economy

One hears much rhetoric about how education is people oriented - and on the side of the students. It is unfortunate that sometimes the actions do not match the words. With the drastic downturn in the economy, there are some college and university students who are having difficulty paying their second half tuition. [...]

It was something that most baseball fans had speculated. However, most fans wanted to believe that Alex Rodriguez’s talent was natural and not chemically induced. Now, Sports Illustrated reports that there is empirical evidence of steroid use:
“In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player [...]

Computer security concerns can emanate from an external source, that hacker trying to penetrate the electronic defenses. An equally dangerous hack may come from an internal source. This is illustrated by the allegation of a destructive virus planted by a disgruntled Fannie Mae employee:
“A 35-year-old computer programer pleaded not guilty on Friday to [...]

This may trump automobile executives going to Washington, in separate private jets, to ask for corporate financial relief. Citigroup has purchased a jet:
“Beleaguered Citigroup is upgrading its mile-high club with a brand-new $50 million corporate jet - only this time, it’s the taxpayers who are getting screwed.”
link: Just Plane Despicable
Tax-payers want accountability of [...]

This is not news to eBay sellers. They know that merchandise has not been selling as quickly. Now, the eBay sales figures have confirmed the decline:
“EBay got coal in its stocking this holiday season as shoppers spent less money at eBay’s online marketplaces. It was the first time that sales in the fourth [...]

It is a bad news for some Microsoft employees. Five thousand Microsoft positions will be eliminated. Some of those jobs will be terminated immediately:
“Microsoft Corp. plans to cut up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, including 1,400 immediately, as its profit tumbles amid PC market weakness.
The software giant said Thursday [...]

Intel is responding to the poor economy. To keep its supply chain moving, Intel is cutting prices of its processors:
“Intel Corp is slashing prices on a number of its processors, including cuts of up to 40 percent on some of its higher-powered, faster quad-core chips, as the world’s largest chip maker copes with weakening [...]

There is a law that will come into effect to protect the safety of consumers. However, this legislation render the small, entrepreneurial inoperable or in contravention of the law:
“…After a spate of toy recalls made headlines in 2007, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act in July 2008. The law, which goes into [...]

The Detroit auto-makers are not alone in the feeling the financial pressure of the poor economy. Honda in the United Kingdom has added two more months to its production halt:
“Honda has announced that it plans to stop production at its plant in Swindon for the months of April and May, because of a collapse [...]

Another indicator of the decline of newspapers is the filing of bankruptcy by the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
“…The 15th-largest U.S. daily based on circulation, which McClatchy Co sold to private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for $530 million less than two years ago, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after missing payments to lenders, it said [...]