Fifty days into a strike with no end in sight, about 1,000 Hollywood writers and their supporters marched and rallied in Los Angeles for a new contract with studios that includes payment guarantees and job security.

Speakers at the Writers Guild of Americas WGA Strong March and Rally for a Fair Contract on Wednesday emphasized the broad support for their cause shown by other Hollywood unions including actors in their own contract negotiations and labor at large.

Were all in it together, were all fighting the same fight, for a sustainable job in the face of corporate greed, Adam Conover, a writer and a member of the guilds board and its negotiating committee, told a crowd at the end of the march at the La Brea Tar Pits. We are going to win because they need us. Writers are the ones who stare at a blank page. We are the ones who invent the characters, tell the stories and write the jokes that their audiences love. Theyd have nothing without us.

Talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group representing studios in negotiations, have not resumed since breaking off hours before the writers contract expired on May 1. The strike began a day later, with more and more productions shutting down as it has gone on.

A similar deadline now looms for actors, whose union, SAG-AFTRA, is negotiating with the AMPTP on a contract that expires June 30. Members voted overwhelmingly to authorize guild leaders to call a strike if no deal is reached.

Streaming and its ripple effects are at the center of the dispute. The guild says that even as series budgets have increased, writers share of that money has consistently shrunk.

The AMPTP says writers demands would require they be kept on staff and paid when there is no work for them, and that its contract proposals have been generous.

We are here for the sake of the profession we love, writer Liz Alper said at Wednesdays rally. The industry we work in, our audiences, our fellow sister unions in Hollywood, and all the workers across America who have been hurt and disenfranchised by Wall Street and big tech.

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While government debt has been dominating the news, there is far more private debt than public debt in the U.S. economyand it represents the greater economic challenge. As of year-end 2022, public debt totaled 123% of GDP, while private sector debt totaled 165%. 

The level of private debtstudent debt, mortgage debt, small business debt, and morehas more than doubled as a percentage of GDP since 1980. It stifles economic growth because it burdens individuals and businesses. In fact, debt has been consistently growing faster than GDP, which means that the burden on the private sector is almost always increasing.

Debt can be employed productively. In fact, an economy cant function without debt. Yet debt is a paradox: its overuse can bring harmand even disaster.  

Why debt always grows faster than the economy

Debt grows because it takes new debt to grow the economy. If you want to build a new house or buy a new car, you can either spend proportionately less on something else, which means the overall GDP wont grow, or you can borrow the money. Reducing spending to save in order to make the purchase reduces GDP during the period in which you save. If your employer increases your pay and therefore gives you more to spend, you can use that to grow the economybut those earnings essentially are predicated on someone elses debt growth. 

Increased debt, especially private sector debt, is fundamental to economic growthbut it mounts up over time. In the absence of a drastic reconfiguration of economic life, debt growth is essentially perpetual. Total debtprivate debt and government debt added togetherhas grown from 142% of GDP in 1950 to a mindboggling 294% today.   

The inexorable march of debt may well be the most important economic factor in our lifetime. It underscores the need for new approaches in addressing this unbridled debt.  

Student debt relief

Student debt is a scourge, weighing down the financial lives of millions of Americans, young and old, for years after theyve left the university. Carrying this burden results in deferred home buying, delayed household formation, and other trends that impact peoples long-term financial, physical, and mental health. 

To free Americans from student debt, a government program could offer debt forgiveness based on performing substantial volunteer work for a qualified not-for-profit institution. A student debt holder who has done volunteer community service for an approved government or not-for-profit organization for at least 800 hours, and made payments for 90 consecutive months, would have the remaining balance of their student debt forgiven. This should also include studies at a trade or technical school.  

Mortgage debt relief 

At the end of 2021, pandemic mortgage payment forbearance programs ended in the U.S., and deferred mortgage payments had to be paid. Often lenders arranged to tack the deferred amount to the end of the loan. Another option would be a debt jubileea program offered for a limited and defined period that would allow missed payments and interest, plus up to an additional 20% of the principal balance, to be written down at the borrowers option in exchange for giving the lender a partial interest in any gains when the house is eventually sold.  

