“I doubt very much that they’re doing it for good health rather than selling new products,” says David Levitsky, a professor of nutrition and psychology. “The problem is, the food industry makes a profit by selling you calories. The healthiest thing [McDonald’s can do] is just tell people to eat less.” 

“In America, we have dramatic inequality in income and wages and wealth. ... I think young people are sick and tired of it, and they’re taking it into their own hands,” says Catherine Creighton, director of Cornell’s Industrial and Labor Relations branch in Buffalo. 

“Workers have had an amazing threshold for tolerating the abuse that employers have put on them,” says Kate Bronfenbrenner, senior lecturer in the ILR School. “But when that abuse went so far as to risk their lives, that crossed the line; in the context of Covid, where employers were asking them to work harder than ever and employers were making huge profits.” 

“The problem with authenticity is it requires people to hold a culture in time and space and place,” says Lilly Jan, lecturer in food and beverage management. “It doesn’t give it the flexibility to grow and evolve, which is what culture is. It’s a living thing, just like language.”

“This is just evidence that none of the cryptocurrency assets provide a good, stable enough means of payment,” says Dan Awrey, professor of law. “It is just too volatile.” 

Steve Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law, says administrative actions “provide a small but significant step to help keep U.S. companies competitive in a global economy and to address workforce shortages. Larger actions, such as increasing the number of employment-based green cards, will require congressional action.” 

Glenn Altschuler, professor of American studies, writes this opinion piece about gerrymandering in the U.S. 

“The U.S. is hardly an island amidst this storm of supply disruptions and rising demand, especially for goods and commodities,” says Eswar Prasad, professor of economics and trade policy.

“With Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the employees of Activision Blizzard can continue to exercise their rights to engage in collective activity — including their efforts to unionize,” says Risa Lieberwitz, professor in the ILR School and director of the Worker Institute. 

“I don’t think you can underestimate the power the White House has in supporting labor,” says Ariel Avgar, professor in the ILR School. “Biden is sending a strong signal that support for labor is a good thing, which comes at this moment where there’s this shift in public perception of workers’ rights and unions. Biden’s rhetoric didn’t cause this — but it’s part of the mixture of forces that are happening to create a clear opportunity for labor.”

“Aspiring party leaders always have a tricky balance to distance themselves a bit from the previous incumbent while not breaking with them completely,” says David Bateman, associate professor of government. 

“It’s baffling to me that we’re in this situation on January 18 when on January 19 these things are supposed to be turned on,” says Aija Leiponen, professor of strategy and business economics.