A few days after the announcement that the NY Times would begin charging $3.75 to $8.75 a week for unlimited digital access to its content, a promotion is offering free subscriptions to some 200,000 readers. Why would the Times introduce a fee only to remove it a few days later for a huge chunk of readers? The answer may have something …
The Future of Nukes in America
The Oyster Creek nuclear plant in New Jersey was opened when the Beatles were still together, and since 1969 its single 645 MW boiling water reactor has provided enough energy to power 600,000 homes. But the oldest nuclear plant will be going out of commission a little early-last year owner Exelon Energy announced that it would close …
Will Japan’s quake change global manufacturing forever?
The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that hit Japan have woken up the world’s business community to the precariousness of the global supply chain. Japan is a major manufacturer of all kinds of stuff that goes into other stuff, like car parts and chips, and the disruption of production in Japan in the wake of the natural …
Daily Deal Overkill: Are Consumers Already Over Groupon and the Rest of the Flash Deal Sites?
The thrill may be gone. After months of bingeing on daily deals and flash site coupons, there’s some indication that interest in Groupon and its competitors is waning. Why? The initial excitement has worn off, and consumers seem to feel both overwhelmed and bored by the constant onslaught of deals—which, folks are finally realizing, …
New Business Creates Most Jobs
Small businesses are the economy’s great job creators. Or are they? Last year a group of economists digging through new Census data, including a relatively rare measure of firm age, concluded that it’s actually young companies, especially start-ups, that drive the effect normally attributed to small firms. At least that was the …
Salad Bar Maximization Tips
To get the most for your money, stay away from vegetables—especially beets, carrots, and red onion.
It’s a Deal: Flights from $29
Book a JetBlue flight today (Tuesday, March 22) and tickets cost as little as $29 each way (between Long Beach to Las Vegas). Other routes start at $49 (Baltimore-Boston, Sacramento-Long Beach), $94 (Buffalo-Fort Lauderdale, New York-New Orleans), and $129 for cross-country flights such as Los Angeles-New York and Washington-Oakland. …
Q&A: The Spendthrift Bachelor’s $1,000-a-Month Budget Challenge
Plenty of people survive on a monthly budget of $1,000 or less. But when you’re accustomed to spending $4,000 or $5,000 a month without thinking too much about it, abruptly switching to a $1,000-a-month budget requires some serious lifestyle adjustments.
How China and India will pay your bills
OK, send in the hate mail! I wrote an essay in this week’s magazine on how China and India will come to create jobs for Americans, Europeans, and just about everyone else, not “steal” them, as they are often accused of doing. I know at first reading, such an idea might sound completely ridiculous. China is sucking up manufacturing …
T-Mobile’s Dropped Call Will Cost You
What’s in the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile USA cell phone industry merger for you? Nothing. That’s nicht, for you T-Mobile subscribers. Big mergers in consumer goods and services rarely help the customers, and frankly this isn’t about you. It’s about a couple of very large telecom companies solving a particularly large strategic issue. …
Insider Insight: Doctor’s Assessment of Paperwork for Health Insurance Claims
“If you were running any other business, you would say this is ridiculous.”
When Cheapskates Are Willing to Splurge
If a self-admitted cheapskate will pay top dollar for something, that something’s got to be worthwhile.
