The jobs crisis that never came, China faces economic slowdown, 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.

The offshoring job-pocalypse that wasn’t: Predictions from the previous decade that at least 25% of U.S. jobs were at risk of being outsourced have not come true, according to research from Upwork chief economist Adam Ozimek. Instead of sending vast numbers of white-collar jobs to the Philippines or India, many positions have made their way to lower-cost areas in the U.S. like South Dakota or Ohio, The New York Times reports. Yes, millions of jobs have been sent overseas, but they were compensated by job growth in other industries. Meanwhile, many employers have realized that time differences and language barriers makes outsourcing less of a bargain than initially assumed. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

China faces an economic slowdown: The world’s second biggest economy is slowing its roll, amid declining industrial output, diminishing retail sales, trade tensions with the U.S. and a swine fever that’s driven up pork prices, BBC News reports. The Chinese economy grew 6.2% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2019, compared to 6.6% in 2018. And where China goes, the world may follow. For every percentage point drop in the Chinese economy, the global economy can expect 0.2 percentage points of diminished growth, the Peterson Institute’s Gary Hufbauer tells the BBC. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

Tobacco that can stand in for wood, plastic: Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have developed a method to use cells from tobacco plants to make biodegradable materials that are as strong as processed wood or conventional plastic. The researchers harvested cells from the Nicotiana tabacum plant, shaped them into a mold and then applied heat to the material, forming a biopolymer structure that’s as hardy as oak, MIT Technology Review reports. Such a method could not only give new uses to tobacco, but could also reduce the need for petroleum-based plastics, the kind that often end up in landfills. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

Finding HIV’s ‘kill switch’: Researchers at the University of California San Diego have discovered a cellular “switch” that can potentially eliminate HIV that has remained dormant inside human cells. The researchers identified an RNA molecule that, when silenced or edited out via the gene editing tool CRISPR, can halt the recurrence of the virus in human cells, even without the help of antiretroviral medicines aimed to keep the virus dormant. Such a method, if found to be effective in human patients, could pave the way to a cure for HIV and AIDS. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

Med schools start to ditch cadavers: A handful of medical schools have decided to teach anatomy without the aid of deceased human bodies, opting for virtual reality-based 3D renderings, medical scans and physical replicas of organs instead. Schools like Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena, Calif. and the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College are going cadaver-less in part because dead bodies do not appear and behave like living bodies, whereas VR can at least simulate the real thing. Going with such tech also eliminates the cost of acquiring and disposing of cadavers. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

One last idea:  To achieve success and personal growth, author, photographer and entrepreneur Chase Jarvis tells Gretchen Rubin that we should focus more on the actual work we do than on the image we present to others. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

“Some people say 'fake it till you make it’ but I like to say make it till you make it. Faking doesn't do anything for anybody. Making is how you grow, how you change your situation and how you add meaning to your life.”

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— Scott Olster