“Thank you for your service” has become something of a stock phrase used by brands, politicians, and other official voices to express respect for military veterans. It’s intended to evoke not just the idea that veterans had served in a branch of the uniformed military services, but also to underscore that by doing so, they served the country as a whole. 

And regardless of whether you think similar respect ought to be paid to teachers, social workers, and others who serve the public in their own ways, you almost certainly don’t put bankers in that same category of duty and selflessness. Unless, of course, you’re General Mark Milley, a former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who recently told the crowd at an American Bankers Association convention that “I want to thank you and your service” because “I know that the people in the crowd are controlling basically 24, 25 trillion of a 30 trillion economy. So, good on you for doing that.” Apparently, the way Milley provides excellent customer service on the paid speaking circuit is to recognize that wealthy financiers are not satisfied by just wielding the power that wealth brings — they want to be honored for the higher purpose and self-sacrifice involved in being rich. 

Make it make sense.

The misery index is a simple calculation of how bad — or good — the economy is for working people. As economic indicators go, it’s pretty basic: just add together the unemployment rate and the inflation rate, and you get the misery index. The idea is that these are the two economic factors that most people feel most strongly and immediately, so roughly combining them is a good indication of general experience of economic conditions.

Take a look at this handy compilation of the misery index through the years recently posted by Justin Wolfers, and it’s easy to grasp the dislocation of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when high unemployment and high high inflation pushed the misery index above 20%. Things have calmed down pretty dramatically since then, with the latest numbers almost hitting a 5-decade low. The only election cycle in recent history where misery figures were lower: 2016.

Back in 2019, Washington State passed a law banning noncompete agreements for workers paid less than about $100,000 a year, on the grounds that these noncompetes constrained the job market, lowered wages, and stifled innovation. But as an important investigation from Brandon Block at Cascade PBS shows, at least one company is using an audacious strategy to try to enforce a noncompete agreement that is clearly illegal under state law.

Permobil, a company that makes custom wheelchairs, is going after a former employee for taking a job with a competitor in violation of a noncompete they signed upon hire. Their case would get laughed out of court in Washington — it’s exactly the kind of thing the legislature barred. So here’s the wild bit: even though the worker in question lives and works in Washington, the company filed their suit against him in federal court in Tennessee... and a judge there agreed to hear the case. While the trial hasn’t taken place yet, the fact that the case is even being heard raises the question of what new threats aggressive courts could bring to labor standards enforcement, and whether creative shopping for judges could successfully undermine state-based labor standards in the current judicial climate.

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