"Wage Warrior" by Eliza Gray/Washington
TIME magazine
March 10, 2014
In recent weeks, the debate over the proposed raising of the federal minimum wage has grown more and more heated. Proponents of an increased wage say that it would help to lift as many as 900,000 families out of poverty, but others argue that in doing so 500,000 jobs would be lost. One of the most important protesters is Richard Berman (sometimes called Dr. Evil by his critics). Even people (like David Card) who say the minimum wage would have little to no effect on employment think that raising the minimum wage is not the most effective way to combat poverty.
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Thursday, March 6, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
What Are the Ramifications of Target Being 'Targeted'?
"Data theft helps cut Target's profit in half" by Tiffany Hsu
The Daily Press
February 27, 2014
The recent theft of customer data from Target has had serious impact on the company's profits. Target is now making roughly half of what it made one year earlier. This is largely due to consumers' loss of trust in the company. Some good may come out of the event, however. Other companies may view it as a warning to increase their security. Some people think that the theft might be the impetus needed to spur the U.S. into the adoption of chip-and-PIN style credit cards (see earlier blog post).
The recent theft of customer data from Target has had serious impact on the company's profits. Target is now making roughly half of what it made one year earlier. This is largely due to consumers' loss of trust in the company. Some good may come out of the event, however. Other companies may view it as a warning to increase their security. Some people think that the theft might be the impetus needed to spur the U.S. into the adoption of chip-and-PIN style credit cards (see earlier blog post).
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Is the Weather to Blame for the Slow Economy?
"Cold blamed for shaky growth" by Gail MarksJarvis
The Daily Press
February 20, 2014
The economic growth in the beginning of this year has been slower than expected, and many economists blame it on the unusually cold weather. Their reasoning is that the cold has discouraged consumers from leaving their homes and spending money. This doesn't seem to actually be the case, though, since online shopping is also lower than expected. The actual reason may be that disposable income is only rising about 2% annually. According to Russ Koesterich, this rate of increase is "'barely keeping up with inflation.'" Janet Yellen says that "the labor market has improved." Although there have been economic gains this year, the increases are not as substantial as expected.
The Daily Press
February 20, 2014
The economic growth in the beginning of this year has been slower than expected, and many economists blame it on the unusually cold weather. Their reasoning is that the cold has discouraged consumers from leaving their homes and spending money. This doesn't seem to actually be the case, though, since online shopping is also lower than expected. The actual reason may be that disposable income is only rising about 2% annually. According to Russ Koesterich, this rate of increase is "'barely keeping up with inflation.'" Janet Yellen says that "the labor market has improved." Although there have been economic gains this year, the increases are not as substantial as expected.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Antibiotics to be Removed from Chick-fil-A Chicken by 2019
"Chick-fil-A backs off antibiotics" (no author listed)
The Daily Press
February 13, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Why Do Americans Use a Different Type of Credit Card Than the Rest of the World?
"Plastic Surgery" by Bill Saporito
TIME magazine
February 10, 2014
http://business.time.com/2014/01/23/the-stripe-on-your-dedit-card-is-a-massive-achilles-heel/
(The article online is slightly different from the one in the magazine.)
The credit card technology used in the United States (a magnetic stripe) isn't as up-to-date as what is currently used in Europe and the rest of the world (a microchip and a PIN number). In other countries, transactions are authenticated by scanning the chip in the card and then having the purchaser punch in their PIN code. The credit cards here are more susceptible to hackers because they rely on 40-year-old technology. The information in the magstripe can be stolen by malware because it is not encrypted (the information in a chip-and-PIN card is). Annually, American credit-card fraud adds up to about $5.5 billion. The use of chip-and-PIN cards could greatly reduce this amount. Why, then, haven't our credit card issuers made the switch?
TIME magazine
February 10, 2014
http://business.time.com/2014/01/23/the-stripe-on-your-dedit-card-is-a-massive-achilles-heel/
(The article online is slightly different from the one in the magazine.)
The credit card technology used in the United States (a magnetic stripe) isn't as up-to-date as what is currently used in Europe and the rest of the world (a microchip and a PIN number). In other countries, transactions are authenticated by scanning the chip in the card and then having the purchaser punch in their PIN code. The credit cards here are more susceptible to hackers because they rely on 40-year-old technology. The information in the magstripe can be stolen by malware because it is not encrypted (the information in a chip-and-PIN card is). Annually, American credit-card fraud adds up to about $5.5 billion. The use of chip-and-PIN cards could greatly reduce this amount. Why, then, haven't our credit card issuers made the switch?
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Birthday Speech
My dear People,
I welcome you to my blog.
Today is my seventeenth birthday: I am seventeen today!
I hope you are all enjoying yourselves as much as I am.
I shall not keep you long.
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT.
I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE!
(POOF!)
(credit to J.R.R. Tolkien)
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