Such a program would provide significantly lower paymentsand thus substantial reliefto borrowers who elected to take advantage of the program. The lender would be allowed to amortize the write-down over 30 years, get a current tax benefit, and receive equity upside on any sale, with the equity share and lower mortgage payment both negotiated with the borrower. 

Bankruptcy law reform

U.S. bankruptcy laws are in dire need of revision. As currently written, theyre clumsy, counterproductive, and, in some respects, defeat the purported objective of restoring the individual to healthy participation in the economy. 

Nearly 90% of families declare bankruptcy for one of three reasons that are often beyond their control: a job loss, a medical problem, or a family breakup. Bankruptcy laws should be designed to repair rather than to punishand should help borrowers retain their jobs and keep their families together in the future. 

Healthy bankruptcy reform should allow borrowers to modify their mortgages in bankruptcy, which is generally prohibited by current law. It should allow renters to continue paying their rent if this would avert eviction. Debtors who are no longer residing in a home should be released from future liability for taxes and code violations. Debtors should be able to keep their cars by paying the lender the fair market value of the car over a reasonable time, as transportation allows them to get to work and care for other members of their household. Student loans should be discharged in bankruptcy, just like other consumer debtsand so should be accumulated local fines and fees. 

We must give families a new start after bankruptcy. As their financial lives are rebuilt, everyone benefits: lenders, borrowers, and the economy as a whole. 

Stop incentivizing debt in tax law 

Under U.S. law, debt gets a tax benefit and equity gets a tax penalty. This is a stunning inversion of what an economic system should incent. The inexorable rise in levels of debt could be muted if the interest deductions for large businesses and the wealthiest individuals were lessened or eliminated. Conversely, eliminating tax on dividends for the bottom 60% of householdswhich is a form of double taxationwould help encourage stock accumulation among these households.  

Reducing private debt by all means necessary will allow households to participate more vibrantly in the economy.

Richard Vagues career has spanned fields as varied as banking, energy, government, and the arts. He recently served as Secretary of Banking and Securities for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Vague previously was managing partner of Gabriel Investments, an early-stage venture capital company; co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Energy Plus, an electricity and natural gas supply company; and co-founder and CEO of two banksFirst USA, which was sold to Bank One, and Juniper, which was sold to Barclays PLC. His new book is Paradox of Debt: A New Path to Prosperity Without Crisis.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

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Microsoft on Thursday will try to gain clearance to complete a $69 billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard in a legal showdown with U.S. regulators that will reshape a pastime thats bigger than the movie and music industries combined.

The battle will pit Microsofts ambition to expand its video game imprint beyond its Xbox console against the U.S. Federal Trade Commissions bid to block a deal that it contends will stifle competition and innovation to the detriment of consumers.

Its the latest twist in a deal that was announced 17 months ago. Both Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick are expected to testify at some point during five days of hearings in San Francisco before U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley that will conclude June 29.

FTC lawyers will call upon experts and a top executive for Sony, the maker of the industry-leading PlayStation video game console, to show why Microsoft will gain an unfair advantage if it is allowed to blend its Xbox franchise with an Activision acquisition that will give it ownership of popular video game titles such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush.

After all the evidence and arguments are presented, Corley will decide whether or not to grant the FTCs request for a court order that would keep the deal in a holding pattern until a more exhaustive administrative trial thats scheduled to begin in Washington D.C. on August 2. The judge isnt expected to rule until after the Fourth of July holiday.

If Corley declines to issue an injunction, Microsoft could move to close the deal ahead of a July 18 deadline and avert a $3 billion breakup fee.

The wrangling over the deal has cast a spotlight on the growing importance of video gaming, a pursuit that has already garnered an estimated of audience of about 3 billion people worldwide who play at least some of the time on a console, personal computer or, increasingly, smartphone. The market is expected to swell to 4.5 billion people by 2030.

All those gamers are willing to pay upwards of $70 to own marquee titles like Call of Duty or fork over a steady stream of recurring subscriptions to services such as Microsofts Xbox Game Pass, Amazons Luna and Nvidas GeForce.

