of monoculture.
Advertisers also love live sports, and not just because they’re widely watched. Alan Wolk, who cofounded media research firm TVREV, said that sports are a way to reach audiences who rarely see ads, either because they pay to remove them when streaming or use ad blockers.
“It’s the only way in this fragmented universe that you can reach millions of people at the same time,” Wolk said of sports.
Sports have never been more valuable, and both league commissioners and franchise owners are capitalizing on their leverage.
“The leagues essentially have the distributors over a barrel, given the cable bundle landscape,” Bonner said.
Tech giants are pushing up prices
The entrance of deep-pocketed tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple into sports in recent years has been a big challenge for traditional media companies.
These disruptors have substantial financial firepower, and they don’t necessarily need their media businesses to be a source of profit. YouTube TV, Prime Video, and Apple TV also support their parent companies’ primary goals of selling ads, Prime subscriptions, and phones.
As cord-cutting ramps up, Shapiro said live sports are “all that broadcast has left.”
“I think the new F1 deal is a sign that the sports bubble will continue to inflate as long as Big Tech is in the game, ready to pay irrational prices,” Shapiro said.
Fans bear some responsibility as sports rights soar
The leagues aren’t entirely at fault, as they maximize the amount of money they make for their owners and players.
Ultimately, fans are partially responsible for the continued escalation of sports rights costs.
By being willing to pay steadily rising prices for access to games, fans are enabling leagues to extract more money from media companies, who in turn ask pay-TV providers for higher rates. So it shouldn’t be surprising when services like YouTube TV and Fubo ask customers to pay up.
Faced with surging streaming costs and the YouTube TV blackout, some sports fans have resorted to piracy. Others are simply watching highlights of the games for free on social media or the free version of YouTube when they’re over.
If sports remain the cornerstone of TV, fans shouldn’t be surprised to see more disputes like the one between Disney and YouTube TV flare up.
The author, shown with her mother in 2016, always thought she would take over her mom’s day care business. Then her mom got sick, and everything changed.
Courtesy of Alyssa Wiens
I was working for my mom’s successful day care business when she died in 2019.
The plan had always been for me to take over one day, but I decided to quit a year later.
Though I’ve often wondered if it was the right choice, I choose to embrace my own path instead.
When my mom was diagnosed with her third bout of cancer in 2018, she asked me to come work for her day care business. Knowing she would be undergoing treatments and needed the help, I quit my job to become a manager at one of her four centers.
We had previously discussed my future involvement in the company and eventual takeover as director, so while her diagnosis hastened this plan, I felt like I was making the right decision at the time. With this plan, I could help her out while also transitioning into a leadership role.
My mom died in June 2019, about seven months after I started working for the company. Losing her was the hardest thing I’ve experienced, and I continue to miss her every day. Looking back, I see that working at her business complicated my grief. It was hard to imagine my future, personally and professionally, without my mom.
I decided to step away from the business
Working at the day care was emotionally challenging after my mom died. Constant reminders of her, like staff who talked about her or incoming mail with her name on it, triggered my emotions nearly daily. Also challenging were the usual stressors of managing a large facility while navigating the dynamics with my mom’s business partner to create a seamless handover plan.
I had envisioned taking over with my mom’s mentorship, but now I was doing it without her. I was 28 at the time and didn’t know if I could commit long-term to this business, especially in the middle of my complex, overwhelming emotions.
Between my grief, overwhelm with the job, and uncertainty about future management, I made a tough decision to quit and step away from the business just over a year after my mom died.
I told my mom’s business partner and my dad — who was acting co-director at the time — about my decision. Without me stepping in, and because the other director did not want to manage the entire company herself, we ended up selling the company that my mom and her partner had built and run for 12 years.
I’ve often wondered if I made the right decision
I’ve thought about the day care a lot in the six years since my mom passed. She, with her business partner, built it from the ground up, and we were all proud of her for it. It was thriving and provided a good income. It also provided hundreds of families with a safe and joyful place for their children to grow and learn.
The idea of running her moms business without her mom by her side was too much, Wiens admitted.
Courtesy of Alyssa Wiens
If I had continued, I would likely be working as a director there today, earning a higher salary than I do now and making a positive impact on the community.
Knowing this, I often wonder if I made the right decision. The same questions repeat in my head: Was I crazy to give up that opportunity? I could have had a meaningful job, I could have carried on Mom’s legacy. What would she think?
I’m no longer living in regret
At times, I can get caught up in all of the “what if” questions and the feelings of regret over what could have been.
Through reflection, therapy, and time, I’ve realized those questions aren’t helpful. I thought about it carefully, considered my options, and made the best decision I could at that time. It’s all any of us can do.
In deciding to step away from that path, I’ve forged a new one instead. I’m now self-employed as a freelance writer, something I’ve never thought I’d do. My flexible schedule has allowed me to travel and prioritize things that are important to me.
I’m doing well and am hopeful about the future. Whenever those regrets or questions set in, I remind myself of this simple truth: My mom would be happy that I’m happy, and that’s enough.
Noura Sakkijha said Mejuri has introduced 10-karat gold options.
WWD/WWD via Getty Images
Noura Sakkijha said Mejuri has introduced a new metal to cope with gold’s soaring costs.
Mejuri’s direct-to-consumer model has helped it stay nimble, she said.
