Corporate Philanthropy

The Twinkie, it turns out, was introduced way back in 1930. In our memories, however, the iconic snack will forever be identified with the 1950s, when Hostess popularized the brand by sponsoring “The Howdy Doody Show.” And the demise of Hostess has unleashed a wave of baby boomer nostalgia for a seemingly more innocent time.

Permira founder, Damon Buffini, explains why he wants to tackle social issues.

For many, CSR has become a glorified form of public relations, a chance for businesses to try to put a positive spin on their existence or distract from questionable activities elsewhere.

Damon Buffini is doing his bit to change that view. One of Britain’s best known private equity bosses and once voted Britain’s most powerful black male, the founder partner of Permira has in recent weeks stepped down as a full-time partner at the buy-out firm.

In the year since I stepped down as the special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the sadly predictable consequences of the government’s disparate treatment of Wall Street and Main Street have only become worse. As the banks amass size and power, Main Street continues to get pummeled.

Academics, donors and some aid agencies have begun measuring what works. Development is becoming a science

I knew I was going to love this job here,” says Anthony Lake, Unicef’s executive director, pointing at his heart beneath his suit jacket. “But,” he points to his head, “it is fascinating here too. There are no boring bits.”

JPMorgan Chase & Co., which generated the most trading revenue among Wall Street firms last year, had the highest trading and counterparty losses of the biggest U.S. banks under the Federal Reserve’s stress scenario.

JPMorgan had an estimated $27.7 billion in projected losses from mark-to-market changes, credit valuation adjustments and counterparty default losses, according to the Fed results released today. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) had an estimated $27.1 billion of such losses in the testing.

Private equity titans like Bain Capital used K Street to preserve the GOP front-runner's favorite—and most lucrative—tax loophole.

The ex-governor has benefited handsomely from the influence-peddling of Bain Capital, the private equity firm he cofounded in 1983. Though he's been gone from Bain for over a decade, Romney continues to rake in millions from accounts with the firm—and in 2007, he took Bain's side in a key lobbying battle with Washington—one that saved him millions of dollars.

"The whole perspective of how firms influence policy environments is a relatively new question to economists."

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and other good governance groups sent letters to members of Congress urgingpassage of the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act” (“STOCK Act”).   

Source: Common Cause | The venerable clean government organization, Common Cause, has an excellent, digestible report available on the politics—or the money in politics—concerning the “fracking” controversy. The report describes the problems with fracking: