In the years immediately after the breakup of the Bell System in 1984, a question arose: What was the purpose of this company—and what was the purpose of its laboratory, arguably the finest in the world—going forward?
5 Mainstream, Cost-Effective Alternatives to Alternative-Energy Cars
Soaring gas prices should be equating to free marketing for energy-efficient plug-in vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt. The higher prices are at the pump, after all, the more a driver stands to save by using a car …
Why Your Inbox May Seem a Little Less Crowded These Days
Sometimes one industry’s bad news is cause to celebrate for … almost everybody else in the world.
Return Path, one of the world’s biggest email certification companies, says the number of emails getting through to inboxes …
Credit Card Companies Offer Huge Bonuses — If You Have Stellar Credit
Credit card issuers continue to raise the stakes as they compete for customers with ultra-high credit scores, dangling sign-up incentives that can be worth more than $1,000. To get these bonuses, cardholders need to meet spending …
Why Portugal May Be the Next Greece
The worst is over for the euro zone, the experts say. But Greece isn’t really fixed and Portugal could become a second big problem before year-end
Ski Bums at Soup Kitchens: Warm Winter, Hard Times in Mountain Towns
Months of unseasonably warm weather have given the economy quite a boost: Mother Nature has been pointed to as the reason for increased spending on construction, restaurants, and home-improvement supplies, among other goods and …
Bernanke’s Speech Has the Market Buzzing with QE3 Hopes
The U.S. economy needs to grow faster to maintain job market momentum, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech Monday; as a result, the Fed will continue its low-interest rate policy, hoping to spur consumer demand …
Chairman Eeyore: Bernanke’s Dour Outlook Explained
Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve have been taking some big leaps in recent months: policy prescriptions tied to explicit dates, dire warnings to Congress, open press conferences, college lectures and even a Twitter feed. So while it’s still natural to expect characteristic caution from the Fed chairman, it’s not impossible to …
Where’s the Beef? Expect Less Meat, Higher Prices at Steakhouses
For steak lovers, this is like a knife to the heart: Thanks to soaring meat costs, it’s growing common for steakhouses to raise menu prices at the same time they’re decreasing portion sizes. In some cases, even appetizers are …
Curious CapitalistEconomy
Why We Need to Tackle the Skills Gap
I was struck this morning by two Op-Ed pieces: first, Larry Summers prescription for how to nurture the recovery in the FT, and Steven Rattner’s parsing of some new data on American inequality which found – surprise! – the …
Where the Fed’s Profits Come From
Stimulus policies such as Quantitative Easing have had the side effect of boosting the Fed’s net income, but they have also created a couple of big risks.
Music Industry Can See The Light After ‘Least Negative’ Sales Since 2004
The music industry enjoyed its best sales performance for eight years in 2011, as CDs’ collapse decelerated, digital sales continued growing and new services were launched to capitalise on in-roads made in combating piracy.