America’s loneliest generation, towns with jobs are offering cash, and more top insights

During the week, the Daily Rundown brings you the day’s trending professional news. On the weekend, we try to keep you current on the big ideas that can help you see what’s coming. Read on and join the conversation.

America is becoming Isolation Nation. Nearly half of respondents to a nationwide survey by health insurer Cigna say they always or sometimes feel alone, and 54% say they feel no one knows them well. Such loneliness is connected to increased risk of heart disease, stroke and premature death. The loneliest group? Young people, especially those born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s. They are less likely to have in-person social interactions, which the survey identified as a potential loneliness antidote. ? Share your thoughts: #LonelyAmerica

Small towns are paying up to woo workers. Cities that lost prime-age workers during the Great Recession are now going all-out to get them back. Some cities are offering as much as $15,000 in student loan repayment grants and assistance with home down payments to entice workers, according to the Wall Street Journal. The stakes are high: Record-low unemployment, an aging workforce and historic labor shortages may drive employers to leave cities that lack labor, sending these areas into an economic tailspin. ? Share your thoughts: #GoWest

David Petraeus: Prepare to be hacked

“There is no single app or product or firm that is going to protect you from all of the different threats that are out there,” former CIA director David Petraeus told LinkedIn’s Devin Banerjee at the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles. So, what can we do? Take all the steps we can to limit the damage that’s coming our way, Petraeus advises. ? Share your thoughts: #MIGlobal

Building a better airplane seat: London-based design firm PearsonLloyd is looking to give the dreaded economy chair a reboot, with the goal of making planes more fuel-efficient and giving passengers some relief, reports Fast Company. The Eco Seat has a carbon fiber composite shell and a curved spine, which reduces the chair’s weight, creates additional free space for passengers and is more ergonomically friendly than standard airplane seats. It’s also made of recycled aircraft aluminum and wool, adding to its environmental bonafides. ? Share your thoughts: #AirplaneSeatReboot

We have a nursing problem. The U.S. needs 1 million new nurses by 2022 to meet the nation’s health care demands, reports CNNMoney. But nursing schools denied admission to over 56,000 qualified applicants in 2017. The reason? They don’t have the resources or teaching staff to accept more students. Part of the challenge is that practicing is more lucrative than teaching; nurse practitioners make an average salary of $97,000, over $18,000 more than a nursing school assistant professor. ? Share your thoughts: #NursingShortage

One last idea: Less than 20 years in, the 21st century has been a rocky one, with growing skepticism toward globalization and democratic capitalism. To keep things afloat, economist Dambisa Moyo argues we need reforms that will let the global economy work for more people. ? Share your thoughts: #CapitalismFuture

"The defining challenge of our time is to create solid and sustained economic growth that continues to meaningfully improve people’s lives."

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