Microsoft is framing the proposed Activision deal as a way to make inroads against Sonys PlayStation, which has a far larger market share, while providing new benefits for video game players. Among other things, Microsoft cites a 10-year commitment to make Call of Duty available on Nintendos Switch console and a willingness to make a similar decade-long deal with PlayStation, and also argues video gamers will gain more access to even more games on its Xbox subscription service.

The FTC has countered the deal will give too much power to Microsoft, already one of the worlds richest companies because of a personal computer software empire that the U.S. Justice Department tried to break up in landmark antitrust case more than 20 years ago. Regulators also allege Microsoft cant be trusted not to gradually make the most popular video games exclusive to its own Xbox console and subscription services, based on its handling of titles after buying video game maker ZeniMax Media in 2021.

The hearings will also be another test of the FTCs amped-up oversight of Big Tech under Chairperson Lina Khan, who has been outspoken about her belief that U.S. regulators were too lenient in past deals that helped increase the power of companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. The courtroom tussle with Microsoft comes six months after the FTC took Facebook owner Meta Platforms to court in Silicon Valley to try to stop a takeover of a virtual reality fitness company only to be rebuffed by the judge in that case.

The FTC could face challenges convincing Corley to block the Activision deal. The judge previously showed skepticism about the need to prevent the takeover in March when she dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group of gamers who sued to stop the acquisition.

Like regulators are now, the gamers argued that Microsofts takeover of Activision would stifle competition and reduce consumer choice. They later brought an amended lawsuit, but Corley in May denied their request for an injunction to block the deal.

Another major regulator, the U.K.s Competition and Markets Authority, also has taken action to thwart Microsofts takeover.

But European regulators representing the 27-nation bloc approved the deal last month on condition that Microsoft make some promises meant to boost competition in the cloud-based gaming market. A number of other countries, including China, Japan, Brazil and South Korea, have also approved it.

Microsoft has lashed back against the British regulators standing in its way with an appeal of their decision, as well as voicing strong opposition to U.K. government officials.

Agriculture is the cornerstone of African communities and economies. Not only is the majority of the continents working population employed in the sector, but just under a quarter of sub-Saharan Africas GDP is generated by the work of its farmers. Yet, climate change is now undermining what progress has been made across the continent in the last few decadeswith hunger, malnutrition, and poverty all on the rise.

Amidst these challenges, the significant debt servicing obligations that African countries face mean that investment into our food systems is limited or impossible to fund, with the International Monetary Fund recently warning that sub-Saharan African economies are increasingly facing a big funding squeeze.

In my own country of Malawi, for instance, a farm input subsidy program that has been running since 2005, helping smallholder farmers access crucial fertilizers needed to boost production to address hunger challenges, is nonetheless at risk because so much of the national budget is earmarked against debt servicing and disaster response. Government debt, alone, stands at just under 50% of Malawis GDP.

This cannot last. Struggling under the weight of rising hunger and malnutritional challenges which were worsened by the impact of COVID-19, rising food, fuel, and fertilizer prices, and deteriorating climate conditions, countries in the Global South risk becoming locked in a cycle of disasters and recovery unless a new financial accord with high-income countries can be struck.

As countries meet at the international conference in Paris on a New Global Financing Pact, we have an opportunity to establish a new financial partnership between high- and low-income countries that addresses these rising challenges.

Global North-South partnerships are already making a difference on the ground in Africa, but more work is clearly needed to unlock funding currently reserved for debt. As just a small taste of what can be achieved with greater international cooperation, for example, my foundations pilot integrated agriculture and climate adaptation project in central Malawi has transformed lives and ensured food security for 1,300 farming families, with subsistence farmers increasing their maize harvest roughly eightfold.

Establishing this new partnership means, firstly, recognizing the disproportionately severe impact climate change is already having on many countries in the Global South. Simultaneously, many countries are facing the burdens of servicing high debts, disaster relief, and food security challengesoften all at once.

For example, Cyclone Freddy, which devastated Malawi in March, caused roughly $500 million in economic losses. Nearly 4% of Malawis annual GDP was lost in a few days.

In Malawi, this means being unable to pay for recovery from this and other, more frequent and severe disasters, let alone important, transformative agricultural development programs that can help reduce poverty, as well as address high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition which face more than 5 million Malawiansnearly a quarter of the population.

