Tag: ECONOMY

The economy may still be in a funk, but there is some bright news. This holiday season, online spending is up 12-percent from last year. Since November 1st, there have been four days that have surpassed $900 million in single-day sales, with Cyber Monday leading the way. The holiday spending spree was capped this Friday by Free Shipping Day, an event that saw some 1,300 retailers offering free ...

The U.S. job market is in the doldrums and the American middle class is shrinking. But instead of blaming the President, illegal immigrants, or karmic forces, one MIT economist says we should blame robots. In a study conducted during the spring, economist David Autor found that manufacturing is still strong in the U.S., which is encouraging. What's not so encouraging, however, is the fact that ...

Conventional economic logic would suggest that, as the prices of new cell phones drop, we -- as rational, price-taking consumers -- would abandon our older models for shinier, more cost-effective alternatives. According to a new survey from J.D. Power and Associates, though, we aren't. As PC World reports, consumers now hold onto their mobiles for an average of 20.5 months -- 17-percent longer ...

The violent conflict between governmental and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may not make the front pages of many Western news outlets, but it has definitely caught the attention of U.S. lawmakers. As the AP reports, a newly passed American law, which was signed into effect in conjunction with Obama's economic overhaul, will now require all gadget manufacturers to disclose ...

People from a particular "party" (that might look something like this) are constantly making demands that the federal government cut taxes and reign in the deficit. Hell, most all of us can agree that we need to get our ballooning public debt under control before China turns us all into indentured servants. But nobody is willing to give up their precious government and social programs like ...

Quantifying the effect that online piracy has on businesses and copyright holders has always been an inexact science. For years, suspicion has been brewing over the accuracy of estimated losses claimed by software companies, the MPAA and even governmental agencies. Yesterday, though, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finally admitted to the scientific shortcomings of many common ...

Landing a job in a stagnant labor market, as many have found out, is no easy task. The process only becomes more frustrating when cyber-criminals begin capitalizing on that desperation for their own parasitic benefit. As the Wall Street Journal reports, increasing numbers of scammers have begun posting fake job ads across the Internet in the hopes of luring optimistic job seekers into their ...

The economy may be showing signs of improvement, but it's still hard out there for job seekers. If you're going to get hired in today, you'll have to get noticed first. Inventive job hunters, then, are turning to the Web and dreaming up some rather innovative techniques to make their resumes stand out. The good people at the Huffington Post (or HuffPo, to its friends) have assembled a slide ...

If the entire world can follow your every move on Twitter or Facebook, it only makes sense that they should be able to see everything you buy on Amazon, right? Right...? That seems to be the creative impetus behind Blippy, a new online service that allows users to publish their latest transactions, and see (and comment on) their friends' purchases, too. Think Facebook news feed meets credit ...

Since its official beginning in 2005, Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving) has been one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. The Web counterpart to the decidedly brick-and-mortar Black Friday has grown in popularity every year, and has even lured more traditional retailers, such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart, to take part in that second day of steep discounting. This year, ...

The economic slump has been tough on all kinds of businesses, even whorehouses. When money is tight, it looks like paying for sex is one of those extras people just can't afford. But one brothel in Berlin isn't taking this news lying down (Excuse the pun). According to The Associated Press, Maison d'Envie, or House of Desire, is giving a $7.50 (5€) discount to all customers who either ride a ...

Warren Buffett was smart enough to become one of the richest, most powerful men on Earth, but the septuagenarian just can't seem to work his cell phone. As Time magazine reporter Karen Tumulty tells the story, Buffett's inability to check his voice mail had some serious economic consequences. In September of last year, Buffett received a phone call from Bob Diamond, head of Barclays Capital, ...

America, home of the faster, better, brighter, louder. Or it once was. Now, two factors -- the tight economy and the increased reliance on mobile everything -- mean that some shoppers favor cheap, simple, and easy gadgets. Wired.com calls this "The Good Enough Revolution," meaning that consumers want a product to get the job done, not be exceedingly cutting edge, turbo fast, or needlessly high ...

In this economy, people are coming up with some inventive ways to pinch pennies. Social network TapIt, which was created in 2008, is a group of cafes that partnered to offer free water to the thirsty public. Not only does clean water help folks save money (the site claims it saves users about $500 a year), but it also reduces waste by cutting down on the number of used plastic water bottles. ...

The current economic crisis is definitely not limited to the United States, and according to The New York Times, it's not isolated to humans, either. Japan's worst depression in decades has forced industrial companies to cut production of goods by approximately 40-percent, leaving thousands of robot assembly line laborers unemployed and powerless. The future appears bleak for the robot union. ...