April 8, 2013
The unexpectedly large number of American workers who piled into the Social Security Administration's disability program during the recession and its aftermath threatens to cost the economy tens of billions a year in lost wages and diminished tax revenues.
Signs of the problem surfaced Friday, in a dismal jobs report that showed U.S. labor force participation rates falling last month to the lowest levels since 1979, the wrong direction for an...
April 5, 2013
The soaring virtual currency Bitcoin suffered a cyber-blow after its leading exchange, Tokyo–based Mt.Gox, was hit with a DDoS attack. The government-free tender also faced a hacker attack on its Instawallet database, forcing the site to be shut down.
“Mt.Gox has been suffering from its worst trading lag ever, 502 errors, and at one point some users were not able to log in their account. The culprit is a major DDoS [...
April 5, 2013
Finland is turning to venture capital financing as it searches for ways to jolt the economy out of a recession without jeopardizing its AAA rating.
The northernmost euro member wants to attract investors for a new 1 billion-euro ($1.28 billion) program and help startup companies without adding to its budget deficit. Finland is promising that investors who buy into the venture will take the lion’s share of potential profits....
April 2, 2013
More than 1,000 e-mailed complaints signal that Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s (WMT) restocking challenges are more widespread than the world’s largest retailer has said.
Wal-Mart customers from Hawaii to Florida and from Texas to Vermont wrote to express their frustration afterBloomberg News reported March 26 that there aren’t enough workers in the stores to keep shelves stocked, cash...
April 2, 2013
By guest blogger Mia Henderson who also blogs at www.texaselectricityproviders.com
Around the sustainability community, people know about the massive potential held by wind energy. As of today, wind power serves as one of the most affordable and effective renewables for everything from residential homes to commercial high rises. And better yet, it continues to become more affordable and more effective by the year. 2012 saw far...
December 26, 2012
Despite solar manufacturers’ struggles with bankruptcies and an oversupply problem this year, 2012 actually witnessed a dramatic growth in the world’s use of solar power. In particular the amount of solar panels installed on rooftops in the U.S. soared in recent quarters, helped by new financing models by companies like SolarCity and rock-bottom silicon prices — the main ingredient in solar panels.
In these 5...
December 26, 2012
Finally, a bit of evidence, rather than anecdote, about the costs of high-frequency trading.
In a new study, Andrei Kirilenko, the chief economist at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with researchers at Princeton University and the University of Washington, examined high-frequency trading in a futures contract called the e-mini S&P 500, between August 2010 and August 2012.
The ...
December 18, 2012
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS), the largest U.S. sporting-goods chain, has suspended sales of modern sporting rifles nationwide in the wake of the shooting in Newtown,Connecticut, as the community mourns victims of the massacre.
Sales of all guns have been stopped at its store closest to the shooting, the Coraopolis, Pennsylvania-based company said today in an e-mailed statement.
Dick’s is pulling the products after 26 people...
December 18, 2012
A WhiteHouse.gov petition calling on Obama to introduce a gun control bill has become the site's most popular ever
Only hours after news broke of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, thousands took to the White House website, calling on the Obama administration to lead on gun control by introducing a bill to Congress.
The goal of this petition is to force the Obama Administration to produce legislation that limits access to guns. While a...
December 3, 2012
A recent Gallup survey indicates 47 percent of American adults keep guns -- the most since 1993
When James Holmes carried out the latest in a series of grisly American mass murders by killing 12 people and injuring 59 others during a shooting rampage in a Denver movie theater last July, he used an AR-15 assault rifle and also carried two Glock pistols and a Remington shotgun — all American-made.
The United States produces the vast...
Value is the only commonality in an increasingly complex, challenging and interdependent world.