Office Depot/OfficeMax Merger: Another Nail in the Coffin of Traditional Retail?
The strong start to 2013′s M&A market continued yesterday, with Office Depot announcing it would acquire its rival OfficeMax in a $1.17 billion deal.
Christopher Matthews
Christopher Matthews is a Reporter for TIME Business. He has previously written for Forbes Magazine and The Financial Times' Debtwire, and has a degree in Business and Economics Reporting from New York University. You can follow him on Twitter @crobmatthews, and reach him by email at chris_matthews (at) timemagazine (dot) com.
Articles from Contributor
Mrs. Warren Goes to Washington: Does the Market Mistrust Big Banks?
Critics of the nation’s largest banks haven’t had very many friends in Washington lately, but that dynamic changed markedly in January, when Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren — perhaps Big Finance’s most articulate gadfly — was sworn in and given a seat on the Senate Banking Committee. And last week, the committee held its first …
Mergers and Acquisitions Boom! Is This a Good Sign for the Economy?
Wall Street dealmakers are off to a busy start to 2013, as some of corporate America’s most recognizable names have become involved in multi-billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions. Just yesterday, American Airlines and US …
Obama’s Proposal to Boost the Minimum Wage: Will It Help or Hurt Workers?
Of the proposals in President Obama’s State of the Union address, the one that’s perhaps getting the most attention is his push to have the federal minimum wage raised from $7.25 to $9.00 per hour. There are many reasons for …
Does President Obama Really Believe in Deficit Reduction?
It should come as no surprise that President Obama began last night’s State of the Union address discussing both the economy and federal government finances. After all, much of the debate in Washington has been focused on the …
The Break-Up-the-Banks Drumbeat Gets Louder. But Is It Just a Bunch of Hot Air?
Conservative columnist George Will and liberal Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown don’t agree on much. So it was a little strange to see Will publish an article last week praising Brown’s legislative efforts to shrink America’s largest banks in order to remove any systemic threat that their failure might pose to the U.S. economy. But Will is not …
Justice Sues S&P; Is It Time to Rethink the Role of Ratings Agencies?
Most of the time, court cases are manna for journalists. The politicians and corporations we cover aren’t in the habit of dishing out information they don’t want the public to know. But along comes a lawsuit, and the parties are …
The Federal Government’s $128 Trillion Stockpile: The Answer to Our Debt Problems?
The debate over federal government deficits and debt has consumed Washington for some time, but the arguments for the most part have focused on taxes and spending. One aspect, however, of the debate of American creditworthiness that doesn’t get discussed is what assets the federal government owns. After all, a borrower’s assets …
U.S. Economy Adds 157,000 Jobs; Revisions in Data Show a Stronger Labor Market
The labor market continued its dogged march forward in January, with the federal government announcing that the U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in January, and that the unemployment rate basically held steady at 7.9%. This was …
Why Today’s GDP Report Isn’t As Bad As It Looks
The American public (or at least those of us who keep up on the latest macroeconomic data) awoke to some startling news this morning: According to initial estimates from the Commerce Department the American economy actually …
The Economics of Immigration: Who Wins, Who Loses and Why
Washington’s focus has shifted to immigration reform this week as a bipartisan group of Senators put forward a comprehensive plan on Monday and President Obama followed with a proposal of his own yesterday. The debate thus far …
What (If Anything) Can Fix the SEC?
When President Obama nominated former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White to be the next Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the reaction was generally positive. White will be the first prosecutor to head the …