Clearly, as the disproportionate impact of climate change becomes ever greater, African countries need a new financial pact to overcome these challenges and prepare for a more resilient future.

This is also critical to save lives now. The Paris Summit is taking place just a month after FAO and WFP released a new report warning that acute food insecurity is likely to get worse in 18 hunger hotspots. This includes Malawi, where food inflation has led to record prices for some items including maizethe main stapleat 300% above the 2022 levels in the southern region.

To remedy this, creditors should agree on debt cancellation or suspension for low-income countries which are at high risk of backsliding on food security and nutrition levels, providing the legroom in budgets needed to address these pressing humanitarian challenges as they arise.

Likewise, high-income countries must deliver on their commitment of mobilizing $100 billion in climate finance for developing countries, with a significant portion of this carved out for the smallholder farmers who are often most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

Meeting this commitment is clearly a matter of justice. Africa, in particular, accounts for roughly only 3% of the worlds carbon emissionsyet the continent is home to eight of the 10 nations most at risk from climate impacts, adding additional pressures to already significant levels of food insecurity and malnutrition.

In much the same way that many of the solutions to climate change are available to us today, we already know the cost of funding sustainable food systems in Africaand the reforms being called for at the Paris Summit are crucial to unlocking it.

Across the three African nations of Malawi, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, research shows that this objective could be achieved through an additional $10 billion in funding a year, preventing significant economic losses and heightened hunger and malnutrition challenges as a result of climate change.

As the conflict in Ukraine has laid bare, food security challenges are not confined to Africa alone, as our entire global food system is closely interconnected and only as strong as its constituent parts. Investing in African food systems will have climate and food security benefits, not only for the region but for the world.

Ultimately, before climate change becomes more severe and widespread, we must develop a new accord between high- and low-income countries that unlocks the resources needed to addressand preventthe pressing challenges that are affecting our people and planet.

H.E. Dr. Joyce Banda is the former president of Malawi.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

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Apple illegally subjected employees to coercive interviews and interfered with the distribution of union leaflets at a New York City Apple Store, a U.S. labor board judge ruled Tuesday.

The finding represents the first time that an administrative law judge at the National Labor Relations Board, a federal agency, has ruled against Apple. But it is not the last word on the subject; Apple is free to appeal the ruling to the agencys full board or to federal appeals court.

Apple had no comment on the ruling Wednesday.

Lauren Esposito, the judge in the case, found that an Apple Store supervisor at the World Trade Center location had improperly asked an employee about his discussions with other workers about wage levels and about the employees opinion of unionization efforts across the company. Such activities ran afoul of U.S. labor law that protects the right of workers to organize, the judge wrote.

Similarly, Esposito ruled that Apple managers had singled out union literature, which is legally permitted in non-working spaces such as break rooms, for removal and disposal that sometimes involved shredding pamphlets.

The ruling requires Apple to cease and desist from activities that the judge found to violate established labor protections and to post workplace notices in the companys name acknowledging the courts findings, informing employees of their labor rights and pledging that the company will honor them.

Apple faces four other labor complaints now pending before National Labor Relations Board judges.

Its the clash of the tech titans that nobody asked for.

Twitter owner Elon Musk and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg are drawing up plans to tussle each other in a cage fight, after the Tesla CEO threw down the gauntlet on his social media platform.

Muskwho has been known to regret tweets sent after hoursposted late on Wednesday night that he was up for a cage fight with Zuckerberg.

A matter of hours later ,the Meta founder ominously took to one of his own channels, Instagram, and posted to his story a screenshot of Musks tweet captioned Send Me Location.

A Meta spokesperson later confirmed to Fortune that Zuckerbergs response had not been in jest, saying: The story speaks for itself.

When alerted to the confirmation Musk similarly doubled down, adding: If this is for real, I will do it.

And it appears the richest man on earth has since chosen the placelater tweeting that the Vegas Octagon, a UFC arena, would be the site to host the event. (For the uninitiated, cage fighting is where two fighters in an enclosed space slug it out with a variety of techniques, usually over a three or five round bout.)

Although warned by fans that Facebook founder Zuckerberg is training in jiu jitsuwinning a gold medal in his first tournament earlier this yearMusk seems unperturbed.

