Archive for the 'Economy' Category
A Robot at Best Buy Sells CDs, DVDs, Games
October 5th, 2015Service with a smile. Via: Fox 5: Best Buy is experimenting with full automation — in the form of a robot — to sell a decidedly old-fashioned medium: CDs and DVDs. I’m in my 40s, so yes I remember vinyl records, tapes and even 8-tracks. So I still do like buying at least some of […]
Homes as ATMs: It’s Starting Again
October 5th, 2015Via: CNBC: As home values rise, homeowners are gaining more equity on paper — and they’re taking it out in paper. Cash-out refinances jumped 68 percent in the second quarter from a year ago, according to Black Knight Financial Services. This is the highest volume of this type of refinance in five years.
Trans-Pacific Partnership
October 5th, 2015Via: Reuters: Pacific trade ministers have reached a deal on the most sweeping trade liberalization pact in a generation that will cut trade barriers and set common standards for 12 countries, an official familiar with the talks said on Monday. Leaders from a dozen Pacific Rim nations are poised to announce the pact later on […]
The Fed’s Grotesque “Explanation” Why 94.6 Million Are Out Of The Labor Force
October 3rd, 2015Via: ZeroHedge: And this is where the wheels fall off the Atlanta Fed narative. Because the regional Fed’s very next sentence shows why the world is doomed when you task economists to centrally-plan it: The decrease in labor force participation among prime-age individuals has been driven mostly by the share who say they currently don’t […]
Daimler Tests Self-Driving Truck on German Highway
October 2nd, 2015Via: AFP: German automaker Daimler said it trialled a self-driving truck under real traffic conditions for the first time Friday, on a motorway in southern Germany. The truck has smart systems including radars, cameras and active speed regulators and works without a human driver — although one has to be in the driver’s seat and […]
The Average American Worker Earns Less Today Than 40 Years Ago
September 28th, 2015Via: FastCoexist: Because most everything we buy gets more expensive over time, we have to earn more money each year just to maintain our existing standard of living. When we’re not given raises that keep up with this rate of inflation, we’re effectively suffering a pay cut. That’s why many American workers are actually poorer […]
Australia: Electricity Networks Propose Connection Fees for All Homes – Including Off-Gridders
September 28th, 2015The mask comes off. Behold… Via: SolarChoice: Australia’s major power networks are calling for compulsory connection fees for all homes and businesses – even if they are not connected to the grid – and penalties for those who disconnect, as part of a last-ditch effort to protect their declining revenue streams. The Energy Networks Association […]
New Zealand: Fair Go for Solar Initiative
September 27th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — For people in New Zealand: Please consider getting the word out about the Fair Go for Solar Initiative by the Greens.
Recovery: Caterpillar to Cut at Least 10,000 Jobs, First Time in Company’s 90 Year History That “Revenues Have Decreased Four Years in a Row”
September 24th, 2015Via: Chicago Tribune: Construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar plans to lay off 10,000 workers — or more — in a bid to save $1.5 billion a year in operating costs, it announced Thursday. Nearly half of those job losses — 4,000 to 5,000 salaried and management employees — will come before the end of […]
Millions of Americans Raiding Their Retirement Savings
September 23rd, 2015Via: Money: With the effects of the financial crisis still lingering, 30 million Americans in the last 12 months tapped retirement savings to pay for an unexpected expense, new research shows. This undercuts financial security and underscores the need for every household to maintain an emergency fund . Boomers were most likely to take a […]