The Canadian brand has also reallocated some production plans to respond to tariffs.
Among the many who have tracked gold’s stunning rally this year, Noura Sakkijha has an especially personal — and economic stake — in the game.
As the cofounder and CEO of the jewelry brand Mejuri, Sakkijha said that the company’s direct-to-consumer model has helped it stay nimble amid soaring gold prices, in part by offering customers an entirely new material. Investors have flocked to gold, driving its price up by more than 50% this year. Prices of the safe-haven asset hit a record of nearly $4,400 per ounce in October, before falling sharply and settling to around $4,000 per ounce. Silver prices have also gone up and reached an all-time high last month.
“You’re operating at a completely different cost for all fine jewelry brands,” Sakkijha told Business Insider. Coming from a family of jewelers, Sakkijha said maintaining accessible pricing is important.
With its direct-to-consumer model, Mejuri works with manufacturers and sells jewelry straight to consumers, which Sakkijha said has come in “very, very handy right now, because what you need is agility.” The brand — popular on social media and known for accessible luxury, like classic chain necklaces that cost a few hundred dollars — can more easily adjust its prices, she said.
Mejuri has introduced 10-karat gold, in addition to its typical 14-karat gold, silver, and vermeil, which is gold-plated jewelry. Sakkijha also said Mejuri has started offering some products in vermeil that it used to only sell in 14-karat gold.
The metals make a big price difference — for example, Mejuri’s “bold huggie hoops” cost $268 in 14-karat gold, $198 in 10-karat gold, $78 in sterling silver, and $78 in vermeil.
“The goal for us is to make sure that we always have well-designed products that are very well made at great prices,” Sakkijha said.
Sakkijha estimated that Mejuri has raised prices by less than 10% across collections in the past year, in part to cope with changing material costs. The price change varies by item, the company told Business Insider, meaning some have seen a larger increase.
Mejuri is based in Canada, but Sakkijha said that the majority of its market is in the US, meaning she’s had to react to tariffs and trade tensions quickly. Mejuri manufactures globally, and Sakkijha said they’ve adjusted some production plans in response to evolving tariffs.
Though the skyrocketing gold prices are far from ideal, Sakkijha said Mejuri is in a good spot, since it’s known for dainty jewelry that uses less material.
“We design into these price points that we know are very important to our customers,” she said.
New management for the bankrupt auto parts supplier is suing its founder, Patrick James.
The suit claims James fraudulently secured billions in financing and then enriched himself.
The suit references ‘exotic’ cars, a celebrity chef, and homes from New York to California.
Seventeen “exotic” cars. “Lavish” homes from New York to California. A private “celebrity chef.”
These are just some of the big spending allegations that have emerged in a lawsuit filed this week against Patrick James, the founder of auto parts supplier First Brands, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.
The lawsuit, filed by First Brands’ new management, said James “misrepresented First Brands’ financial position to secure billions in debt financing” over the years. The company’s founder then “secretly pilfered some of the company’s assets to fund his and his family’s lavish lifestyle,” said the lawsuit filed by Weil Goyshal lawyers in the southern district of Texas bankruptcy court.
First Brands’ bankruptcy filing last month followed the implosion of auto lender TriColor, prompting Wall Street titan Jamie Dimon to question what other corporate “cockroaches” lurk beneath the surface of an otherwise healthy economy.
A spokesman for James said he plans to challenge the allegations, which he denied. “Mr. James has always conducted himself ethically and is committed to doing everything he can to support First Brands’ stakeholders during the restructuring process,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement.
The lawsuit said James used company funds “to pay for or otherwise maintain” his lavish lifestyle, including:
Seven properties and “an extensive car collection, including at least seventeen exotic cars.”
Some $3 million from First Brands accounts toward rent payments for James’s New York City townhouse between 2019 and 2024.
Over $2 million from First Brands’ accounts in 2025 for payroll to James’s personal family office.
Approximately $500,000 from First Brands accounts in 2024 “to Mr. James’ private celebrity chef.”
$150,000 for a celebrity personal trainer through Battery Park Holdings LLC.
$110,000 reimbursed by First Brands to Battery Park for a six-week Southampton hotel stay for two non-employees in August 2023.
Millions to entities James controlled in the months leading up to his purchase of luxury homes in the Hamptons, NY, and Malibu, California.
About $8 million from First Brands to James’ son-in-law’s “wellness” company, Archive Health LLC, between 2021 and 2025.
James’ spokesman said the money that went to Archive Health was for “legitimate expenses associated with the company’s role providing health clinic services to approximately 7,000 families of First Brands factory employees in both the US and Mexico.”
The lawsuit also said some $700 million was transferred from First Brands to Patrick James or entities he controlled between 2018 and 2025, including over $600 million to the Patrick James Trust “for no consideration and for no valid business purpose.”
The Rochester, Michigan-based company has asked the court to freeze James’ assets.
The new lawsuit also accused James of misrepresenting the company’s finances to secure debt financing. It said James caused First Brands to incur, “at least $2.3 billion in accounts receivable factoring liabilities based, at least in significant part, on non-existent or doctored invoices.”
It also said he allowed the company to double-pledge collateral tied to another $2.3 billion in financing involving a special purpose vehicle, the lawsuit said.