Russia’s economy ‘ill’, but ‘virus’ is manageable
Bank VTB president, chairman of the board and chairman of the Supervisory Board Andrei Kostin. (RIA Novosti/ Sergey Guneev) The Russian economy is suffering from certain economic problems such as low oil prices and sanctions, but they are not chronic, just more like a virus that’s quick to cure, Andrey Kostin, head of Russia’s second biggest bank VTB told RT. “I think, the Russian economy is ill. And I compare it with illness when you have some chronic disease, when there are some structural problems and some virus. The virus is low oil price and sanctions. And, I think, virus is easy to cure or at … [READ MORE...]
Biography Casts Critical Light on Fox News Chief
In the corporate thicket of News Corporation, according to a new book, Mr. Ailes dared to battle with Lachlan Murdoch, a son of Rupert Murdoch, the chairman, openly gloating when the younger Mr. Murdoch eventually left his post at the company and even commandeering his chair. At Fox News, the book says, Mr. Ailes was disdainful of even his most bankable on-air talent, privately calling Bill O’Reilly “a book salesman with a TV show” and Brian Kilmeade, a peppy Fox host, “a soccer coach from Long Island.” Those episodes are described in “The Loudest Voice in the Room” by Gabriel Sherman, a 560-page biography of Mr. Ailes being published on Jan. 21 by Random House. The book aims to be an exhaustive look at Mr. Ailes’s life and his monumental career, particularly as … [READ MORE...]
Case Study: A Business Owner Seeks an Alternative to Seven-Day Workweeks
THE CHALLENGE Mr. Vega left a corporate job producing print publications for the financial industry to take over the pizzeria. He felt constrained by his business’s size and location: a small restaurant without a parking lot on the six-block main street of a blue-collar town. Even with his improvements, the business was bringing in only about $10,000 a week. It was profitable, but only because he was working long hours, typically seven days a week, to hold down labor costs. Mr. Vega knew he couldn’t continue like this. THE BACKGROUND His father was from Spain and his mother from Cuba, but Mr. Vega, who grew up with Italian friends in New Jersey, not only hung out in pizzerias but worked in one, starting during his sophomore year in high school. After getting a business degree from … [READ MORE...]
Latest News
Vote in Senate Starts Talks on Extending Unemployment Benefits
The three-month extension of benefits passed with no room to spare, on a vote of 60 to 37, and some of the six Republicans who voted yes made clear that they wanted the $6.4 billion cost paid for through cuts elsewhere in the budget. Still, even getting the Senate on to the bill was a victory for President Obama and Democratic leaders, who have tried for weeks to steer away from health care and budget wrangling and onto pocketbook issues, which they say they will use to try to frame the … [Read More...]
Tax Break as a Not-So-Secret Weapon
The tax break wars are heating up again, as New Jersey aggressively pushes a revamped program to encourage businesses to stay or move within its borders. The retooled tax credit is called Grow New Jersey, a consolidation and expansion of several previous programs. Some companies, even those already in the state, might be eligible for as much as $300 million in tax credits per project. The state’s neighbors, particularly New York and Pennsylvania, are not taking the … [Read More...]
Low Inflation Worries the Euro Zone
Prices in the 17 European Union member states that were using the euro in 2013 rose in December at an annual rate of only 0.8 percent, Eurostat, the European Union statistical agency, reported on Tuesday in a first estimate that will be subject to revision in the weeks ahead. The December figure, which did not include Latvia since it adopted the euro on Jan. 1, was slightly lower than the 0.9 percent annual inflation rate for November. The European Central Bank seeks to keep price growth … [Read More...]
In Jobless Youth, Nation Is Said to Pay High Price
“The key takeaway here is that it’s not just the individuals who are suffering as members of our generation,” said Rory O’Sullivan, the policy and research director of the Young Invincibles, a postrecession youth advocacy group, which did the study. “When you have an entire generation of people that are out of work, it’s going to create tremendous costs for taxpayers both now and in the future.” Fifteen percent of workers ages 16 to 24 are unemployed, compared with 7.3 percent of all … [Read More...]
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Small Business
Case Study: A Business Owner Seeks an Alternative to Seven-Day Workweeks
THE CHALLENGE Mr. Vega left a corporate job producing print publications for the financial industry to take over the pizzeria. He felt constrained by his business’s size and location: a small restaurant without a parking lot on the six-block main street of a blue-collar town. Even with his improvements, the business was bringing in only about $10,000 a week. It was profitable, but only because he … [Read More...]
Credit Score, by Multiple Choice
That’s the message being delivered to more than 70,000 small-business owners in developing countries where credit ratings are rare and many potential entrepreneurs keep their money in cash rather than bank accounts. Banks in 16 countries are using a psychometric test to predict future behavior — specifically, whether someone will pay back a loan. Originally a Harvard doctoral project, the … [Read More...]
Your Money
Faulty Websites Confront Needy in Search of Aid
Efforts at modernizing the systems for unemployment compensation in California, Massachusetts and Nevada have also largely backfired in recent months, causing enormous cost overruns and delays. While the nation’s attention was focused on the troubled rollout of the federal health care site under the Affordable Care Act, the problems with the unemployment sites have pointed to something … [Read More...]
In Jobless Youth, U.S. Is Said to Pay High Price
“The key takeaway here is that it’s not just the individuals who are suffering as members of our generation,” said Rory O’Sullivan, the policy and research director of the Young Invincibles, a postrecession youth advocacy group, which did the study. “When you have an entire generation of people that are out of work, it’s going to create tremendous costs for taxpayers both now and in the future.” … [Read More...]