Weekly Roundup | Business and Economy: Top 20 business stories of the week of Sept 12 - 19th, 2016
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. - Bertrand Russell
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1 +17y+ ago
Face the facts: Competition and profit don't work in health, education or prisons
Following a long series of unsuccessful attempts at developing a workable lightbulb, Thomas Edison is supposed to have said, “I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This quote comes irresistibly to mind when thinking about Tony Blair’s famous commitment to “what works”, as opposed to ideology, in public policy. In retrospect, it seems that Blair, and like-minded reformers throughout the English-speaking world, have delivered an Edison in reverse.
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Submitted on September 14th 2016 by TNY with 4 comments
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2 +17y+ ago
America's Monopoly Problem
How big business jammed the wheels of innovation."Imagine a day in the life of a typical American and ask: How long does it take for her to interact with a market that isn’t nearly monopolised? She wakes up to browse the internet, access to which is sold through a local monopoly. She stocks up on food at a superstore such as Walmart, which owns a quarter of the grocery market. If she gets indigestion, she might go to a pharmacy, likely owned by one of three companies controlling 99% of that market."
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Submitted on September 14th 2016 by swift528491 with 19 comments and with 1 Related Links:
1. The Conspiracy Behind Your Glasses Added by Gozzin on September 15th 2016.
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3 +17y+ ago
Losing Business to Solar, U.S. Utility Companies Fight to Kill Consumer Trend
In some of the sunniest areas of the U.S., solar power is becoming a victim of its own success. With so many people leaving the grid, power utilities are now wondering who's going to pay the bill. They're fighting back, trying to make going solar much less attractive.
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Submitted on September 18th 2016 by jcscher with 4 comments
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4 +17y+ ago
How companies are quietly changing your health plan to make you pay more
A national survey of employer health benefits shows how high deductibles have shot up.
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Submitted on September 14th 2016 by Appaloosa with 3 comments
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5 +17y+ ago
Why Luck Plays a Big Role in Making You Rich
A Cornell economist is alive today because his heart stopped on the right tennis court. He wants us all to know how fortunate we are.
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Submitted on September 17th 2016 by LisMan
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6 +17y+ ago
Religion in US 'worth more than Google and Apple combined'
Religion in the United States is worth $1.2tn a year, making it equivalent to the 15th largest national economy in the world, according to a study. The faith economy has a higher value than the combined revenues of the top 10 technology companies in the US, including Apple, Amazon and Google, says the analysis from Georgetown University in Washington DC. The Socioeconomic Contributions of Religion to American Society: An Empirical Analysis calculated the $1.2tn figure by estimating the value of religious institutions...
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Submitted on September 15th 2016 by socialiguana with 3 comments
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7 +17y+ ago
Tesla Wins Massive Contract to Power the California Grid
Tesla just won a bid to supply grid-scale power in Southern California to help prevent electricity shortages following the biggest natural gas leak in U.S. history. The Powerpacks, worth tens of millions of dollars, will be operational in record time—by the end of this year. Tesla Motors Inc. will supply 20 megawatts (80 megawatt-hours) of energy storage to Southern California Edison as part of a wider effort to prevent blackouts by replacing fossil-fuel electricity generation with lithium-ion batteries.
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Submitted on September 17th 2016 by socialiguana
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8 +17y+ ago
Wells Fargo Executive Linked To Scam Gets $124.6 Million Payday
Wells Fargo executive Carrie Tolstedt will receive a $124.6 million payday when she retires at the end of this year.
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Submitted on September 12th 2016 by Appaloosa with 2 comments
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9 +17y+ ago
The sad, paranoid world of America’s rich right
Talk about plutocracy and oligarchy has become commonplace in America, as the billionaire class grows ever richer and seemingly more arrogant. But do today’s super-rich constitute a threat to American democracy? Jane Mayer thinks they do, particularly when their money is employed by fanatics like Charles and David Koch and other like-minded tycoons to upend the social order.
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Submitted on September 15th 2016 by gladsdotter
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10 +17y+ ago
Hairy vetch might sound unpleasant, but it will change the way you grow tomatoes
Use this pretty, soil-enhancing legume as a replacement for ugly black plastic.
