Internet Exiles Stores On Main Street
Open any children’s book with a scene set downtown and you’ll see a picture of basically the same row of shops. There’s a bookstore, a pharmacy, a florist, a post office and a bank, and maybe a bakery where the kids can hope for a free cookie. Nearly all those businesses are under threat from [...]
Jobless Rate Dips To 8.5 Percent, 200,000 Jobs Added To Payrolls
The nation’s unemployment rate edged down to 8.5 percent — its lowest level in nearly three years — as 200,000 jobs were were added to payrolls, the Bureau of Labor Statistics just reported. We’ll add more details from the report shortly, so hit your “refresh” button to see our latest updates. Update at 8:55 a.m. [...]
Forget Stocks Or Bonds, Invest In A Lobbyist
Corporations don’t lobby Congress for fun. They lobby because it helps their bottom line. Getting a regulation gutted or a tax loophole created means extra cash for the corporation. But getting laws changed can be very expensive. How much money does a corporation get back from investing in a good lobbyist? It’s a messy, secretive [...]
GM Looks To Protect Green Image With Volt Fixes
General Motors is advising Chevrolet Volt owners to return their electric cars to dealers for repairs that will better protect the vehicles’ batteries, which have caught fire after crash tests. The repairs fall under a “customer service campaign,” which is similar to a safety recall but allows GM to avoid the bad publicity and federal [...]
Calif. Woman Takes Honda To Small Claims Court Over Hybrid Mileage
A California woman is taking Honda to small claims court, claiming her Civic hybrid never gave her the 50 miles per gallon advertised. All Things Considered’s Melissa Block spoke to Andrea Chang, a Los Angeles Times business reporter who was in court on Tuesday as Heather Peters made her case. Essentially, Chang explained, Peters decided [...]
Strong Gain: Employers Added 325,000 Jobs Last Month, Survey Says
There was a 325,000-gain in the number of jobs on private employers’ payrolls last month, according to the widely watched ADP National Employment Report, which was just released. That’s the largest monthly increase in the ADP employment measure since December 2010 and suggests, economist Joel Prakken of Macroeconomic Advisers says in a statement released by [...]
A Man. A Van. A Surprising Business Plan.
We’ve all been there. Trapped in line at the DMV. Or stuck on hold while trying to call a city agency. It’s easy to complain about government bureaucracy. But its the rare person who sees such inefficiency as a business opportunity. Meet Adam Humphries. He lives in New York City, and he wanted to travel [...]
A Starbucks Coffee Will Cost 10 Cents More In Some Regions
If you, like me, order a tall coffee when you go to Starbucks, you’ll be paying 10 cents more. The Seattle coffee chain is raising prices in the Northeast and across the Sunbelt with the exception of California and Florida. Cities like Boston, New York, Atlanta and Dallas will also see an increase of about [...]
Can We Expect An Organic Milk Shortage In 2012?
It’s been a tough few months for dairy, with Norway’s butter shortage and now an ominous cloud looming over 2012 for organic milk drinkers. Organic dairy farmers can’t produce enough milk to meet demand, and the Southeast U.S. may be the hardest hit by this shortage, according to The New York Times, which had a [...]
Fed Will Now Publicly Forecast Interest-Rate Changes
The Federal Reserve will now tell the public its expectations for short-term interest rates. In the minutes of the Fed’s Open Market Committee Dec. 13 meeting , the Fed said it would update that forecast four times a year, beginning after its Jan. 24-25 meeting. The AP reports: “The change marks a significant shift in [...]
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