He responded to a follower that his signature move is The Walrus, explaining its where I just lie on top of my opponent and do nothing.

Likewise, Musk seems unbothered by Zuckerbergs rigorous fitness routine, writing: I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids and throwing them in the air.

The Starlink founders diet is also not in-keeping with that of an athlete, with 51-year-old Musk previously revealing he eats a donut every day for breakfast.

Unperturbed, Musk told a user on Twitter the fight would be hilarious.

Fans are now flocking to the platform to encourage its Chief Technology Officer, as well as offering training advice and making suggestions about who should referee the match.

Calls have been made for high-profile podcaster and former mixed martial arts fighter Joe Roganan acquaintance of Musks who has interviewed both tech billionaires on The Joe Rogan Experienceto referee the proceedings.

The rise of celebrity fights

The Musk vs Zuck fight hasnt sprung out of nowhereit was prompted by rivalry between the brands owned by the two.

The initial tweet from Musk came in response to an article about the launch of Metas Threadstouted as a direct rival to Twitter.

Muskwho purchased Twitter in 2022 and has since seen its value shrink to less than half what he paid responded: Im sure Earth cant wait to be exclusively under Zucks thumb with no other options. At least it will be sane [referring to a jibe from Meta product boss Chris Cox]. Was worried there for a moment.

Its just the latest example of social media confrontations which mayor may notresult in a physical fight.

Last year YouTuber Jake Paul took on British boxer and social media influencer Tommy Fury in a boxing match in Saudi Arabia, with Paul claiming to have taken home $30 million from the bout despite losing.

The trend of social media bouts has similarly seen clashes between YouTube and TikTok starswith Austin McBroom taking on Bryce Hall at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in 2021.

Other famous faces to have entered the ring include Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Kim Kardashian, British actor Idris Elba and Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista.

It was a long time coming, but a shift back to normality after the years-long Covid pandemic is reshaping the list of the most liveable cities in the world.

As upended lives return to normal, education, health and cultural facilities are improving, according to the Economist Intelligence Units (EIU) Global Liveability Index 2023, which compiles the list. This year, the global average score was the highest in 15 years.

For the second year running, the Austrian capital Vienna took the title of worlds most liveable city, based on a wide range of indicators, followed by Copenhagen. Sydney and Melbourne both jumped, to claim the third and fourth spots, after a particularly infectious Covid strain saw them tumble down the index last year.

Asia-Pacific cities were some of the most improved destinations, with eight of the 10 biggest upward movers coming from the region. New Zealands Wellington rose 35 spots to take 23rd place, while Auckland rose 25 places to land at number 10. Hanoi, Vietnam moved up 20 places to 129.

The shift towards normality after the pandemic has overall boded well for global liveability in 2023, said Upasana Dutt, head of the liveability index at EIU. Education has emerged stronger with children returning to schools, alongside a significantly reduced burden on hospitals and healthcare systems, with some notable improvements in cities across developing economies of Asia and the Middle East.

Of the 10 cities to slip farthest down the rankings, three were in the UK  Edinburgh, Manchester and London  and two in the US,  Los Angeles and San Diego. Most Chinese cities were broadly stable when compared to last years results, according to the survey. 

Damascus, Syria and Libyas Tripoli remain at the bottom of the list, held back, the report says, by social unrest, terrorism and conflict.

The EIU ranked 173 cities on more than 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Data was collected Feb. 13 and March 12.

These are the top 10 most liveable cities in 2023 (ranking numbers are the same where cities scores were identical):

1.    Vienna, Austria

2.    Copenhagen, Denmark

3.    Melbourne, Australia

4.    Sydney, Australia

5.    Vancouver, Canada

6.    Zurich, Switzerland

7.    Calgary, Canada

7.    Geneva, Switzerland

9.    Toronto, Canada

10.   Osaka, Japan

10.   Auckland, New Zealand

And these are the bottom 10:

164.   Douala, Cameroon

165.   Kyiv, Ukraine

166.   Harare, Zimbabwe

166.   Dhaka, Bangladesh

168   Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

169.   Karachi, Pakistan

170.   Lagos, Nigeria

171.   Algiers, Algeria

172.   Tripoli, Libya

173.   Damascus, Syria

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