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Submitted on September 18th 2016 by gladsdotter with 1 comments
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11 +17y+ ago
How Kickstarter became one of the biggest powers in publishing
The crowdfunding site is now launching more books than all but the very largest publishers. Richard Lea finds out how a resource for small enterprises is making some big changes
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Submitted on September 15th 2016 by gladsdotter
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12 +17y+ ago
Russia is seriously running out of cash
After almost two years in recession, the country's rainy day fund has shrunk to just $32.2 billion this month, according to the Russian Finance Ministry. It was $91.7 billion in September 2014, just before oil prices started to collapse. And it's getting worse. Analysts expect the fund will shrink to just $15 billion by the end of this year and dry up completely soon after that.
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Submitted on September 18th 2016 by hxxp with 4 comments
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13 +17y+ ago
Another Bad EU Ruling: WiFi Providers Can Be Forced To Require Passwords If Copyright Holders Demand It
this ruling basically says that the times when an injunction can be ordered for password protection, the reason is for the sake of identifying users.
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Submitted on September 18th 2016 by kxh
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14 +17y+ ago
Shadow banking increases the risk of another global financial crisis
The financial products offered by the shadow banking sector allow investors to be further removed from their investments and banks to escape regulation, increasing the risk in the sector overall.
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Submitted on September 15th 2016 by kxh with 1 comments
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15 +17y+ ago
The Federal Poverty Line is Too Damn Low
The U.S. Census Bureau’s announcement today that the number of Americans living below the poverty line fell between 2014 and 2015 is good news. But before we get too excited, it is worth noting that the federal poverty line was a meager $12,000 for a single person living alone in 2015 (and only about $24,000 for a married couple living with two children).
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Submitted on September 15th 2016 by spaceghoti
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16 +17y+ ago
Bayer Clinches Monsanto with Improved $66 Billion Bid
German drugs and crop chemicals company Bayer has won over U.S. seeds firm Monsanto with an improved takeover offer of around $66 billion, ending months of wrangling after increasing its bid for a third time.
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Submitted on September 14th 2016 by jcscher with 1 Related Links:
1. Bayer's Monsanto acquisition to face politically charged scrutiny Added by jcscher on September 14th 2016.
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17 +17y+ ago
How blockchain is transforming business models
In this era of disruption, it’s absolutely necessary to redefine business models and archetypes as a whole. Enter, blockchain.
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Submitted on September 18th 2016 by Devang
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18 +17y+ ago
Middle class incomes had their fastest growth on record last year
Middle-class Americans and the poor enjoyed their best year of economic improvement in decades in 2015, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, a spike that broke a years-long streak of disappointment for American workers but did not fully repair the damage inflicted by the Great Recession. Real median household income was $56,500 in 2015, the bureau reported, up from $53,700 in 2014. That 5.2 percent increase was the largest, in percentage terms, recorded by the bureau since it began tracking median income statistics in the 1960s.
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Submitted on September 14th 2016 by dynamite
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19 +17y+ ago
The progressive case for replacing the welfare state with basic income
It appears some establishment voices have picked up on a way of opposing the idea of the monthly citizen dividend of about $1,000 per month, known as universal basic income (UBI), in a way that successfully leaves some progressively minded people afraid. The fear inspired is that those with the greatest need may be left worse off with UBI compared to the existing status quo of more than 100 government programs that currently comprise the U.S. safety net that UBI has the potential to entirely or mostly replace.
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Submitted on September 13th 2016 by spaceghoti
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20 +17y+ ago
Old book, new look: why the classics are flying off the shelves
Sales have risen 10%, thanks to TV adaptations and clever marketing. As four publishing houses unveil new looks, John Walsh investigates the battle for new readers.
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Submitted on September 19th 2016 by gladsdotter
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Here are this week's top five Business & Economy tribes:
/t/business 86 posts, 38 comments, 335 votes.
/t/economy 25 posts, 40 comments, 76 votes.
/t/finance 24 posts, 28 comments, 125 votes.
/t/economics 6 posts, 16 comments, 87 votes.
/t/personalfinance 6 posts, 0 comments, 6 votes.
Note: Tribes can only be featured once every four weeks. Validate your tribe to be included on this list!
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