This article reflects on the history of the loss of plurality in economics, from an autobiographical perspective and with regard to some of the key moments in the discipline. To do so the article embarks on an exploration of economics learning in three cities at three different periods, telling five stories.

Private label (PL) has become a «social and economic phenomenon», especially in the context of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector. Although global economic crisis has boosted PLs’ success, retailers have developed high-value own brands. As a consequence PL positioning is very close to that of (traditional) national brands competing in the sector. Because of such positioning, many retailers have emphasized their own brands in their shelves. PL has become the most important competitive tool the retailers employ against national brands. This paper analyses the role of PLs in retailers’ assortment and whether many retailers’ assortment decisions might be detrimental to the retailers’ interests.

Road traffic safety is a global concern. It is estimated that each year in the public roads worldwide, over 1.3 millions of people die, between 20 and 50 million suffer some injuries and the number keeps rising. In this sense, the regulation ISO 39001 which is analyzed in this article provides a tool for the organizations not only to reduce but even to eliminate the impact and risk of death and serious injuries as consequences of traffic accidents.

The profitability approach in the management of the prevention of occupational risks entails a search for consensus and pragmatism among prevention entrepreneurs and managers. Since the lack of experiences in the use of preventive socioeconomic indicators has not impregnated risk prevention technicians for different reasons, it causes fear and ignorance when it comes to deciding whether to implement this field of management. Therefore, it is difficult to find parallelisms regarding the recorded data. This places preventive management in the background compared to other areas of management in most organizations. The calculation of costs derived from accidents in companies is a good field to start implementing the necessary integration of the cost-benefit analysis of occupational safety and health in the usual management of them.

The psychological wellbeing of workers derives from a proper balance between, on the one hand, motivating challenges and obstacles faced and, on the other hand, job and personal resources to overcome them. Managers or supervisors are in a privileged position to make this balance possible, through their daily behavior shown in their leadership style. Leadership styles can be ordered according to their impact on job stress, from the most negative to the most positive style: abusive, passive, transactional and transformational. The article explains the ways in which managers can affect employees' psychosocial wellbeing and the specific role of each leadership style. Finally, it concludes by giving responsibility to develop more positive leadership styles not only to individual managers, but also to companies and institutions, as well as educational institutions.

Telework involves a different approach to working. This can lead to certain health problems (technostress, technofatigue, technoaddiction, etc.) and may prevent others (musculoskeletal injuries due to cargo handling, etc.). The psychosocial risk factors that may affect their role are modified. Aspects like the almost constant use of technology or the changing personal relationships can have a positive or a negative impact. Therefore, the definition of telework must take into account strategies to prevent these potential risks, ensure optimal time management, have adequate emotional management and communication skills and a proper job.

The objective of this article is to analyze the effects that the economic crisis Catalonia suffers since year 2008 has had on employment and working conditions, with special emphasis on issues related to safety and health at work. The impact of the crisis, besides the effect it has had on people who have lost their jobs, is already perceivable in a worsening of working conditions in areas such as working hours or exposure to ergonomic and psychosocial risks.

Although this deterioration has not yet translated into a significant increase in the register of accidents and work-related illnesses, this cannot lead us to the mistake of thinking that the crisis has not caused damage in the field of prevention. On the one hand, it is necessary to take caution about data from public registers of occupational accidents, which currently do not allow us to detect work-related illnesses and, on the other hand, it is necessary to take into account that the deterioration in the working conditions does not immediately translate into occupational accidents or diseases. For this reason, it is necessary, now that it seems the economic situation starts to improve, to regain lost ground in terms of risk prevention.

Some reflections are derived from recent studies conducted by the National Institute for Safety and Health at Work (INSHT) in a sample of over 60 excellent companies and directed by the writer of this article, on the link of Occupational hazards prevention to the Social Responsibility policy, and how this contributes to consolidate their successes.

The occupational health paradigm implemented with the Law on Prevention of Occupational Risks in 1995 is promoting new models of preventive management, still incipient, in favor of the so-called healthy organizations. As a result of this change, there has been a move from the traditional concept of safety and health, essentially linked with occupational accidents and diseases, towards a more far-reaching concept, safety and health, including workers' health in its whole extent, whether physical, psychological and social.

After twenty years of the enforcement of the rule, there are many achievements and progress has been made in prevention, but many challenges will arise in the coming years. Among others, those related to the breakdown of space and time barriers in the labor activity as a result of the incorporation of ICT. In this regard, the article deals with the problem that arises in the enforcement of occupational health and safety in telework.

The present analysis focuses on the problem from the very basis of the practical application of the requirement of occupational safety and health in telework, the occupational risk assessment, which is the foundation on which all our regulatory structure on prevention of occupational hazards is built and connected.