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Oklahoma Losing Out on $150 Million in Tax Revenue

The second part of a special KOSU report finds $150 million in taxes Oklahoma can’t collect because of Cushing’s glut of oil.

Cushing’s Oil Glut Affects Markets Worldwide

The first of KOSU’s two part series explains the current situation in Cushing, OK.

Justice Dept. Sues To Block AT&T’s Acquisition Of T-Mobile

The Justice Department just confirmed that it has “filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block AT&T Inc.’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc.” In the department’s view, “the proposed $39 billion transaction would substantially lessen competition for mobile wireless telecommunications services across the United States, resulting in higher prices, poorer quality services, fewer choices and [...]

Demand For Autos Drives Up Factory Orders

U.S. factory orders rose strongly in July on the biggest jump in demand for autos in more than eight years and a surge in commercial airplane orders. The increase suggests supply chain disruptions created by the Japan crisis are easing. Factory orders climbed 2.4 percent, the largest increase since March, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. [...]

Rebuilding After Irene Is Not Going To Boost The Economy

While Hurricane Irene may, according to The New York Times, “prove to be one of the 10 costliest catastrophes in the nation’s history,” the recovery efforts as work gets going to repair the estimated $7 billion to $10 billion in damages are not going to give the overall U.S. economy a much-needed lift, our Planet [...]

Layoffs Slowed In August, Still Above Year Ago; Job Growth Also Slowed

Government agencies and private employers said this month that they plan to lay off 51,114 workers, the outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported this morning. And while that’s down 23 percent from the 66,414 layoffs announced in July, the August total was still “up 47 percent from a year ago,” the firm said. What’s [...]

A Push To Curb Auto Service Contract Scams

You’ve likely seen the commercials for vehicle service contracts on TV promising to save customers thousands of dollars in repairs to their older cars and trucks. And St. Louis is like the Silicon Valley of those vehicle service contract companies. But while the industry continues to thrive, Missouri’s Better Business Bureau logged almost 1,000 complaints [...]

Consumer Confidence ‘Plummeted In August’

Blunt words from The Conference Board in its just-released report on how consumers are feeling: “The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved slightly in July, plummeted in August.” The widely watched index now stands at 44.5, its lowest point in more than two years, vs. 59.2 in July. In good times, the index [...]

The Housing Market Has Stopped Getting Worse. For Now.

The housing market is stabilizing, at least for the moment. Home prices were basically flat between May and June, according to the latest Case-Shiller numbers. (Prices rose by 1.1 percent if you look at the raw data, graphed above, and fell by 0.1 percent after adjusting for seasonal factors.) Also in the could-be-worse bucket: Prices [...]

Need A Parking Space? Look In Your Hand

It’s one of the great frustrations of urban life: The seemingly unending search for a parking space. Motorists drive themselves crazy circling the block looking for a place to park while wasting gas and polluting the air. But the city of San Francisco has turned to technology for help — it is testing a smartphone [...]